Assessment of Efficiency of Heat Transportation in Indirect Propane Refrigeration System Equipped with Carbon Dioxide Circulation Loop

Abstract

Recent research on indirect cooling systems using natural refrigerants has become increasingly common. One such solution is the gravity-induced circulation loop. The paper provides model considerations of the configuration of an indirect propane refrigeration system equipped with a circulation loop using carbon dioxide as a heat transfer fluid. Close attention has been paid to the analytical modelling of the carbon dioxide circulation loop operation. The model was formulated to determine the optimum height of the liquid downcomer based on the determination of flow resistance and heat transfer rate in evaporation and condensation processes. A validation of the proposed analytical model against the available literature on two-phase flow structure predictions and thermal performance predictions was performed. The effect of the change in the refrigeration capacity of the system on the coefficient of performance COP of the entire indirect system was analysed for the first time. The analysis was performed for three different carbon dioxide evaporation temperatures for the system’s refrigeration capacity, ranging from 0.5 to 10 kW. It has been proven that the system efficiency increases by up to 23% with an increase in the refrigeration capacity of the system. An increase in evaporation temperature in the circulation loop from −20 °C to 0 °C improves the COP of the entire indirect refrigeration system by approximately 50%. The above findings indicate that indirect cooling systems using naturally circulated CO2 as a heat transfer fluid should be designed for operation at maximum refrigeration capacity.