Operating Cycle Analyses of Different Refrigeration Systems Using Infrared Thermography

Thermography is a very useful tool to study the thermal effects of operating equipment. This case study focuses on heat pumps in refrigeration systems without moving parts, highlighting the operation cycle from start through achieving steady performance, easily revealed through infrared thermography. The images were captured at the Laboratory of Heat Transfer at the Universidad de Valencia, Spain. Refrigeration Engineering and Heat Pumps are the technologies associated with the creation and maintenance of temperatures lower or higher than the surroundings. This implies that refrigeration is the art of "pumping heat" from one body (or fluid) of a low temperature to one with a higher. There are many applications for refrigeration, and more are discovered all the time. Common for all of these is that they satisfy very different basic human needs. This paper will show how infrared thermography can contribute to a better comprehension of the performance of these, sometimes, complex systems. At the same time, the use of infrared thermography helps to diagnose possible damage or poor performance in this equipment, giving an accurate analysis of the thermal pattern obtained through the use of an infrared camera.