- Author
-
Kim, M. S.
|
Mulroy, W. J.
|
Didion, D. A.
- Title
- Performance Evaluation of Two Azeotropic Refrigerant Mixtures of HFC-134a With R-290 (Propane) and R-600a (Isobutane).
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
-
ASME Journal of Energy Resources Technology,
Vol. 116,
148-154,
June 1994
- Keywords
-
refrigerants
|
evaluation
|
flammability measurements
|
heat pumps
|
evaluation
|
thermodynamic properties
|
high temperature
|
cooling
|
heating
|
simulation
|
heat transfer
- Abstract
- The reduction in chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) production and the scheduled phase-out of these ozone-depleting refrigerants require the development and determination of environmentally safe refrigerants for use in heat pumps, water chillers, air conditioners, and refrigerators. This paper presents a performance evaluation of a generic heat pump with two azeotropic refrigerant mixtures of HFC-134a (1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane) with R-290 (propane) and R-600a (isobutane); R-290/134a (45/55 by mass percentage) and R-134a/600a (80/20 by mass percentage). The performance characteristics of the azeotropes were compared with pure CFC-12, HFC-134a, HCFC-22, and R-290 at the high temperature cooling and heating conditions including those using liquid-line/suction-line heat exchange. The coefficient of performance of R-290/134a is lower than that of HCFC-22 and R-290, and R-134a/600a shows higher coefficient of performance than CFC-12 and HFC-134a. The capacity for R-290/134a is higher than that for HCFC-22 and R-290, and R-134a/600a exhibits higher system capacity than CFC-12 and HFC-134a. Experimental results show that the discharge temperatures of the studied azeotropic mixtures are lower than those of the pure refrigerants, CFC-12 and HCFC-22.