What type of refrigeration cycle involves both evaporation and condensation processes?

The vapor-compression cycle is a fundamental refrigeration process that involves both evaporation and condensation. In this cycle, a refrigerant absorbs heat from the environment during the evaporation process, which takes place in the evaporator. The refrigerant then changes from a liquid to a gas as it absorbs this heat, effectively cooling the surrounding area.

Subsequently, the gaseous refrigerant is compressed, raising its pressure and temperature. It then moves to the condenser, where it releases the absorbed heat to the environment, causing the refrigerant to condense back into a liquid. This continuous cycle of evaporation, compression, condensation, and expansion is what allows the vapor-compression cycle to effectively remove heat from a designated area, making it suitable for refrigeration and air conditioning applications.

Other types of refrigeration cycles, like the absorption cycle, primarily rely on a heat source to drive the process rather than mechanical compression, and may not combine these two obvious phases as clearly as the vapor-compression cycle. Heat pump cycles are similar but are designed to transfer heat in either direction, and reversible cycles usually refer to those that can operate in both heating and cooling modes, but still rely fundamentally on either vapor-compression or absorption principles. Thus, the vapor-compression cycle distinctly encompasses both the