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Comparative investigation and multi objective design optimization of a cascaded vapor compression absorption refrigeration system operating with different refrigerants in the vapor compression cycle

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Abstract

This study aims to comparatively investigate the performance of a cascaded vapor compression absorption refrigeration system (CVCARS) operated with different refrigerants such as R1234yf, R134a, R717 and R290 in vapor compression cycle. Two design objectives are considered for performance evaluations. Total annual cost is the first design objective which includes investment and operational cost along with the social cost associated with carbon emissions. Exergy efficiency is the second considered objective which is related to thermodynamic issues. These problem objectives are individually and concurrently optimized by means of Artifical Cooperative Search metaheuristic algorithm and best results are compared for each cycle configuration. Single objective optimization results reveal that CVCARS working with R717 in vapor compression cycle has the lowest total annual cost whereas the maximum second law efficiency is obtained by the refrigeration system operated with R290 in vapor compression cycle. Following that, multi objective optimization is applied to acquire the Pareto optimal solutions which are nondominated to each other and no solution between them prevails over the other. Reputed decision making method TOPSIS is applied to choose the final best answer among the Pareto curve. It is seen that solution found by TOPSIS is skewed towards the minimum total annual cost and second law efficiency for each cycle configuration. Sensitivity analysis is then put into practice to observe the influences of variations of decision variables on design objectives as well as performance coefficients of the different cycles in the refrigeration system.

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Abbreviations

A:

Heat exchanger surface area (m2)

ACS:

Artificial Cooperative Search

Celec :

Electricity cost ($/kWh)

C env :

Environmental cost ($/year)

Cfuel :

Fuel cost ($/kWh)

Cinv :

Investment cost ($)

Coper :

Operational cost ($)

C p :

Specific heat at constant pressure (kJ/kg.K)

C T :

Total annual cost ($/year)

COP:

Coefficient of performance

CRF:

Capital recovery factor

CVCARS:

Cascaded vapor compression absroption refrigeration system

d:

Tube diameter (m)

dH :

Hyrdaulic diameter of annulus (m)

f :

Friction factor

g:

Gravitational acceleration (m/s2)

H:

Total annual operation hours

h:

Entalphy (kj/kg), Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)

hfg :

Latent heat of vaporization (kj/kg)

i :

Interest rate

k:

Thermal conductivity (W/m.K)

\( \dot{m} \) :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

\( {\dot{m}}_{CO_2} \) :

Amount of carbon dioxide emission (ton/year)

N:

Life time of the refrigeration system (N)

Ntube :

Number of tube in heat exchanger

Npass :

Number of shell pass in heat exchanger

P:

Pressure (Pa)

Pr:

Prandtl number

\( \dot{Q},q \) :

Heat transfer amount (kW)

R:

Fouling resistance (m2K/W)

Re:

Reynolds number

s:

Entropy (kJ/kg.K)

T:

Temperature (°C - K)

Tsat :

Saturation temperature (°C - K)

Twall :

Wall temperature (°C - K)

ΔTLMTD :

Logarithmic mean temperature difference

U:

Overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)

v:

Working fluid velocity (m/s)

VARS:

Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

VCRS:

Vapor Compression Refrigeration System

\( \dot{W} \) :

Compressor or pump work (kW)

x :

Mass concentration of absorbent in the solution

Z:

Capital cost ($)

Γ:

Mass flow rate of working unit per wetted length (kg/ms)

ε :

Heat exchanger efficiency

η II :

Second law efficiency

η m :

Mechanical efficiency

η el :

Electrical efficiency

η is :

Isentropic efficiency

\( {\theta}_{CO_2} \) :

Emission conversion factor

μ:

Dynamic viscosity (Pa.s)

v :

Kinematic viscosity (m2/s),

ρ:

Density (kg/m3)

ϕ:

Maintenance cost factor

abs:

Absorber

cascond:

Cascade condenser

comp:

Compressor

cond:

Condenser

eff:

Effective

evap:

Evaporator

gen:

Generator

in:

Inlet condition

l:

Liquid

out:

Outlet condition

overlap:

Degree of overlap

ref.:

Refrigerant

RHX:

Regenerative heat exchanger

sat:

Saturation

SHX:

Solution heat exchanger

sol,pump:

Solution pump

v:

Vapor

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  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Ege University, 35040, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey

    Mert Sinan Turgut & Oguz Emrah Turgut

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  1. Mert Sinan Turgut
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Correspondence to Mert Sinan Turgut.

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Turgut, M.S., Turgut, O.E. Comparative investigation and multi objective design optimization of a cascaded vapor compression absorption refrigeration system operating with different refrigerants in the vapor compression cycle. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 467–488 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2430-3

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