Thermodynamics and Refrigerators - Coursework Example

There are five essential components of a refrigerator namely the fluid refrigerant which is highly volatile, the condenser, the condenser coils, the evaporator coils and an expansion valve (Serway, Faughn, & Vuille, 2009).

The coolant that is in the liquid form gets into the expansion valve is shown by 1. There is a sudden decline in pressure that causes the liquid to expand cool and vaporize into gas as it advances to the inner compartment of the fridge. There is a round pipe buried at the back wall of the fridge through which the liquid passes, and this chiller cabinet serves an important role in absorbing heat from the food inside the compartments. This is true according to Kelvin-Planck law that states that heat transfer occurs from a region of high temperature to the region of low temperature. This law accounts for limitations of the first law of thermodynamics for failing to give the direction of heat flow. The part labeled 3 represents the compressor whose purpose is to convert the coolant into a hot high-pressure gas. This compressor squeezes the coolant raising its temperature and pressure (Serway, Faughn, & Vuille, 2009). The coolant passes through thin radiator pipes at the back of the fridge represented by the part labeled 4. In these radiators, most of the heat in the fluid is given out and cools back into a liquid as it advances to the next level. It is equally important to notice that Kelvin-Planck law requires that heat transfer should occur from a warmer to a cooler environment. The liquid then passes through an insulated cabinet to the expansion valve back to the reservoir, and the whole process repeats over and again. Eventually, all the heat in the compartments containing food or beverages is completely extracted resulting in temperatures that are too low for invasion of bacteria that causes decomposition of food (Serway, Faughn, & Vuille, 2009).