15. DEFROST
Air cooling evaporators whose surface temperature is lower than the dew point of the air they are cooling will accumulate
moistu re from the air. When t he surface te mperature is b elow freezing, t his moistur e will be depos ited in the form of f rost and
eventua lly, if left, wi ll restrict h eat transfer an d air flow.
Various methods are used for the removal of frost . When the air inlet temper ature is at 3°C or higher it is possible to use natural defrost by just switching o the refrigeration flow for a period. At lower temperatures heat needs to be added and the
fans sw itched o to preven t the heat bein g blown into the s tore. The heat ca n be from elec trical elem ents passi ng through or
adjacen t to the fin, hot/ warm refrigera nt gas passing through the tubes or, less commonl y, water casc aded over the fins or a
warm gly col solution in a se condary sy stem of tubes.
Defrost options
Hot-gas defrost can be the quickest and most ecient common method of defrost. The fact that heat is applied to all the
same surfaces that provided the cooling means that frost is melted quickly and evenly. The low temperature of the heat,
compared to electric defrost, results in less heat, in the form of steaming condensate, escaping from the cooler into the
coldstore.
HG(E)A, HG (E)B – Reverse Cycle
Generally used on systems with one or two evaporators. During defrost the condenser is used as an evaporator and the
refrige ration sys tem acts as a he at pump. During d efrost the flow i s in the reverse di rection as i t is usually mos t convenient to
redirec t flow close to the compressor. As the evaporator ac ts as a condenser in this regime the hot gas is at high pressure/
high temp erature givi ng a superior per formance in com parison to a hot gas s ystem.
HG(E)C, HG(E)D
Where th ere are two or more ev aporators on a ref rigeration s ystem it is possible to def rost one using th e hot-gas generated
in the operatin g of the other. This arr angement allows defros t flow to be in the same direc tion as cooling flow. Althou gh this
arrang ement can oper ate on a two evapor ator system the q uantity of lo w pressure, super h eated gas is minim al, therefore it
is recommended that this arrangement is used on systems with three or more evaporators, with one evaporator on defrost
whilst the other evaporators are operational, generating the defrost heat.
Defrost He ader - HG(E)B, HG(E)C
Witho ut a defrost hea der the distr ibution sys tem causes a rest riction red ucing the flow ra te of hot-gas. Th is reduces the ra te
of defrost and can result in condensed refrigerant logging in the coil and preventing even defrosting. This problem is more
likely the less superheat the hot-gas has.
Drain Pan Defr osting – HGE
Hot gas can be used fo r drain pan defros t but the lower heating tem perature makes it d icult for heat to reach the ex tremes
of the drain-pan. Also, the drain-pan is more exposed to the room temperature and will quickly drop to room temperature
when the defrost is terminated, with the possibility of condensate still running of the coil to freeze in the pan. Using electric
defros t in the pan overcomes t hese disadva ntages, par ticularly as it c an be controlle d to operate for a shor t time before an d
after t he main defros t.
The best configuration of hot gas coil and tray defrost is to ensure that the hot gas enter s the tray matrix first then enter s the
coil, th is is arranged v ia the valve sta tion supplied a nd fitted by the re frigeration c ontractor.
Initial Defrost Termination Settings
Time/Time defrost system
KMe, KEC , TEC, DSR , LSR , FM, SM: 30 minu tes
Time/Temperature termination system
TEC, KE C, KMe - Elect ric defrost: m inimum sett ing 4.5°C
DSR, LS R, SM, FM - Electric defrost: minimum setting 11 °C