Experimental investigation of the influence of thermoelectric subcooler on the performance of R134a refrigeration systems

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study about the influence of a thermoelectric subcooler (TESC) on the performance of a refrigeration system that uses R134a as its working fluid. In this study, a TESC device was designed, fabricated, and attached to a condenser outlet tube. The refrigeration system’s cooling capacity, coefficient of performance (COP), and total power consumption resulting from its integration with the TESC were investigated. Degrees of subcooling within a range of 0–8 K were taken into consideration. The results indicated that the cooling capacity necessary for subcooling, which was provided by the TESC device, increased, but the COP of the TESC (COPTESC) decreased. The results also showed that the R134a refrigeration system benefitted from the TESC when the degree of subcooling increased. Using the TESC device increased the overall system COP by 27.31% and increased its cooling capacity by 50.72% at 8 K, which was the maximum degree of subcooling studied. Without taking the TESC device’s power consumption into account, the overall system COP improved by 50.72%.