Experimental Analysis on Vapour Compression Refrigeration System Using Nanolubricant with HFC-134a Refrigerant

Abstract

This paper investigates the reliability and performance of a refrigeration system using nanolubricant with 1, 1, 1, 2-Tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) refrigerant. Mineral Oil (MO) is mixed with nanoparticles such as Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3). These mixtures were used as the lubricant instead of Polyolester (POE) oil in the HFC-134a refrigeration system as HFC-134a does not compatible with raw mineral oil. An investigation was done on compatibility of mineral oil and nanoparticles mixture at 0.1 and 0.2 grams / litre with HFC-134a refrigerant. To carry out this investigation, an experimental setup was designed and fabricated in the lab. The refrigeration system performance with the nanolubricant was investigated by using energy consumption test. The results indicate that HFC-134a and mineral oil with above mentioned nanoparticles works normally and safely in the refrigeration system. The refrigeration system performance was better than the HFC-134a and POE oil system. Thus nanolubricant (Mixture of Mineral Oil (MO) and nanoParticles) can be used in refrigeration system to considerably reduce energy consumption and better Coefficient of Performance (COP).