The article represents the advantages and disadvantages of refrigeration machines operating on non-azeotropic refrigerant mixtures. There has been illustrated their specific feature in comparison with pure substances: they are non-isothermal during phase transitions. It can be effective when cooling or heating flows that significantly change the temperature, and ineffective when working with volumes, where it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature. In the first case there takes place a decrease in the internal irreversibility of heat transfer processes in evaporators and condensers; in the second case - an increase. When using mixed refrigerants, it is possible to simultaneously obtain several temperature levels in a single-stage machine at the same pressure in the evaporators, they can obtain low boiling points of the refrigerant without vacuum in the evaporator and regulate the refrigeration capacity of the machine by changing the composition of the mixture. The prospects of using mixtures of working bodies of refrigerating machines have been proved. The diagrams T-S, T-ξ, i-ξ are presented allowing to calculate the cycle of the machine, to determine its operating parameters and to calculate the technical and energy characteristics. The developed thermal diagrams make it possible to accurately examine the dynamics of the boiling and condensation processes of a binary mixture, show the change in the concentration of the mixture in the vapor and liquid phases and make it possible to construct and calculate the cycle of a refrigeration machine operating on a mixed refrigerant. Examples of constructing cycles of two schemes of refrigeration machines operating on a mixed refrigerant are considered: with separation of the working substance flow and without separation. Methods for calculating the cycle are provided

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of the effect of oil on the heat transfer rate at boiling of mixed refrigerant R406A. Since the air conditioning system is not a pure refrigerant, but a mixture of oil with a concentration of up to 8%, such an amount of oil affects both hydrodynamics and heat exchange in the evaporators. The experimental work covers the entire range of regime parameters typical for these systems. There is shown the process of changing oil concentration in the pipe, as the working fluid boils, proving that most of the oil pipe does not impair the heat exchange in the course of two-phase flow boiling. Different modes of refrigerant R406A boiling dynamics have been defined, and each mode is given a quantitative assessment in terms of the effects of the oil and explaining of this effect on the fluid flow and heat transfer based on visual observations and the experiment results. The main factor of the effect is the freon-oil foam, which increases the proportion of the wetted surface in the wave and stratified modes and the heat transfer rate to 30%. A comparison of the heat transfer coefficients both in the cross section and along the pipe length has been performed, showing that the maximum change in heat transfer occurs in the upper part of the surface due to developing a dry wall on it and wetting it with freon-oil foam. A comparison of the heat transfer rate of pure refrigerant R406A has been done; the presence of oil in it shows that the effect of oil is complex and ambiguous. Calculation and criterion dependences for calculation of heat transfer coefficients in different modes have been proposed.