Comparative Performance Study of Refrigerants for Future RAC Applications

ABSTRACT

Several refrigerants have emerged as substitutes to replace R22, the most widely used fluorocarbon refrigerants in the world. These include the environmentally — friendly hydrocarbon (HFC) refrigerants R134a, R410A and R407C. In the present research study a refrigerant property dependent finite time thermodynamic model of a simple reciprocating system, which can simulate the performance of actual system as closely as possible, has been used to compare the characteristics of various refrigerants [R22, R134a, R410A and R407C] used by world manufacturers to meet the challenges of higher efficiency and environmental responsibility while keeping their system affordable. Considering the recent trends of replacement of ozone depleting refrigerants and improvement in system efficiency, in the present study, R410A shows better heat transfer performance, low pressure drop, less refrigerant charge and is the refrigerant of choice. When compared with alternatives of R22 such as R134a and R407C, the advantages of R410A make it attractive.

Keywords: Refrigeration, Compression system, Performance study, Modelling, R410A.

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