Experimental study of influence of internal heat exchanger in a chest freezer using r-513a as replacement of r-134a

Abstract

• Use of IHX in a chest-freezer reduce the time to reach the stability temperature in the indoor cabin of equipment. • The energy consumption was reduced in 8% using R-513A in comparison with R-134a. • The optimal refrigerant mass charge was reduced in 6.25% when the R-513A were used in comparison with R-134a. • The running time ratio for R-513A was lower than R-134a in 11.8%. Internal Heat Exchanger (IHX) in vapor compression refrigeration cycle is an alternative to improve the energy performance in refrigeration systems. In this paper, the influence of IHX on thermal behavior of a chest freezer is evaluated experimentally. For the study, R-513A is used as replacement refrigerant of R-134a. Results indicate that the optimal refrigerant mass is less for the R-513A than R-134a under the same operating conditions. When R-513A is used as refrigerant, a reduction of 6.25% in refrigerant mass in comparison with the R-134a refrigerant is achieved. Also, it is found that the stability time in the indoor compartment is reduced by 2 and 4 h when the R-513A was used in comparison with the R-134a with and without IHX, respectively. Finally, energy consumption for R-134a is 8% higher for 24-h energy consumption test, in comparison with R-513A.