The Effect of Eco-friendly Refrigerants on Performance of Vapor Compression Refrigeration System with Dedicated Mechanical Subcooling

Abstract

The demand for high-performance refrigeration systems with eco-friendly refrigerants is increasing due to global warming. In this article, the thermodynamic analysis of a vapor compression refrigeration system with dedicated mechanical subcooling using eco-friendly refrigerants R1243zf, R1233zd(E) is carried out and their performance is compared with refrigerant R134a. The parameters like COP and exergetic efficiency of the system is computed. The effects of subcooling temperature, condenser temperature, evaporator temperature, compressor efficiency, and effectiveness of heat exchanger are also investigated and discussed. The performance of the system can be directly related to subcooling temperature. There is an optimum value of subcooling temperature predicted for the system in this article. In the study, it is observed that low GWP refrigerant R1233zd(E) is a better-performing refrigerant than R134a, whereas R1243zf is also a low GWP refrigerant which has slightly lower COP and exergetic efficiency than R134a.