The vapor compression cycle (VCC) underpins the vast majority of refrigeration systems throughout the world. Most undergraduate thermodynamics courses cover the VCC, albeit in a cursory fashion. This book is designed to offer an in-depth look at the analysis, design and operation of large-scale industrial ammonia-based refrigeration systems. An important feature of this work is a treatment of computer-aided analysis using CoolProp, an open source resource for evaluating thermodynamic properties. CoolProp can be incorporated into a large number of common computational platforms including Microsfot Excel, Python, and Matlab, all of which are covered in this book.

John Gardner is professor emeritus of mechanical and biomedical engineering at Boise State University where he held many appointments including department chair (2001-2007, 2020- 2021), Associate Vice President (2007-2010), and Director of the CAES Energy Efficiency Research Institute (2010-2020). Prior to that, he was on the faculty of the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department at Penn State (1987-2000). Gardner earned his Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Cleveland State University and his Master's and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at The Ohio State University. He is widely published in the areas of robotics, modeling and control of dynamic systems, biomedical engineering, and engineering education. He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Idaho and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.