Investigation on Thermo-Physical Properties of Mixed Nano-Refrigerant with CuO based nanoparticles

Abstract

Over the past few decades, development of nanotechnology has been made its mark in the various fields of research. Further, the energy consumption has seen an increment with the increasing refrigeration and air conditioning systems in numbers. However, to overcome the energy crisis globally the need of highly efficient systems becomes a necessity. At the same time, preventing the environment by these technological leaps becomes challenging. In view of environmental impacts of these technologies Montreal Protocol Treaty was signed in 1987 to restrict the use of substances such as chlorofluorocarbons damaging the ozone layer and was enforced from January 1989. Whereas, Kyoto Protocol Treaty signed in 1997 to restrict usage of high valued Global Warming Potential substances such as hydrofluorocarbons and was enforced on February 2005 onwards. Therefore, using low ozone depletion potential and low global warming valued refrigerants such as R-600a, R-290, etc. becomes an effective substitute. In this study, the thermophysical properties of mixed nano-refrigerants made from mixing R-290 and R-600a with nanoparticles has been estimated using fluid data available in NIST database standard 4 (SUPERTRAP®) versions 3.2.1. Further, the effect of volume concentration of nanoparticles in mixed refrigerant (R-290 and R-600a) on density, thermal conductivity, viscosity and specific heat is investigated. In addition, the effect of pressure on these properties is also investigated