Analysis of the Drop-in Operation of a Refrigeration System by the Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the gains in a drop-in process of refrigerants in a basic refrigeration system using the Response Surface Methodology to optimization. Acentral composite design and analysis of variance are also used. In addition, the model will be analyzed and compared to experimental results, consolidating various parameters to get the best regions in a broad universe of options, with a reduced number of experiments. The response surface methodology is a set of statistical tool, which describes the entire region of interest through experimental specific points, by appropriate polynomial equation. The experimental results were extracted from a cooling test bench compound for a reciprocating compressor, evaporator, condenser and expansion valve. R22, R290, R1270, R438A, R404A, R134a, R410A and R32 were tested at the same experimental apparatus, the lubrificating oil was replaced in some cases. The higher value of coefficient of performance and cooling capacity were investigated. The results obtained with the MSR technique showed good agreement with the experimental work, (R2 exceeding 0.8) which indicates, good representation of the output variables of the cooling system. The tested optimization tools were able to identify areas of maximum, allowing for better comparison of results obtained by different refrigerants