The thermal performances of a refrigerator incorporating a phase change material

Abstract

In this paper, a Phase Change Material (PCM) has been incorporated within the cabinet of a refrigerator, attached to the bare tube evaporator placed below the racks, with the aim of analysing the variation of temperatures and compressor operation, among others. The effect of different control settings (hysteresis) on the performance of such a system, equipped with tap water as PCM, is investigated. Furthermore, the impact of the variation of the ambient temperature and the product mass is highlighted. Two novel parameters are introduced: the first one to estimate the utilisation of the PCM during the cyclic operations of the refrigerator, and the second one is used to evaluate the fluctuation of the product temperature within the cabinet. Experimental results show that the introduction of the PCM has led to a noticeable reduction of the temperature gradient within the cabinet and the fluctuations of product temperature ensuring better conservation conditions, and to extend the OFF time of the compressor. The tests also show that with PCM, hysteresis has lower impact on the fluctuation of the product temperature, ONtime ratio and energy consumption of the refrigerator than without it. On the contrary, the product temperature distribution is more affected by the hysteresis with PCM than without, leading to a better uniformity with higher hysteresis.

Solidification of Graphene-Assisted Phase Change Nanocomposites inside a Sphere for Cold Storage Applications

“…They reported that the system COP was increased by 12%, with 8% reduction in energy consumption. Maiorino et al [9] and Bakhshipour et al [10] also reported similar results with integration of PCMs in the refrigerator. Yamada et al [11] developed and tested the cold TES evaporator in a MAC system for stop/start vehicles to extend the thermal comfort during traffic waiting periods.…”

Numerical and Experimental Study on a High-Power Cold Achieving Process of a Coil-Plate Ice-Storage System

“…Energies 2019, 12,4085 11 of 12 Figure 12 shows the numerical results of the tube-sheet unit with a 20 mm plate spacing. The heat exchange power is at a higher level when the volume flow rate or the inlet temperature is high.…”

“…In this case, it is necessary to design a high-power cold-storage cooling system to match the heat dissipation demand for the intermittent operation mode of the laser.According to kinds of the cold storage medium, there are mainly three types of cold-storage systems [9]: Eutectic salt storage, chilled water storage, and ice storage system. Because of the high cold energy storage in a limited volume and the high cooling power with the phase-change latent heat, the ice storage system [10][11][12] is chosen to fit the short-time high-power cooling requirements of the laser system. A compact heat exchanger with coil-plate units in parallel has been designed and applied in the cooling system.…”

Investigation on an Improved Household Refrigerator for Energy Saving of Residential Buildings

“…Thus, promoting new and efficient technologies for the efficiency advance in household refrigerators is extremely urgent. Great efforts have been made to enhance the performances of the key components, such as the compressor [4], the condenser, and the evaporator [5], to optimize the refrigeration cycle [6], to modify internal and external structural design [7], and to improve the thermal insulated behaviors [8]. However, there still exists a balance between cost and performance in the research field of household refrigerators [9].…”