Share

Experimental evaluation of a domestic refrigerator working with LPG.

Author(s) : FATOUH M., KAFAFY M. el

Type of article: Article

Summary

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) of 60% propane and 40% commercial butane has been tested as a drop-in substitute for R134a in a single evaporator domestic refrigerator with a total volume of 0.283 m3. Continuous running and cycling tests were performed on that refrigerator under tropical conditions using different capillary tube lengths and various charges of R-134a and LPG. Continuous running and cycling results showed that R-134a with a capillary tube length of 4 m and charge of 100 g or LPG with capillary tube lengths from 4.0 to 6.0 and charge of 50 g or more satisfy the required freezer air temperature of -12°C. The lowest electric energy consumption was achieved using LPG with combination of capillary tube length of 5 m and charge of 60 g. This combination achieved higher volumetric cooling capacity and lower freezer air temperature compared to R-134a. Experimental results of the refrigerator using LPG of 60 g and capillary tube length of 5 m were compared with those using R-134a of 100 g and capillary tube length of 4 m. Pull-down time, pressure ratio and power consumption of LPG refrigerator were lower than those of R134a refrigerator by about 7.6, 5.5 and 4.3%, respectively. Also, actual COP of LPG refrigerator was higher than that of R-134a by about 7.6%. Lower on-time ratio and energy consumption of LPG refrigerator by nearly 14.3 and 10.8%, respectively, compared to those of R-134a refrigerator were achieved. In conclusion, the proposed LPG seems to be an appropriate long-term candidate to replace R-134a in the existing refrigerator, except capillary tube length and initial charge. [Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. Copyright, 2006].

Details

  • Original title: Experimental evaluation of a domestic refrigerator working with LPG.
  • Record ID : 2007-0226
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Applied Thermal Engineering - vol. 26 - n. 14-15
  • Publication date: 2006/10

Links


See other articles in this issue (9)
See the source

Indexing