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Improved energy efficiency for CFC domestic refrigerators retrofitted with ozone-friendly HFC-134a/HC refrigerant mixture.

Author(s) : SEKHAR S. J., MOHAN LAL D., RENGANARAYANAN S.

Type of article: Article

Summary

At present two potential substitutes, HFC-134a and HC blends, are available as drop-in substitutes for CFC-12. HC (hydrocarbon) refrigerants do have inherent problems in respect of flammability. HFC-134a is neither flammable nor toxic. But HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) are not compatible with mineral oil and the oil change is a major issue when retrofitting. In this article an experimental analysis was carried out in a 165 l CFC-12 household refrigerator retrofitted with an eco-friendly refrigerant mixture of HFC-134a/HC-290/HC-600a without changing the mineral oil. Its performance, as well as energy consumption, was compared with the conventional one. As the system has been running successfully for more than 12 months it is also evident that the new mixture is compatible with mineral oil. It has been found that the new mixture could reduce the energy consumption by 4 to 11% and improve the actual COP by 3 to 8% from that of CFC-12. The new mixture also showed 3 to 12% improvement in theoretical COP. The overall performance has proved that the new mixture could be an eco-friendly substitute to phase out CFC-12.

Details

  • Original title: Improved energy efficiency for CFC domestic refrigerators retrofitted with ozone-friendly HFC-134a/HC refrigerant mixture.
  • Record ID : 2004-2842
  • Languages: English
  • Source: International Journal of thermal Sciences - vol. 43 - n. 3
  • Publication date: 2004/03

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