Abstract
Abstract Substituting Hydrofluorocarbons with natural refrigerants in domestic refrigerators will significantly reduce the direct contributions of fluorinated gases to global warming which will be of great environmental benefit. In this study, the performances of dimethyl-ether (RE170) and its azeotropic mixtures (R510A and R511A) in a refrigeration system were assessed theoretically and compare with that of conventional refrigerant. The study revealed that the three investigated alternative refrigerants exhibited significantly good heat transfer characteristics, low pressure ratio, high latent heat in the liquid phase which resulted in their high thermal conductivity and Volumetric Cooling Capacity (VCC). The thermal conductivity of the refrigerants reduces while the evaporating temperature rises and the value obtained for RE170 was the highest among the four refrigerants studied. The Coefficient of Performance (COP) for RE170, R510A and R511A were higher than that of R134a by 6.20, 10.06 and 3.02 % respectively while their power consumptions per ton of refrigeration were lower than that of R134a by 6.99, 11.04 and 1.47 % respectively. In conclusion, dimethyl-ether and its azeotropic mixtures performed better than R134a in that they have higher thermal conductivity, refrigerating effect, VCC, COP, lower power consumption per ton of refrigeration and hence, they can be considered as suitable replacements for R134a in domestic refrigerator.
Highlights
Refrigeration or artificial production of cold has a great impact on the modern society
The pressure ratios of RE170, R510A and R511A are closely followed that of R134a with the improvement of lower deviations of 3.09, 4.10 and 14.81 % respectively
The results show that RE170 and its azeotropic mixtures exhibited lower energy utilization than the conventional refrigerant in the domestic refrigerator
Summary
Refrigeration or artificial production of cold has a great impact on the modern society. Refrigeration applications provide comfort for workers, increase their productivity and make many vital production processes possible. It enables: production and storage of pharmaceutical materials and medical facilities, food preservation, transportation and storage [1]–[3]. Mechanical work is the conventional method of transferring heat, but heat can be transferred by other means such as: electricity, magnetism and laser. The most common method of refrigeration and air conditioning applications all over the world is mechanical based vapour compression refrigeration [4]–[6]
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