Thermosyphon Oil Cooling: Form 070.900-E (AUG 2006)
Thermosyphon Oil Cooling: Form 070.900-E (AUG 2006)
THERMOSYPHON
OIL COOLING
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 3
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION................................................................................. 3
Figure 1. Thermosyphon Oil Cooler - System Not Operating................................. 3
Figure 2. Thermosyphon Oil Cooler - System Operating........................................ 4
THERMOSYPHON SYSTEMS............................................................................... 4
FLOW-THROUGH THERMOSYPHON RECEIVER............................................... 4
Figure 3. Flow-Through Thermosyphon Receiver.................................................. 5
Figure 4. Elevated System Receiver....................................................................... 7
Figure 5. Combination Thermosyphon/System Receiver....................................... 8
SYSTEM RECEIVER AS THERMOSYPHON RECEIVER..................................... 9
MULTIPLE THERMOSYPHON OIL COOLERS..................................................... 9
Figure 6. Multiple Thermosyphon Oil Coolers....................................................... 10
TYPICAL THERMOSYPHON OIL COOLER PIPING DETAILS........................... 11
OIL TEMPERATURE CONTROL.......................................................................... 11
Figure 7. Thermosyphon Oil Cooler Piping . ........................................................ 11
SYSTEM DYNAMICS........................................................................................... 12
SYSTEM SIZING.................................................................................................. 13
TABLE 1. THERMOSYPHON RECEIVER SIZING............................................... 14
Graph 1. R-717 TSOC Pipe Sizing, 0 to 1000 KBTU/HR - OCHR........................ 15
Graph 2. R-717 TSOC Pipe Sizing, 1000 to 3000 KBTU/HR - OCHR.................. 16
Graph 3. R-717 TSOC Pipe Sizing, 3000 to 5000 KBTU/HR - OCHR.................. 17
Graph 4. R-22 TSOC Pipe Sizing, 0 to 1000 KBTU/HR - OCHR.......................... 18
Graph 5. R-22 TSOC Pipe Sizing, 1000 to 3000 KBTU/HR - OCHR.................... 19
Graph 6. R-22 TSOC Pipe Sizing, 3000 to 5000 KBTU/HR - OCHR.................... 20
Graph 7. R-717 Return Vent Line Sizing............................................................... 21
Graph 8. R-22 Return Vent Line Sizing................................................................. 22
APPENDIX A - PRESSURE LOSS CALCULATION............................................. 23
Graph 9. R-717 Two-Phase Pressure Drop.......................................................... 25
Graph 10. R-22 Two-Phase Pressure Drop.......................................................... 26
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When the compressor package is operating, hot oil (above The difference in fluid densities, when multiplied by the height
the refrigerant temperature) flows through the shell of the oil of the vertical legs in the thermosyphon piping loop yields a
cooler. Heat will flow through the tube walls from the higher pressure differential. This pressure differential is the force that
temperature oil to the lower temperature refrigerant causing the drives the flow of refrigerant in the thermosyphon loop. As
oil to become cooler. At the same time, some of the refriger- does any fluid flowing in a piping system, the refrigerant in the
ant in the cooler tubes will boil as it absorbs its latent heat of thermosyphon loop experiences frictional forces which oppose
vaporization from the oil. Note that the configuration of the oil the flow. The greater the refrigerant flow rate, the greater the
cooler heat exchanger is such that the refrigerant vapor created magnitude of the pressure losses due to these frictional forces.
in the oil cooler can easily escape and flow back to the supply The refrigerant flow rate will stabilize at a point where the
vessel. The liquid/vapor mixture that returns from the oil cooler pressure drop due to friction losses in the thermosyphon piping
is separated in the supply vessel. The vapor is vented to the inlet loop is exactly equal to the pressure differential supplied by
of the refrigerant condenser where it is reliquified. the difference in fluid densities and the height of the vertical
The rate of refrigerant vaporization in the oil cooler can be legs in the piping loop.
determined by dividing the heat rejected from the oil by the When designing a thermosyphon oil cooling system, one usually
latent heat of vaporization for the specific refrigerant and begins with the design oil cooler heat rejection and an assumed
operating temperature. In order to ensure that all heat transfer refrigerant overfeed rate (say 4:1). The refrigerant piping is
surfaces are wetted by the refrigerant however, thermosyphon then designed so that total friction losses in the piping loop at
oil cooling systems are designed so that more refrigerant flows this flow rate are approximately 1/2 the pressure differential
through the oil cooler than is actually vaporized. Typically, provided by the differences in fluid density and the available
the refrigerant design flow rate is assumed to be four times liquid head. This approach adds a margin of safety in the design
the rate of vaporization. This is commonly referred to as a 4:1 to allow for errors in the estimate of the available pressure and
overfeed rate. the pressure loss in the piping and valving. A detailed calcula-
Note: When explaining the operation of a thermosyphon system, tion example is given in Appendix A.
it is necessary to distinguish between the two vertical legs of In an actual system, the available liquid head will be fixed and
the piping loop. In this paper, the term “downcomer” refers to the oil cooler heat rejection will vary depending on the com-
the vertical run of piping by which refrigerant is supplied to pressor’s operating conditions. At lower rates of oil cooler heat
the oil cooler, and the term “riser” refers to the vertical run of rejection the refrigerant flow will be less. It is a characteristic of
piping by which refrigerant returns to the supply vessel. thermosyphon oil cooling systems that higher oil temperatures
Figure 2 depicts the basic thermosyphon system in operation result in more vaporization of refrigerant, greater density dif-
with a 4:1 overfeed rate. The refrigerant in the downcomer is ferential and higher refrigerant flow rates. In other words, the
all liquid, and its density is the same as it was before the com- more that oil cooling is needed, the harder the thermosyphon
pressor package was operating. The refrigerant in the riser is a system works to provide it.
mix of three parts liquid and one part vapor (by mass). Because THERMOSYPHON SYSTEMS
the density of refrigerant vapor is much less than the density There are numerous ways that a thermosyphon oil cooling
of the liquid, the two-phase mixture in the riser has a density system can be piped. Below are some typical examples of com-
that is considerably less than that of the refrigerant liquid in mon practice. However this by no means covers all the possible
the downcomer. geometries that will work. Alternate piping schemes may be
better suited for a particular application. It is the responsibility
of the system designer to determine the best scheme to pursue
for his or her system.
FLOW-THROUGH THERMOSYPHON RECEIVER
In the arrangement shown in Figure 3, all of the high-pressure
liquid refrigerant leaving the condenser flows through the ther-
mosyphon receiver on its way to the system receiver.
Liquid refrigerant, draining from the condenser, flows by
gravity to the thermosyphon receiver. The connections on the
thermosyphon receiver (which can be either a horizontal or
vertical pressure vessel) are located such that liquid refriger-
ant will fill this vessel up to a certain point and then overflow
into the system receiver. The thermosyphon receiver must be
elevated relative to the system receiver, and an equalizing line
must connect these two vessels to ensure that liquid refrigerant
will flow freely to the system receiver.
Note that the liquid refrigerant supply to the oil cooler exits pushing it up the riser and back to the thermosyphon receiver.
the thermosyphon receiver well below the level of the overflow The liquid/vapor mixture must enter into the vapor space of the
connection to the system receiver. This ensures an uninterrupted thermosyphon receiver but at a level only slightly higher than
5 minute supply of refrigerant liquid to the oil cooler regardless the maximum liquid level.
of system demands. In the thermosyphon receiver, the vapor that returns from the
As stated above under Principle of Operation, the liquid level in oil cooler is separated from the liquid and vented to the inlet of
the thermosyphon receiver must be maintained at a minimum the refrigerant condenser where it is once again condensed.
elevation greater than 6 feet (1.8 meters) above that of the oil The refrigerant in both the thermosyphon and system receiv-
cooler. ers is saturated, and its’ temperature is equal to the condens-
When the compressor package is operating, hot oil (above the ing temperature. Likewise, the refrigerant in the oil cooler is
refrigerant temperature) flows through the oil cooler shell. saturated at the same temperature. This refrigerant boils as it
As heat transfers from the higher temperature oil to the lower absorbs heat from the oil, but its temperature does not change.
temperature refrigerant, the oil is cooled while some of the The oil therefore is cooled to within an approach temperature
refrigerant in the oil cooler tubes boils. During compressor of the refrigerant condensing temperature. Typically, this ap-
operation, the downcomer supplying refrigerant to the oil cooler proach temperature is in the range of 15 - 35°F (8.3 - 19.4°C).
contains liquid refrigerant, while the riser exiting the oil cooler For example, with a condensing temperature of 95°F, the tem-
contains a mixture of refrigerant liquid and vapor. Gravity perature of the oil exiting the cooler would typically be 110°F
causes the more dense refrigerant liquid to flow downward to to 130°F (43.4°C to 54.4°C).
the oil cooler displacing the less dense liquid/vapor mixture and
THERMOSYPHON OIL COOLING 070.900-E (AUG 2006)
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Figure 4. Elevated System Receiver
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Figure 5. Combination Thermosyphon/System Receiver
THERMOSYPHON OIL COOLING 070.900-E (AUG 2006)
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SYSTEM RECEIVER AS THERMOSYPHON be added to the system in the future, common parts of the oil
RECEIVER cooling system must be sized to handle the heat rejection from
When it is possible to install the system receiver at sufficient these “future” compressors.
elevation (relative to the oil cooler), the system high-pressure It is possible to design a multiple-compressor system with sepa-
receiver can also serve as the refrigerant supply vessel for rate supply and return lines to each thermosyphon oil cooler. In
thermosyphon oil cooling as shown in Figure 4. which case, this piping would be designed as for a single-com-
Liquid refrigerant, draining from the condenser, flows by pressor system. Generally however, thermosyphon oil cooling
gravity to the system receiver. The outlet connections on this systems serving multiple compressors use common refrigerant
vessel must be located such that the refrigerant liquid supply liquid supply headers and liquid/vapor return headers. See
to the oil coolers is physically lower than the liquid supply to Figure 6 for the recommended piping of a multiple compressor
the system. This ensures an uninterrupted 5 minute supply of system using common supply and return headers. A word of
refrigerant liquid to the oil cooler regardless of system demands. caution: Consideration should be given to the order in which
This can be accomplished by taking refrigerant for oil cooling compressors cycle on and off relative to the order in which the
off the bottom of the receiver and using a dip tube for the main oil coolers are fed refrigerant. When a compressor cycles off,
system liquid line. Note that the nozzle on the receiver for the the thermosyphon oil cooler for that compressor fills with liquid
thermosyphon liquid supply, should project up into the receiver refrigerant. This can temporarily starve other oil coolers further
to prevent dirt being drawn into the supply line and eventually downstream resulting in nuisance compressor shut downs on
into the oil cooler. high oil temperature. If in the designer’s judgement, this will
be an issue for a particular system, then separate liquid feed
With this approach, the system receiver must be located such lines can be run as needed to avoid nuisance compressor shut
that the minimum liquid level in the receiver vessel is at an downs. Alternatively, the compressor/s that run the most can
elevation greater than 6 feet (1.8 meters) above that of the oil be located at the beginning of the supply header.
cooler. The operation of the thermosyphon oil cooler is the
same as described previously. A thermosyphon system serving multiple compressors is very
likely to have a liquid supply header that runs horizontally
If the system receiver can not be elevated sufficiently, an al- through the engine room. Vapor bubbles will form in this header
ternative approach is shown in Figure 5. In this arrangement as the saturated liquid refrigerant it contains absorbs heat from
the system receiver is a vertical vessel. In the top of the vessel the warm engine room and vaporizes. These bubbles must be
is a weir dam over which all the liquid from the condenser/s vented back to the supply vessel before they can combine to
is forced to flow. The weir dam forms a reservoir of liquid form a large vapor bubble that would interfere with the free
refrigerant to feed the thermosyphon oil cooler. The excess flow of liquid refrigerant to the oil coolers. The easiest way to
liquid that spills over the weir into the bottom of the receiver accomplish this is to pitch the liquid header so it rises ¼" per
is used to feed the rest of the system. For this case, the liquid foot in the direction of flow (moving away from the supply
level in the weir dam must be elevated greater than 6 feet (1.8 vessel). If the “tail end” of the liquid header is then connected
meters) above that of the oil cooler. to the return header, any refrigerant vaporized can easily return
Note that the liquid feed to the thermosyphon oil cooler should to the supply vessel. The downcomers carrying liquid refriger-
be taken off the receiver at the bottom of the weir dam. The ant to the individual oil coolers should exit the bottom of the
volume of the weir dam should be sized to provide at least 5 supply header. Note that the end of the supply header can not
minutes of liquid retention. The thermosyphon return line must exceed the elevation of the supply vessel.
enter the receiver in the vapor space just above the liquid level The horizontal return header carrying the two-phase refrigerant
in the weir dam. mixture back to the supply vessel should also be pitched. In
MULTIPLE THERMOSYPHON OIL COOLERS this case the header should be pitched so it falls ¼" per foot
A large percentage of the refrigeration systems using ther- or more in the direction of flow (moving towards the supply
mosyphon oil cooling involve multiple compressors sharing vessel). The risers carrying refrigerant liquid and vapor from
the individual oil coolers should enter the top of the return
a common thermosyphon supply vessel. A disproportionate
header.
share of “thermosyphon problems” seems to occur with these
multiple-compressor systems. The operating principles for a A variant of this system is the situation shown in Detail A of
thermosyphon system with multiple oil coolers however, are Figure 6. In some applications it is impossible to get all the
the same as those for a system with a single oil cooler return header above the supply vessel. In this case the return
header can be split in two sections with a vertical riser in the
Properly accounting for the total heat load on the oil cooling middle. However, in this situation the return header in the
system is the first key to a successful design. Remember that at engine room must be sloped upward ¼" per foot or more
some operating conditions compressor oil cooler heat rejection in the direction of flow toward the vertical riser. This allows
will be greatest at full load, while at other operating conditions vapor bubbles in the riser in the engine room to return to the
heat rejection will be greatest at part load. Consider every com- supply vessel. The part of the return header that is above the
pressor on the oil cooling system and every conceivable state supply vessel should be sloped down toward the supply vessel
of compressor loading to find the “worst case” condition for as before.
total oil cooler heat rejection. If additional compressors will
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Figure 6. Multiple Thermosyphon Oil Coolers
THERMOSYPHON OIL COOLING 070.900-E (AUG 2006)
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SYSTEM DYNAMICS pressure. When the condensing pressure suddenly drops, the
All previous discussions of thermosyphon oil cooler operation refrigerant in the thermosyphon oil cooling circuit will be at a
have assumed steady state operation. “Real world” refrigeration temperature higher than the equivalent boiling pressure. This
systems seldom operate at steady state conditions, but rather will cause a portion of the liquid refrigerant in the thermosyphon
experience many “dynamics” including startup, shutdown, load loop to flash to a vapor. The refrigerant expands dramatically
changes, hot gas defrosting of air units, ice maker harvesting, as it evaporates, and the rapidly expanding vapor can push the
condenser capacity changes etc. remaining liquid refrigerant out of the oil cooler, the downcom-
ers and the risers.
The system dynamics most likely to affect the operation of
thermosyphon oil cooling systems, are those that cause intermit- Following this evacuation of liquid refrigerant from the heat
tent interruptions in system refrigerant flows and/or changes in exchanger, the liquid will return by gravity and normal ther-
system condensing pressure. (Recall that the thermosyphon oil mosyphon operation will resume. Until the liquid refrigerant
cooling system operates at the system condensing pressure.) returns to the oil cooler however, no oil cooling occurs. It is
An adequate supply of refrigerant liquid in the thermosyphon quite possible for oil temperatures to become high enough to
receiver will permit a system to “ride through” brief interrup- cause a safety shutdown of a compressor package before the oil
tions in system refrigerant flow. cooling system can recover from a “blowout”. Also note that
during an oil cooler circuit “blowout” liquid refrigerant can
Rapid decreases in system condensing pressure however, can be propelled at high velocity by the expanding vapor. This can
lead to “blowout” of the refrigerant in the oil cooler circuit. Oil impose severe hydraulic shocks on the piping system.
cooler refrigerant circuit “blowout” normally occurs when there
is a large need for system hot gas (i.e. defrosting of air units, Maintaining stable condensing pressures minimizes the occur-
harvesting ice makers etc.) although it can also be caused by a rence of oil cooler circuit “blowout”. This may require defrost-
large, step increase in condenser capacity (i.e. a condenser fan ing fewer air units at a time, employing more sophisticated
or pump cycling on). In either case, it is the sudden decrease in condenser capacity controls, or other measures. Finally, note
system condensing pressure that causes this to occur. that increasing the elevation of the thermosyphon receiver
and oversizing the downcomers supplying liquid to the oil
In normal, steady state operation, the refrigerant in the thermo- coolers will tend to suppress flash boiling in the oil cooler
syphon oil cooling circuit is “saturated” and its temperature is following a condensing pressure decrease and lead to a more
equal to the saturation temperature at the system condensing rapid recovery.
THERMOSYPHON OIL COOLING 070.900-E (AUG 2006)
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APPENDIX A - PRESSURE LOSS CALCULATION The next step is to calculate the Reynolds number from equa-
The sizing example given previously will provide reasonably tion 3. The viscosity of liquid ammonia at 95°F can be obtained
sized piping. However, if the graphs yield a size that seems from CoolWare™ software. Note that the Reynolds number
questionable, a more rigorous calculation can be made as does not have units.
outlined below. In fact, once sizes have been selected from the
graphs, we still recommend calculating pressure losses in the
piping and comparing that to the available head.
The basic calculation process is to first determine the initial
pipe sizes from the sizing graphs. For a given oil heat rejec- The last piece of information needed to use a Moody diagram is
tion rate, the refrigerant flow rate through the piping can be to determine the relative roughness of the pipe given by equa-
determined. Once the flow rate is known, the pressure loss tion 4. The absolute roughness for various materials along with
in the liquid supply line can be determined, using the Moody a Moody diagram may be found in Mark’s Standard Handbook
diagram. The pressure loss in the return line which is a mixture for Mechanical Engineers.
of gas and liquid can be determined from the charts in this
appendix. The pressure losses in the thermosyphon supply
and return lines, plus an estimate of the cooler pressure loss,
is then added together to get the total loss in the piping. This
number is compared to the available liquid head to ensure that
the selected piping is adequate. Given the Reynolds number and relative roughness, the Moody
diagram can be read to determine the friction factor is 0.023.
For this example let’s assume that the thermosyphon oil cooling The pressure drop in the pipe is calculated from the friction
load is 425 MBH for an ammonia system at 95°F condensing. factor by equation 5. Note that 100 feet of pipe is assumed.
Further, initially assume that the liquid level in the thermosy- The result is that 100 feet of 2" schedule 40 pipe will have a
phon receiver is elevated 6 feet above the center line of the pressure loss of 0.067 psi with 58.6 LB/MIN of liquid ammonia
thermosyphon oil cooler. From Graph 1, a 2" liquid supply line flowing through it at 95°F.
to the oil cooler results in a pressure loss of 0.08 psi/100ft. Since
this is below the limit of 0.10 psi/100ft, the 2" pipe is accept- In our case we have assumed six feet of vertical pipe and there
able. However, for the return line the 0.08 psi/100ft exceeds the typically will also be elbows and at least 1 valve in the liquid
limit of 0.04 psi/100ft. A 2.5" pipe must be used for the return supply line. The pressure drop through the fittings and valves
line from the thermosyphon oil cooler. can be handled by using equivalent lengths; refer to Section V
in the FRICK Engineering Data and Tables publication (E20-
The next step is to determine the actual flow rate at an assumed 4G/J66). A table of equivalent lengths for valves and fittings
4 to 1 recirculation ratio from equation 1. Note that the graphs is given.
1 to 6 are based on a 4 to 1 recirculation ratio. By definition the
refrigerant flow rate is 4 times the evaporation rate which can
be determined from the oil cooler heat rejection and the latent
heat of vaporization. The latent heat of vaporization or hfg can
be determined from the FRICK Engineering Data and Tables
pamphlet (E20-4G/J66) at 95°F condensing temperature.
For our example assume that there are two, 2" long radius
elbows and one 2" angle valve. Reading the table for ferrous
With the flow rate known the pressure loss in the liquid supply
fittings results in an equivalent length of 2.3 feet for a welded
line can be calculated using the Moody diagram and the Darcy-
elbow and 25 feet for a flanged angle valve. The total equivalent
Weisbach formula (see an undergraduate engineering text on
length of straight pipe is given by equation 6.
fluid mechanics). To use the Moody diagram the velocity of the
refrigerant in the liquid line and then the Reynolds number must
first be determined. The velocity in the 2" liquid supply pipe is
defined by equation 2. The density of the liquid refrigerant and The total pressure loss in the thermosyphon liquid supply line
cross sectional area of a 2", schedule 40 pipe can be obtained is given by equation 7.
from the FRICK Engineering Data and Tables pamphlet (E20-
4G/J66) at 95°F condensing temperature.
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