Mapping the energy consumption of household refrigerators by varying the refrigerant charge and the expansion restriction

Optimal design of a light commercial freezer through the analysis of the combined effects of capillary tube diameter and refrigerant charge on the performance

“…The trend shown in Fig. 7b agrees quite well with the results already obtained experimentally by Boeng and Melo (2014) and those reported by Bj€ ork and Palm (2006) if only the measured region of the map is taken into account. If all the restrictions previously exposed were to be satisfied, the useful region of the performance map would be drastically reduced.…”

“…Thus, the capillary tube and the refrigerant charge can be determined with an optimization process. Bj€ ork and Palm (2006) and Boeng and Melo (2014) studied experimentally the energy consumption of a household refrigerator when the expansion capacity of the capillary tube and the refrigerant charge were varied. They presented energy consumption maps identifying the optimum region of expansion device capacity (EDC) and refrigerant charge in order to minimize the consumption.…”

“…They presented energy consumption maps identifying the optimum region of expansion device capacity (EDC) and refrigerant charge in order to minimize the consumption. Bj€ ork and Palm (2006) directly measured the energy consumption of the tested system during the cycling operation of the system, whereas Boeng and Melo (2014) estimated the energy consumption from the power consumption measured in steady-state tests (as proposed by Hermes et al, 2013).…”

“…In both works (Bj€ ork and Palm, 2006;Boeng and Melo, 2014), a needle valve placed at the condenser outlet was used to vary the EDC while considering its degree of opening as variable in the results. The use of a needle valve is due to practical reasons, that is, the need to easily handle different EDCs without requiring substitution of the capillary tube.…”

Enhancements in domestic refrigeration, approaching a sustainable refrigerator – A review

“…For example, Radermacher and Hwang [139] analyzed the energy consumption of different loads of refrigerants R436A and R600a. The results allow us to determine that the lowest annual energy consumer was R600a with a charge of 50 g, and in the case of R436A it was a charge of 60 g. Additionaly, the effects of the variation of the refrigerant charge and expansion restriction have been found experimentally [140], this study allows us to determine that an inadequate combination of restriction in the expansion and charge of a refrigerant may have repercussions, and increase energy consumption by to up to 30%. The variation of the charge on the refrigerant not only effects the energy performance of the refrigeration system, but it also modifies the architecture and the design of the refrigerator [141].…”