Which component is responsible for increasing the pressure of the refrigerant to drive the cycle?

• A. Condenser
• B. Evaporator
• C. Receiver
• D. Compressor

Answer: (D)

The driving force in a refrigeration cycle comes from compressing the refrigerant. The component that does this takes in low‑pressure refrigerant, typically a vapor from the evaporator, and compresses it into high‑pressure, high‑temperature gas. That rise in pressure pushes the refrigerant through the rest of the system, allowing it to move to the condenser to reject heat and then return to the evaporator to absorb heat again. The evaporator handles heat absorption at low pressure, the condenser handles heat rejection and keeps the refrigerant under high pressure, and the receiver stores liquid refrigerant to smooth flow. So, compression is what increases the pressure to drive the cycle.