Theoretical performance studies on environment friendly refrigerants used in refrigeration units

Area of Science:

• Thermodynamics
• Refrigeration Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• EU regulations mandate low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants for household systems.
• Conventional refrigerants like R134a and R22 face environmental scrutiny.
• Development of sustainable alternatives is crucial for the refrigeration industry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To theoretically evaluate the performance of seven low-GWP refrigerant mixtures.
• To identify potential replacements for R134a and R22 in small refrigeration units.
• To assess environmental impact, including GWP and ozone depletion potential (ODP).

Main Methods:

• Theoretical performance analysis of six binary and one ternary refrigerant mixtures.
• Utilized REFPROP 10 for property estimation across various operating conditions.
• Evaluated key performance metrics: COP, RE, VCC, discharge temperature, pressure ratio, and specific power consumption.

Main Results:

• Mixtures M2 and M11 demonstrated superior performance compared to R134a across most parameters.
• Investigated refrigerants showed significantly lower specific power consumption and higher VCC than R134a under specific conditions.
• M3, M11, M12, and M13 mixtures exhibited notably lower discharge temperatures than R134a.

Conclusions:

• Refrigerant mixtures M2 and M11 are identified as potential eco-friendly alternatives to R134a and R22.
• These mixtures are non-flammable with zero ODP and low GWP values.
• The study supports the transition to sustainable refrigerants in compliance with environmental regulations.