Experimental study of R290 replacement R134a in cold storage air conditioning system

Abstract

R290 refrigerant offers good environmental protection and thermodynamic characteristics. The feasibility of R290 replacing R134a was summarized through theoretical analysis and experimental tests in this paper. A coiled ice storage experimental test platform was built, and the performance of R290 and R134a cool storage air conditioning systems was analyzed. The experimental analysis confirmed that the R290 system has a higher volumetric refrigerating capacity, and the system COP (coefficient of performance) is comparable to the R134a system. At the same evaporation temperature, the pressure ratio and exhaust temperature of the R290 system are lower than those of the R134a system. In addition, the charge amount of the refrigerant can have an impact on cold storage performance. It was found that the optimal charge range of R134a is 1300–1400 g, and that of R290 ranges from 500 to 600 g. The optimal charge amount for R290 is only 43–46% of R134a. A lower charge amount is beneficial to reduce the explosion risk of the R290 cool storage air conditioner. Under the optimal charge, the R290 system has a fast cooling rate and shorter cooling storage time, and the average specific refrigerating effect is increased by approximately 52% compared with R134a.