Refrigeration Ton Explained

Refrigeration ton. In this article we will understand the term refrigeration ton. We'll cover where the term is used, what it means, where it comes from, how to calculate it, and also some working examples, as well as how to convert to other common refrigeration units.

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The term refrigeration ton is commonly used, and is used primarily, in North America. It is a unit of measurement of the refrigerating capacity of a refrigerating machine. It has a few variations, and is sometimes called a refrigeration ton or just RT for short.

The term ton of refrigeration is a bit confusing for many people. It has nothing to do with the weight of the machine. This only relates to the amount of cooling the machine can produce.

The term was used in many other countries, but most of the world switched to SI metric units of kilowatts of refrigeration. However, some people and manufacturers will always refer to equipment rated in tons of refrigeration.

If you are outside of North America and have older refrigeration equipment on site, this will likely show up in tons of refrigeration. If you work in North America, you will often see large refrigeration installations, such as chillers, referenced in tons of refrigeration. While smaller units are generally rated in BTUs.

If you want to know how chillers work, air conditioning units or heat pumps, follow the links.

The term refrigeration ton originated in the late 1800s. It was during this time that blocks of ice were used in air handling units to provide refrigeration. They literally asked for blocks of ice by the ton. This would then be directly into the warmer supply airflow, which would melt it and draw the cool air into the building. Thus, one ton of ice would provide one ton of cooling, and the equivalent amount of cooling later became available through vapor compression refrigeration machines.

Thus, one ton of refrigeration is the amount of heat that must be removed from one ton of water (US short ton) to turn it into ice in 24 hours. This is for latent heat only, so the water should be zero degrees Celsius, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and the ice should also be zero degrees Celsius, 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

This is just the energy needed to cause a phase change in water to change it from a liquid to a solid. (From water to ice). If the water were at room temperature, you would need to remove more heat to bring it down to zero degrees Celsius, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, before you could turn it into ice.

Calculation Example

Let's look at some calculations for this in modern units for metric and imperial units. Thus, a short ton equals 907.18 kilograms or 2,000 pounds. The latent heat of fusion of ice is 334 kilojoules per kilogram, or 144 BTUs per pound. So, to calculate the latent heat cooling load, simply multiply the respective units.

To convert this weight of water to ice in 24 hours, on the metric side you would need to extract 303,000 kilojoules, or in BTUs, 288,000.

Metric: 907.18 kg x 334 kJ/kg = 303,000 kJ

Imperial: 2,000 lbs. x 144 BTU/lbs. = 288,000 BTUs

To find our hourly rate of cooling, we just need to divide this number by 24 hours. So in the

To find our cooling rate per hour, simply divide this number by 24 hours. so in the

Metric: 303,000 kJ divided by 24 hours equals 12,625 kJ per hour.

Imperial: 288,000 BTUs divided by 24 hours will give us 12,000 BTUs per hour.

Now for metric units, since kilowatts are a power based on joules per second, we must divide 12625 kJ by the number of seconds in an hour. So if there are 60 minutes in an hour, multiply by 60 seconds per minute. This will give us 3600 seconds per hour. So if we divide 12,625 kJ by 3,600 seconds per hour, that's 3.51 kilowatts.

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