How Does A Refrigerator Work? | Refrigeration Explained

A refrigerator uses five main components: an expansion device, evaporator coils, a compressor, condenser coils, and a refrigerant, which is a key liquid in the cooling process.

Before refrigeration, keeping food fresh was a challenging task, with methods like salting or burying food in snow. The refrigerator has revolutionized our daily lives, making food preservation much easier. This video explains how a refrigerator cools food and drinks.

Refrigeration is based on a simple principle: when a liquid evaporates, it absorbs heat, and when it condenses, it releases heat. A common example is how wet hands feel cold due to evaporating water, and how condensation forms on a cold drink.

The refrigerant enters the expansion device, expands, cools, and turns into a gas. It then absorbs heat from the food through the evaporator coils. The compressor squeezes the gas, increasing its temperature and pressure. Finally, the hot gas flows through condenser coils, releases heat into the atmosphere, cools back into a liquid, and the cycle repeats, constantly removing heat from inside the refrigerator.