EN Improving the energy efficiency of refrigeration equipment with a direct sales function

Abstract

The increased use of refrigerants with low global warming potential GWP over the past decade indicates that manufacturers are already making gradual replacements with refrigerants with reduced environmental impact. Thus, in addition to HFC gas phase-out requirements, most EU countries are pursuing a trend to reduce the energy consumption of refrigeration appliances. Such countries restrict the import of equipment that does not meet the energy efficiency requirements. This paper presents the ecodesign of refrigeration equipment in relation to the requirements of the sales market using the Regulation on Conformity Assessment Procedure. HVAC&R equipment contributes to GHG emissions in two ways: directly through refrigerant leakage or venting, and indirectly through electricity use, the latter accounting for up to two-thirds of GHG emissions. The paper compares the energy and environmental characteristics of refrigerants R404a and R290 in freezer M200V. The experimental results show that the highest COP va­lues in the system for R404a and R290 are 3.02 and 3.19, respectively. Possibilities of complete transition from F-gases to natural analogues with GWP ≈ 0 are shown. At application of R290 its advantages on energy efficiency are obvious - reduction of electric power consumption of freezing chests on 8,9 %, influence on environment R404A – GWP=3260, R290 – GWP=3. The calculation of energy efficiency class for freezing chest was made. To improve energy efficiency, a number of design modifications were made: the density of the thermal insulation material and the compressor were changed. The energy consumption of the modified version at the second climatic class was measured at 1.23 kW/24h, and the energy efficiency coefficient according to the calculation EEI =34.904, which corresponds to the energy efficiency class «C».