Investigation on thermodynamic performance analysis and environmental effects of various new refrigerants used in air conditioners

Abstract

The main aim of this present investigation is to evaluate performance and environmental impact analysis of various novel mixture refrigerants as R22 replacements theoretically. Refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) can be adequate for bringing down emissions which are concerned for air conditioners. In this investigation, twenty-seven refrigerants were developed at several compositions. Important studies such as computation of CO2 emissions using total equivalent warming impact (TEWI), toxicity and flammability analysis of various considered refrigerants were also carried out in this investigation. Performance analysis of refrigerants was conducted under different operating conditions. Results showed that the energy efficiency ratios (EERs) of refrigerants such as R1270, RM30 (R152a/R1270/RE170 of 25/71/4 by mass percentage) and RM50 (R152a/R1270/RE170 of 10/85/5 by mass percentage) were closer to that of R22 and they are relatively lower than R22 by 0.95%, 1.34% and 1.80%, respectively. Toxicity investigation exhibited that all the refrigerants studied were classified into nontoxic category (A) whereas flammability investigation revealed that all the novel refrigerant mixtures (RM10 to RM50) were classified into flammable category (A3). CO2 emissions (TEWI) released from air conditioner working with R1270, RM30 and RM50 were 7.41%, 6.85% and 6.51%, respectively, lower than that of R22. In terms of several thermodynamic aspects, the performance of refrigerants such as R1270, RM30 and RM50 were superior to those of R22 and its various considered alternatives working under different operating conditions, although their EERs are fairly lower than R22 and hence, these refrigerants could be considered suitable environment-friendly alternatives to R22 used in air conditioners. The present study gives essential information and a road map towards the development of low GWP R22 alternative refrigerant blends from the viewpoint of toxicity, flammability, performance aspects, environmental and safety aspects, respectively. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.