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Investigation of the two-phase closed thermosyphon filled with R1234yf alternative to R134a: energy and environmental analysis

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Abstract

Two-phase closed thermosyphons (TPCTs) are widely used in many engineering systems. Various working fluids are used in TPCTs depending on the working conditions. One of these working fluids is R134a. However, R134a has high global warming potential (GWP) rate (1300). Therefore, many legal regulations (Montreal protocol, Kyoto protocol, United Nations Climate Change Framework Agreement (UNFCCC), etc.) have been made to diminish the influence of HFCs on the environment. Recently, R1234yf with a lower GWP ratio (4) was developed as an alternative to R134a and has been used in heat pump and vapor compression refrigeration systems. In this study, the use of R1234yf working fluid instead of R134a in a TPCT was theoretically and experimentally investigated. The energy and environmental impact analyses have been performed using the experimental data obtained from the study. It was seen that while the performances of R134a and R1234yf are close at 30 °C evaporator heating water temperature, the performance of R134a is higher than R1234yf at 35 °C, 40 °C, 45 °C, 50 °C evaporator heating water temperatures. Also, the total greenhouse gas emission of the R1234yf filled TPCT is 90.61% lower than the R134a filled TPCT. It was concluded that although the R1234yf has lower performance than that of R134a, R1234yf should be preferred as working fluid. Because R1234yf working fluid is highly effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions of TPCT, a similar performance to R134a can be achieved by changing the design (number, size, orientation, fluid charge rate, etc.) of the TPCT filled with R1234yf working fluid.

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Abbreviations

\({ }C_{{{\text{p}}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{cond}}.}} }}\) :

Specific heat capacity of condenser cooling water (J kg−1 K−1)

\(\dot{m}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{cond}}.}}\) :

Condenser cooling water mass flow rate (kg s−1)

\(\dot{V}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{cond}}.}}\) :

Condenser cooling water flow rate (l h−1)

\(\dot{V}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{evap}}.}}\) :

Evaporator heating water flow rate (l h−1)

\(\Delta T_{{{\text{eff}}.}}\) :

Effective temperature difference (°C)

\({\text{Pr}}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{cond}}.}}\) :

Prandtl number of condenser cooling water (−)

\({\text{Pr}}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{evap}}.}}\) :

Prandtl number of evaporator heating water (−)

\(\dot{Q}\) :

Heat energy (W)

\({\text{Re}}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{cond}}.}}\) :

Reynolds number of condenser cooling water (−)

\({\text{Re}}_{{{\text{water}},{\text{evap}}.}}\) :

Reynolds number of evaporator heating water (−)

\(\lambda_{{{\text{wall}}}}\) :

Thermal conductivity of TPCT (W m−1 °C−1)

\(\lambda_{{{\text{water}},{\text{cond}}.}}\) :

Thermal conductivity of condenser cooling water (W m−1 °C−1)

\(\lambda_{{{\text{water}},{\text{evap}}.}}\) :

Thermal conductivity of evaporator heating water (W m−1 °C−1)

\(\mu_{{\text{l}}}\) :

Liquid dynamic viscosity (N s m−2)

\(\mu_{{{\text{water}},{\text{cond}}}}\) :

Dynamic viscosity of condenser cooling water (N s m−2)

\(\mu_{{{\text{water}},{\text{evap}}}}\) :

Dynamic viscosity of evaporator heating water (N s m−2)

\(\rho_{{\text{l}}}\) :

Liquid density (kg m−3)

\(\Delta T_{{\text{h}}}\) :

Temperature difference due to the hydrostatic pressure (°C)

AEC:

Annual energy consumption (kWh year−1)

ALR:

Annual working fluid leakage rate (% of working fluid charge)

A x :

Cross-sectional area of TPCT (m2)

C :

Working fluid charge amount (kg)

c pl :

Liquid specific heat capacity (J kg−1 K−1)

C x :

Equation constant (C = 0.235)

D h :

Hydraulic diameter (m)

D i :

Internal diameter of the evaporator/adiabatic/condenser (m)

D o :

External diameter of the evaporator/adiabatic/condenser (m)

EM:

Electricity generation emission value (kgCO2 kWh−1)

EOL:

Working fluid leakage at the end of TPCT (% of working fluid charge)

F :

Charge rate (−)

\(g\) :

Gravitational acceleration (m s−2)

GWP:

Global warming potential (kgCO2 kg−1)

GWPadp. :

GWP due to the deterioration of the working fluid in the atmosphere (kgCO2 kg−1)

h ci :

Internal heat transfer coefficient of the condenser (W m−2 °C−1)

h co :

External heat transfer coefficient of the condenser (W m−2 °C−1)

h ei :

Internal heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator (W m−2 °C−1)

h eo :

External heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator (W m−2 °C−1)

h fg :

Specific latent heat of evaporation (kJ kg−1)

L :

Working life of the TPCT (years)

\(L\) a :

Adiabatic length (m)

\(L\) c :

Condenser length (m)

LCCP:

Life cycle climate performance (kgCO2)

\(L\) e :

Evaporator length (m)

m :

Mass of TPCT (kg)

MM:

Material production emission of TPCT (kgCO2 kg−1)

m r :

Mass of the recycled material (kg)

Nuco :

Nusselt number of condenser cooling water (−)

Nueo :

Nusselt number of evaporator heating water (−)

ɸ 2 :

Merit number for TPCT (kg K−0.75 s−2.5)

ɸ 3 :

Merit number for nucleate boiling (−)

Pa:

Atmospheric pressure (Pa)

P p :

Hydrostatic pressure (Pa)

P v :

Vapor pressure (Pa)

R :

Thermal resistance (°C W−1)

Ref :

Reynolds number of liquid film in the adiabatic (−)

RFD:

Emission from the disposal of the working fluid (kgCO2 kg−1)

RFM:

Production emission of working fluid (kgCO2 kg−1)

RM:

Emissions of the recycled material (kgCO2 kg−1)

S ci :

Condenser internal surface area (m2)

S co :

Condenser external surface area (m2)

S ei :

Evaporator internal surface area (m2)

S eo :

Evaporator external surface area (m2)

\(T\) :

Temperature (°C)

T ci :

Condenser internal surface temperature (°C)

T co :

Condenser external surface temperature (°C)

T ei :

Evaporator internal surface temperature (°C)

T eo :

Evaporator external surface temperature (°C)

T p :

Saturation temperature (°C)

T si :

Heat sink temperature (°C)

T so :

Heat source temperature (°C)

T v :

Vapor temperature (°C)

\(\beta\) :

Angle of TPCT with horizontal (o)

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank all who assisted in conducting this research.

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  1. Bucak Emin Gülmez Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, 15300, Burdur, Turkey

    Ragıp Yıldırım

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Yıldırım, R. Investigation of the two-phase closed thermosyphon filled with R1234yf alternative to R134a: energy and environmental analysis. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 1061–1072 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11787-6

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