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Experimental refrigeration systems performance of R-404A to R-448A drop-in substitution through expansion valve analysis.

Author(s) : VILLANUEVA-GARZA C. I., MORALES-FUENTES A., RAMIREZ-HERNANDEZ H. G., MENDEZ-DIAZ S., PLATAS-GARZA H. D., SANCHEZ-CRUZ F. A., GARCIA-LARA H. D., MARTINEZ-MARTINEZ S.

Type of article: IJR article

Summary

The present study examines the performance of drop-in substitution of R-404A to R-448A in a commercial refrigeration system, focusing on how changes in the electronic expansion valve (EEV) opening affect operational characteristics. The system is studied at a controlled room air temperature under automatic valve operation, which keeps the superheat value within a preset range for the specific refrigerant. Then, the valve is manually set to over-opened and under-opened positions, and performance is reported for several refrigerant charges and ambient temperatures of 20 and 25 °C. The results show that R-448A requires 32 % less refrigerant mass flow to achieve comparable evaporation conditions. That leads to reduced power consumption and an improved Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of 9.5 % compared to R-404A. The EEV automatically closes as refrigerant is added to the system to achieve the desired superheat value. The observed valve openings ranged from 73 to 86 % for R-404A and 27 to 40 % for R-448A. For R-404A, the over-opened valve scenario increases EER by 5 % compared to automatic operation, but reducing the superheat value could risk delivering liquid refrigerant to the compressor. For R-448A, an over-opened valve does not lead to higher EER, with better performance observed using automatic operation and a refrigerant charge of 2.7 kg. A 5 °C increase in ambient temperature requires additional mass flow, resulting in a valve opening increase of 6–8 % for R404A and 10–11 % for R-448A. That leads to a decrease in EER by approximately 4.8–6.4 %.

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Details

  • Original title: Experimental refrigeration systems performance of R-404A to R-448A drop-in substitution through expansion valve analysis.
  • Record ID : 30033541
  • Languages: English
  • Source: International Journal of Refrigeration - Revue Internationale du Froid - vol. 171
  • Publication date: 2025/03
  • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.12.022

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