Performance Evaluation of LGWP-Series Refrigerants as a Substitute for HFC-134a Air Conditioning System: A Sustainable Approach

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the impact on performance and environmental factors of newly developed blended refrigerants XP10-Opteon and Solstice® N13 from the olefins group. With a focus on mobile air conditioning (AC) systems, the necessity to replace high global warming potential (HGWP) R134a (1400) refrigerant has become prominent over the past decades. It was crucial to find a more suitable refrigerant with low global warming potential (LGWP), such as HFO-blend R513a (573) or R450a (547), especially for industrial or commercial applications within the medium temperature range of 25°C to-10°C. This particular research entailed utilizing HFC-HFO blend refrigerants for automotive air conditioning applications. The experimental setup employed a 0.50HP hermetic reciprocating compressor and a copper tube-type condenser. The temperature range for testing was maintained between 30°C and 60°C. A more pronounced reduction of 14-24.6% in electricity usage because of less power consumption enhanced the value of COP. The results revealed noteworthy findings in comparison to R134a; the average coefficient of performance (COP) for R513a exhibited almost the same performance coefficient with a little bit reduction factor of approximately 13%, whereas R450a showed results better than R134a with 8% enhancement at the same operating conditions. Additionally, the mass flow rate for R513a increased by 14-16%. Most importantly, R513a showed a substantial global warming potential (GWP) reduction by approximately 56-57% compared to the conventional refrigerant R134a.