Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Energetic and exergetic performance comparison of cascade refrigeration system using R170-R161 and R41-R404A as refrigerant pairs

  • Original
  • Published:
Heat and Mass Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A numerical study of cascade refrigeration system using two different refrigerant pairs, namely, R41–R404A and R170–R161 working under the same operating conditions has been presented in this paper. A computer code has been developed in Engineering Equation Solver software using the basic energy and exergy equations of cascade refrigeration system. Values of some of the important input parameters for the analysis have been taken from the literatures to carry out this simulation work. The effect of evaporator temperature on the basic performance parameters, such as COP, compressor power, total exergy destruction, exergetic efficiency has been computed. The analysis of the predicted results shows that for each evaporator temperature, an optimal point exists where the system shows maximum performance. An effective reduction of compressor work and total exergy loss is observed with R170–R161 system than those of the R41–R404A system. This eventually results in higher optimal COP as well as exergetic efficiency for R170–R161 system compared to R41–R404A system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

COP:

Co-efficient of performance

CRS:

Cascade refrigeration system

GWP:

Global warming potential

ODP:

Ozone depletion potential

LTC:

Low temperature cycle

HTC:

High temperature cycle

Qeva :

Evaporator heat load in kW

Qcas :

Cascade condenser heat load in kW

Qcond :

Condenser heat load in kW

WT :

Total compressor work in kW

Wl :

Compressor work in LTC in kW

Wh :

Compressor work in HTC in kW

T0 :

Ambient temperature in °C

Tcond :

Condenser temperature in °C

Teva :

Evaporator temperature in °C

THE :

Evaporator temperature in the HTC in °C

TLC :

Condenser temperature in the LTC in °C

∆T:

Temperature difference in the cascade condenser in °C

h:

Specific enthalpy in kJ/ kg

s:

Specific entropy in kJ/ kg – K

\( {\overset{\cdot }{\mathrm{m}}}_{\mathrm{l}} \) :

Mass flow rate in the LTC in kg/s

\( {\overset{\cdot }{\mathrm{m}}}_{\mathrm{h}} \) :

Mass flow rate in the HTC in kg/s

ηs :

Isentropic efficiency

ηm :

Mechanical efficiency

ηelec :

Electrical efficiency

ηex :

Exergetic efficiency

δ:

Percentage of exergy loss

EX:

Exergy in kW

ED:

Exergy destruction in kW

1, 2, 3, ..:

State points

0:

Ambient condition

i:

Individual components

eva:

Evaporator

comp,l:

LTC compressor

comp,h:

HTC compressor

exp,l:

LTC expansion device

exp,h:

HTC expansion device

cas:

Cascade condenser

cond:

Condenser

HE:

Evaporator in HTC

LC:

Condenser in LTC

References

  1. IIR, International Institute of Refrigeration statement at COP-15, Copenhagen, Denmark, 7–18 December, 2009

  2. Doménech RL, López RC, Alcaraz ET (2007) Experimental energetic analysis of the liquid injection effect in a two-stage refrigeration facility using a compound compressor. HVAC&R Res 13:819–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kilicarslan A (2004) An experimental investigation of a different type vapor compression cascade refrigeration system. Appl Therm Eng 24:2611–2626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kilicarslan A, Hosoz M (2010) Energy and irreversibility analysis of a cascade refrigeration system for various refrigerant couples. Energy Convers Manag 51:2947–2954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cabello R, Sánchez D, Llopis R, Catalán J, Nebot-Andrés L, Torrella E (2017) Energy evaluation of R152a as drop in replacement for R134a in cascade refrigeration plants. Appl Therm Eng 110:972–984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee TS, Liu CH, Chen TW (2006) Thermodynamic analysis of optimal condensing temperature of cascade-condenser in CO2/NH3 cascade refrigeration systems. Int J Refrig 29:1100–1108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Sun Z, Liang Y, Liu S, Ji W, Zang R, Liang R, Guo Z (2016) Comparative analysis of thermodynamic performance of a cascade refrigeration system for refrigerant couples R41/R404A and R23/R404A. Appl Energy 184:19–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Mohammadi SMH, Ameri M (2016) Energy and exergy analysis of a two-stage cascade refrigeration system. Build Serv Eng Res Technol. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143624415615327

  9. Park H, Kim DH, Kim MS (2013) Thermodynamic analysis of optimal intermediate temperatures in R134a-R410A cascade refrigeration systems and its experimental verification. Appl Therm Eng 54:319–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Dopazo JA, Fernandez-Seara J (2011) Experimental evaluation of a cascade refrigeration system prototype with CO2 and NH3 for freezing process applications. Int J Refrig 34:257–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bingming W, Huagen W, Jianfeng L, Ziwen X (2009) Experimental investigation on the performance of CO2/NH3 cascade refrigeration system with twin-screw compressor. Int J Refrig 32:1358–1365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Belozerov G, Mednikova N, Pytchenko V, Serova E (2007) Cascade type refrigeration systems working on CO2/NH3 for technological process of products freezing and storage. In: IIR Ammonia Refrigeration Conference. Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia

  13. Ma YT, Ning JH, Chen Q, Ma LR (2005) Study on replacement and energy-saving of natural refrigerant NH3/CO2 cascade refrigeration cycle. In: International Conference on Compressor and Refrigeration. Dalian, China

  14. Sawalha S, Cabrejas CP, Likitthammanit M, Rogstam J, Nilsson PO (2007) Experimental investigation of NH3/CO2 cascade system and comparison to R404A system for supermarket. In: International Congress of Refrigeration. Beijing, China

  15. Likitthammanit M (2007) Experimental investigations of NH3/CO2 cascade and transcritical CO2 refrigeration systems in supermarkets. Dissertation, KTH School of Energy and Environmental Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

  16. Niu B, Zhang Y (2007) Experimental study of the refrigeration cycle performance for the R744/R290 mixtures. Int J Refrig 30:37–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Messineo A (2012) R744-R717 Cascade refrigeration system: performance evaluation compared with a HFC two-stage system. Energy Procedia 14:56–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Bhattacharyya S, Garai A, Sarkar J (2009) Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of a novel N2O–CO2 cascade system for refrigeration and heating. Int J Refrig 32:1077–1084

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Alberto Dopazo J, Fernández-Seara J, Sieres J, Uhía FJ (2009) Theoretical analysis of a CO2–NH3 cascade refrigeration system for cooling applications at low temperatures. Appl Therm Eng 29:1577–1583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Getu HM, Bansal PK (2008) Thermodynamic analysis of an R744–R717 cascade refrigeration system. Int J Refrig 31:45–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Korshetti AN, Raibhole VN, Kumbhar NA, More ND (2014) Performance & parametric analysis of vapour compression cycle with refrigerant R22 & R161. International Journal of Researchers, Scientists and Developers 2(2):24–28

    Google Scholar 

  22. Klein SA, Alvarado FL (2002) Engineering equation solver, vol 1. F-Chart Software, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  23. Calm JM, Hourahan GC (2001) Refrigerant data summary. Eng Syst 18:74–78

    Google Scholar 

  24. Arora A, Kaushik SC (2008) Theoretical analysis of a vapour compression refrigeration system with R502, R404A and R507A. Int J Refrig 31(6):998–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Dincer I, Rosen MA, Ahmadi P (2017) Optimization of energy systems. Wiley, Hoboken

    Book  Google Scholar 

  26. Sawalha S, Suleymani A, Rogstam J (2006) CO2 in supermarket refrigeration. CO2 project report phase I. KTH Energy Technology

Download references

Acknowledgements

The first author acknowledges the support provided by the Thermal Simulation and Computation (TSC) Lab at Mechanical Engineering Department of IIEST, Shibpur for carrying out the research work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, 711103, India

    Ranendra Roy & Bijan Kumar Mandal

Authors
  1. Ranendra Roy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bijan Kumar Mandal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bijan Kumar Mandal.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Roy, R., Mandal, B.K. Energetic and exergetic performance comparison of cascade refrigeration system using R170-R161 and R41-R404A as refrigerant pairs. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 723–731 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2455-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2455-7

Search

Navigation