The Connection Between a Heat Engine and a Refrigerator

Heat engines and Refrigerators are primarily linked in one aspect. They both use refrigerants to work. Heat engines convert heat into power which can be utilised to perform tasks such as rotating an aeroplane’s propeller. Refrigerators cool items down with cold air, which is subsequently condensed into liquid and stored in the fridge. Moreover, the heat engine’s heat pump and the vapour-compression cycle of the refrigerator are two interrelated components. When the air passes by them, the heat pump makes them hot, and that vapour compressor makes it cool. There are other factors also, let’s discuss. 

How are refrigerators and heat engines related?

Refrigerators and heat engines are related in that they both use refrigerants to keep things cold or warm. Heat engines use a heat source to produce energy that can be used to do work, such as turning a propeller on an aeroplane. Refrigerators use cold air to cool things down, which is then condensed into liquid form and stored in the fridge.

Moreover, they’re not all the same, and there are several differences between refrigerators and heat engines. 

• Firstly, refrigerators can stay colder than most heat engines because they use a lot of ice or water to keep things cold. Heat engines cannot function at very high temperatures because burning the fuel will create too much heat. 

• Second, refrigerators need less energy to operate than heat engines. 

• Third, refrigerators are often used to store food, while heat engines are used to produce energy.

•  Finally, refrigerators use a compressor to create cold air, while heat engines use a fan to create hot air.

Is the refrigerator and heat pump the same?

A heat pump is a machine that relates closely to a refrigerator’s vapour-compression cycle. The exterior fluid passing through the evaporator is cooled by a refrigeration system, whilst the exterior fluid running through the condenser is heated by a heat pump. The fundamental distinction between a refrigerator as well as a heat pump is the way in which they chill or warm.

If indeed the purpose is cooling, you’ll be concerned with the cooling component, Q1, which takes place over through the evaporator, and indeed the refrigerating machine will be known as a refrigerator, air conditioner, chiller, cryocooler, and so on.

If the function is heating, you’ll be focused on the heating side, Qy in Figure, which occurs over through the condenser, as well as the heating device will be referred to as a heat pump. A heat pump is an electronic apparatus that warms a design by moving the warmness from the colder outside. In other words, it’s similar to refrigerators, but instead of cooling the cold reservoirs, it’s designed to warm them.

How do a heat engine and fridge work?

A heat engine is a device that converts heat into work through a recurrent process involving a working component. The working substance absorbs heat Q1 from the supply at large temperature T1 in one leg of the continuous cycle, and it discharges heat Q2 to a drain at a lower temperature T2 in that other leg. In a full cycle, the engine performs work W. The ratio of work done to heat absorbed from the supply is the effectiveness of a heat engine.

η = It represents the efficiency of the heat engines.

Q1 = represents the heat absorbed from the given sources at the high range of temperature T1.

Q2 = represents the heat that is released at some particular lower temperature which T2 denotes.

W = word done performed during the process.

A refrigerator (or heat pump) works in the opposite direction of a combustion engine. At temperature T2, the working substance in a refrigerator extracts heat Q2 from a cold region, performs external work W on it, and releases heat Q, to the catchment at high-temperature T1. The ratio of the heat removed to work done is the refrigerator’s coefficient of performance.

α = It represents the coefficient of performance for the refrigerator.

Q1 = represents the heat released.

Q2 = represents the heat that is extracted from the cooling reservoir at some particular temperature which T2 denotes.

W = work done during the process.

Conclusion

From all the above, we learned different aspects about refrigerators and heat engines. In a nutshell, they’re the same primarily in one aspect. Both of them implement refrigerants to do work. Heat engines use them to produce heat (air), while refrigerators produce cold air with their help. Aside from it, a heat pump that is used in heat engines also relates closely to a refrigerator’s vapour-compression cycle. The heat pump makes the passing air hot whilst the refrigerator’s machine makes them cold.