Experimental investigation on lindehampson refrigerating system operating with different blends of hydrocarbons as alternate refrigerant

Abstract

Refrigerants are the basic working fluids in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems. The development of the refrigeration and air conditioning industry depends to a large extent on the development of refrigerants for various applications and the development of various system components. According to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has been completely phased out in most countries. However, by 2030, refrigerants located in developing and industrialized countries should be phased out with hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). The majority of industrial nations have reduced the consumption of HCFC refrigerants. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) calls for the emission of six greenhouse gas categories, which include hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) used as refrigerants, to be reduced. There are currently a number of climate-friendly alternatives to CFC / HCFC / HFC refrigerants for use in commercial refrigeration applications. Alternatives available today include hydrocarbons isobutene (R600a), propane (R-290), propylene (R-1270), ammonium (R-717) and carbon dioxide (R-744). This research focused to develop a strategy of refrigerants to improve the efficiency of the refrigeration system. R134a is the most widely used refrigerant in domestic refrigerators, due to its excellent thermodynamic and thermophysical properties. In the present work, I have made an attempt to improve the coefficient of performance (COP) of the system, by introducing various combinations of hydrocarbon refrigerants in the system. Thus the compressor work reduces and it increases the performance of the refrigerationsystem. Also experiments were conducted with R134a and the results were compared with the results obtained with the hydrocarbon refrigerants. The experiments were conducted in a domestic refrigerator without heat exchanger with the various refrigerants such as R134a, R290/R600a (70/30), R290/R600a (60/40), R290/R600a (50/50) and R290/R600a