Performance investigation and exergy analysis of vapor compression refrigeration system operated using R600a refrigerant and nanoadditive compressor oil

Abstract

Compression of vaporized refrigerant is the essential process of the refrigeration cycle which is performed by using a compressor. The amount of power consumed by a refrigeration system is governed by the work input given to its compressor, which also determines the COP of the system. By reducing the work input given to the compressor, the power consumption of refrigerator is reduced along with the improvement in its COP. Nowadays, nanoparticles have emerged as the new generation additives in various working fluids because of their remarkable ability to improve the heat transfer, tribological and other thermophysical properties of the base fluid. In such a vein, we propose a compressor oil based nanofluid prepared by dispersing nanoparticles into the conventional compressor oil. In the present study, four samples of nanoadditive compressor oil were prepared by dispersing the nanoparticles like Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , and ZnO into the conventional mineral oil as a lubricant. The tribological properties of this four samples were studied, out of which one sample gave a better lubrication and heat transfer properties which are considered as one of the key parameters for reducing work input to the compressor, this can result in reduced power consumption, with enhancement of COP. These results are analyzed experimentally by carrying out performance and exergy analysis in a vapor compression refrigeration system, using R600a as a refrigerant. The experimental results show that, there is an improvement of COP by 14.61% and exergy efficiency by 7.51%. Also, the efficiency defect in the major components of vapor compression refrigeration system has been reduced effectively.

Evaluation of a Refrigeration System Based on Nano-Refrigerants and Nano-Lubricants

“…Also reported that 40 g of LPG refrigerant with 0.4 g/L of TiO2 achieved the best energy performance of the refrigerator (Gill et al, 2019). Karthick et al (2020) evaluated the performance of VCRs based on four samples of nano-lubricant: Sample 1 (MO + 0.02 vol% Al2O3 + 0.01 vol% TiO2), sample 2 (MO + 0.01 vol% Al2O3 + 0.005 vol% TiO2), sample 3(MO + 0.05 vol% Al2O3) and sample 4 (MO + 0.02 vol% Al2O3 + 0.02 vol% ZnO). R600a was charged as a refrigerant.…”

“…The results reported that decreasing these values with increase of temperatures and kinematic viscosity of 0.4 vol% nanolubricants was 14% higher than pure oil at room temperature (Harichandran et al, 2019). Karthick et al (2020) investigated thermal conductivity of four samples such as, sample1 (MO+ 0.02 vol% Al2O3 + 0.01 vol% TiO2), sample 2 (MO+0.01 vol% Al2O3+ 0.005 vol% TiO2), sample 3 (MO + 0.05 vol% Al2O3) and sample 4 (MO+ 0.02 vol% Al2O3 + 0.02 vol% ZnO). The results showed that MO based on 0.05 vol% of Al2O3 produced a higher increase of thermal conductivity and MO containing 0.01vol% Al2O3 and 0.005 vol% of TiO2 produced the least increase in thermal conductivity.…”

“…The results indicated that COP improved by 14.61%. Nano-lubricant exhibited higher COP which reduces the power consumption of the system (Karthick et al, 2020). Adelekan et al (2019a) studied the performance of a refrigerator based on nano-lubricants consisting of 0.2 g/L, 0.4 g/L and 0.6 g/L of TiO2 concentrations, the safe mass charge of LPG was charged as refrigerant.…”

Experimental analysis of domestic refrigeration system using nanorefrigerant [CeO2+ZnO+R134a]

“…This is around a 6.9 percent rise. In contrast to the R134a refrigerant, the power consumption was also reduced to 50 % [15]. The addition of Nano Al2O3 to the refrigerant suggests an increase in the cooling system's COP.…”

The effects of CuO/CeO2 mixture nanoparticles on the performance of a vapor compression refrigeration system

“…Additionally, the power consumed was lower than R134a by approximately 3.20–18.1. Karthick et al 15 studied the effect of nanolubricants on the performance of a refrigeration system based on the following samples: sample 1 (mineral oil + 0.02 vol% Al 2 O 3 + 0.01 vol% TiO 2 ), sample 2 (mineral oil + 0.01 vol% Al 2 O 3 + 0.005 vol% TiO 2 ), sample 3 (mineral oil + 0.05 vol% Al 2 O 3 ), and sample 4 (mineral oil + 0.02 vol% Al 2 O 3 + 0.02 vol% ZnO). R600a was used as a refrigerant.…”