COLD STORAGE ROOMPEFORMANCE TESTING WITH AITERNATIVE REFRIGERANTS

Abstract

Before selecting any alternative refrigerant for R-12, a performance study for a refrigeration cycle should be carried out using different types of refrigerants. A cold storage room of 3.8 kW capacity is used for this purpose. Two types of hydrocarbon refrigerants, in addition too R-12, are used to charge the system separately. Namely propane (R-290) and mixture of R-290/ R-600a (68/32 wt.). Indoor loads are simulated by several halogen lambs. While the forced air cooled condenser of the unit is separated from the outdoor condition by a secondary air conditioning unit to control the condensing temperature. The effect of several parameters on the system performance and system matching are investigated. The results are presented for a cold storage room of 3.8 kW cooling capacity with a dimension of , and show that R-290 and hydrocarbon mixture give comparable thermal performance for the system, but hydrocarbon mixture could be suitable alternative for R-12 with out any modification in the system components that worked on the R-12.