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Testing of propane/isobutane mixture in domestic refrigerators.

Author(s) : JUNG D., KIM C. B., SONG K., et al.

Type of article: Article, IJR article

Summary

The performance of a propane/isobutane (R290/R600a) mixture is examined for domestic refrigerators. A thermodynamic cycle analysis indicated that the propane/isobutane mixture in the composition range of 0.2 to 0.6 mass fraction of propane yields an increase in the COP of up to 2.3% as compared to CFC-12. For the actual tests, two commercial refrigerators of 299 and 465 l are used. For both units, all refrigeration components remained the same throughout the tests, except that the length of the capillary tube and amount of charge were changed for the mixture. Each refrigerator was fully instrumented with more than 20 thermocouples, two pressure transducers, and a digital watt/watt-h meter. For each unit, both "energy consumption test" and "no load pull-down test" were conducted under the same conduction. The experimental results obtained with the same compressor indicated that the propane/isobutane mixture at 0.6 mass fraction of propane has a 3-4% higher energy efficiency and a some-what faster cooling rate than CFC-12. The mixture showed a shorter compressor on-time and lower compressor dome temperatures than CFC-12. In conclusion, the proposed hydrocarbon mixture seems to be an appropriate long term candidate to replace CFC-12/HFC-134a from the viewpoint of energy conservation requiring minimal changes in the existing refrigerators.

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Pages: 517-527

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Details

  • Original title: Testing of propane/isobutane mixture in domestic refrigerators.
  • Record ID : 2001-0197
  • Languages: English
  • Source: International Journal of Refrigeration - Revue Internationale du Froid - vol. 23 - n. 7
  • Publication date: 2000/11

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