Performance simulation of HFC-161 as an alternative refrigerant to HCFC-22 for room air conditioner

Abstract

According to recent Kigali amendment in 2016, ODS (ozone depleting substances) and high GWP (global warming potential) refrigerants must be phased out. There is need to find an alternative refrigerant for air conditioning applications. This article presents the performance comparison for selected low GWP refrigerants commonly used by different air conditioner manufacturers. A baseline test was conducted on a 5.2 kW air conditioner originally designed for HCFC-22 in psychrometric lab as per Indian standard IS 1391 part 1. Simulation tool was tuned and validated against the experimental results within ± 5% accuracy. Parametric analysis was done using IMST-ART tool for the best suitable configuration of compressor capacity, capillary tube, heat exchangers etc. for maximum energy efficiency. Simulation study concluded that the HFC-161 is an energy efficient and climate friendly alternative since it has zero ODP (ozone depletion potential) and ultra-low GWP of 12 except its flammability issue. European standard EN 378, specifies the limit of about 15 g/m3 for charging HFC-161 in the AC system. For HFC-161, the highest cooling capacity of 5.3 kW is achieved in case 4. The HFC-161 gave 27.2% higher EER compared to HCFC-22 system due to 26.47% lowered power consumption. Discharge temperature of HFC-161 is also lowered in the range of 70 °C to 82 °C compared to selected refrigerants. The required charge for HFC-161 was only 55% of HCFC-22.