Abstract
Household energy consumption increases day by day because of the civilization and luxury life. In case of household refrigerator, the compressor consumes more energy. There is possibility to reduce the compressor work by increasing the heat transfer rate of refrigerant using nano-additives. Hence, the aim of the present work is to improve the performance of the household refrigerator using nano-additive refrigerant. Ceria nanoparticles (CeO2) have the potential to transfer more heat as it has higher thermal conductivity. In this research work, four types of refrigerant were prepared namely R0 (R134a), R1 (R134a + 0.05 vol% CeO2), R2 (R134a + 0.10 vol% CeO2) and R3 (R134a + 0.15 vol% CeO2) and the performance of the household refrigerator was studied using the aforementioned refrigerants. Experimental results showed that the thermal conductivity of R0 improved with the addition of CeO2 and the R3 refrigerant displayed the higher thermal conductivity of 0.057 W/mK. Further, the COP of the refrigeration system was greatly improved when using R3 (R134a + 0.15 vol% CeO2) refrigerant, which is 7.6% greater than the COP of R0 refrigerant. Moreover, the suction and delivery characteristics were enhanced while using CeO2 blended refrigerant. The results show the R3 refrigerant had the lowest compression ratio of 4.4, which was 6.03% lower than the compression ratio of R0 refrigerant. In addition, a significant enhancement in volumetric and isentropic efficiency was observed as 91.53 and 61.98%, respectively.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- T 1 :
-
Temperature of vapour refrigerant inlet to compressor (suction temperature)
- T 2 :
-
Temperature of vapour refrigerant outlet from compressor (delivery temperature)
- T 3 :
-
Temperature of liquid refrigerant outlet from condenser
- T 4 :
-
Temperature of liquid refrigerant outlet from expansion device
- P 1 :
-
Suction pressure
- P 2 :
-
Delivery pressure
- CeO2 :
-
Cerium oxide
- R134a:
-
Tetrafluoroethane
- R0:
-
R134a
- R1:
-
R134a + 0.05 vol% CeO2
- R2:
-
R134a + 0.10 vol% CeO2
- R3:
-
R134a + 0.15 vol% CeO2
- COP:
-
Coefficient of performance
- RAC:
-
Refrigeration and air conditioning system
- MWCNT:
-
Multi-walled carbon nanotube
- Al2O3 :
-
Alumina
- ZnO:
-
Zinc oxide
- SiO2 :
-
Silica
- CuO:
-
Copper oxide
- Ni:
-
Nickel
- TiO2 :
-
Titania
- \(\dot{m}\) :
-
Mass flow rate
- h 1 :
-
Suction enthalpy
- h 2 :
-
Delivery enthalpy
- h 3 :
-
Enthalpy at condenser exit
- h 4 :
-
Enthalpy at expansion device exit
References
Abed AAS (2021) Influence of ZnO nano-refrigerant in R134a on performance compression systems of refrigeration. Period Eng Nat Sci 9(3):734–744. https://doi.org/10.21533/pen.v9i3.2250
Ajayi OO, Useh OO, Banjo SO, Oweoye FT, Attabo A, Ogbonnaya M, Okokpujie IP, Salawu EY (2018) Investigation of the heat transfer effect of Ni/R134a nanorefrigerant in a mobile hybrid powered vapour compression refrigerator. IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng 391:012001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/391/1/012001
Ali MS, Anwar Z, Mujtaba MA, Soudagar MEM, Badruddin IA, Safaei MR, Iqbal A, Afzal A, Razzaq L, Khidmatgar A, Goodarzi M (2021) Two-phase frictional pressure drop with pure refrigerants in vertical mini/micro-channels. Case Stud Therm Eng 23:100824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2020.100824
Allam SK, Prasanthi SG (2019) Performance analysis of vapour compression refrigeration system with spiral condenser using R134a and SiO2 nanoparticle with POE as refrigerant. Int J Anal Exp Modal Anal 11(12):3219
Ande R, Koppala RS, Hadi M (2018) Experimental investigation on VCR system using nano-refrigerant for COP enhancement. Chem Eng Trans 71:967–972. https://doi.org/10.3303/CET1871162
Arunachalam U, Edwin M (2018) Experimental studies on laminar flow heat transfer in nanofluids flowing through a straight circular tube with and without V-cut twisted tape insert. Heat Mass Transf 54:673–683. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-017-2162-9
Azmi WH, Sharif MZ, Yusof TM, MamatR RedhwanAAM (2017) Potential of nanorefrigerant and nanolubricant on energy saving in refrigeration system—a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 69:415–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.207
Babarinde TO, Madyira DM, Mashinini PM, Marangwanda GT (2021) Performance of multi-walled CNTs suspended with hydrocarbon refrigerant (R600a) and lubricating oil in vapour compression refrigeration system. Fuel Commun 10:100036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfueco.2021.100036
Deymi-Dashtebayaz M, Maddah S, Goodarzi M, Maddah O (2020) Investigation of the effect of using various HFC refrigerants in geothermal heat pump with residential heating applications. J Therm Anal Calorim 141:361–372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09539-5
Dhamneya AK, Rajput SPS, Singh A (2018) Comparative performance analysis of ice plant test rig with TiO2–R-134a nano refrigerant and evaporative cooled condenser. Case Stud Therm Eng 11:55–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2017.12.004
Ekiciler R (2021) Effects of novel hybrid nanofluid (TiO2–Cu/EG) and geometrical parameters of triangular rib mounted in a duct on heat transfer and flow characteristics. J Therm Anal Calorim 143(2):1371–1387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09913-3
Ekiciler R, Arslan K (2019) Effects of SiO2/water nanofluid flow in a square cross-sectioned curved duct. Eur J Eng Nat Sci 3(2):101–109
Ekiciler R, Çetinkaya MSA (2021) A comparative heat transfer study between monotype and hybrid nanofluid in a duct with various shapes of ribs. Therm Sci Eng Progress 23:100913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsep.2021.100913
Fosheim JR, Hathaway BJ, Davidson JH (2019) High efficiency solar chemical-looping methane reforming with ceria in a fixed-bed reactor. Energy 169:597–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.037
Grobbel J, Brendelberger S, Sattler C, Pitz-Paal R (2017) Heat transfer in a directly irradiated ceria particle bed under vacuum conditions. Sol Energy 158:737–745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.10.022
Harichandran R, Paulraj P, MahaPon Raja S, Kalyana Raman J (2019) Effect of h-BN solid nanolubricant on the performance of R134a–polyolester oil-based vapour compression refrigeration system. J Braz Soc Mech Sci Eng 41:140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-019-1645-7
Jung SY, Park H (2021) Experimental investigation of heat transfer of Al2O3 nanofluid in a microchannel heat sink. Int J Heat Mass Transf 179:121729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2021.121729
Kamel MS, Al-Oran O, Lezsovits F (2021) Thermal conductivity of Al2O3 and CeO2 nanoparticles and their hybrid based water nanofluids: an experimental study. Period Polytech Chem Eng 65(1):50–60. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.15382
Krishna Sabareesh R, Gobinath N, Sajith V, Das S, Sobhan CB (2012) Application of TiO2 nanoparticles as a lubricant-additive for vapor compression refrigeration systems—an experimental investigation. Int J Refrig 35(7):1989–1996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2012.07.002
Kumar R, Singh J (2017) Effect of ZnO nanoparticles in R290/R600a (50/50) based vapour compression refrigeration system added via lubricant oil on compressor suction and discharge characteristics. Heat Mass Transf 53:1579–1587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1921-3
Kundan L, Singh K (2021) Improved performance of a nanorefrigerant-based vapor compression refrigeration system: a new alternative. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part A J Power Energy 235(1):106–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957650920904553
Lenin R, Joy PA, Bera C (2021) A review of the recent progress on thermal conductivity of nanofluid. J Mol Liq 338:116929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.116929
Li ZX, Renault FL, Gomez AOC, Sarafraz MM, Khan H, Safaei MR, Filho EPB (2019) Nanofluids as secondary fluid in the refrigeration system: Experimental data, regression, ANFIS, and NN modelling. Int J Heat Mass Transf 144:118635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.118635
Maddah S, MarjanGoodarzi MR, Safaei, (2020) Comparative study of the performance of air and geothermal sources of heat pumps cycle operating with various refrigerants and vapor injection. Alex Eng J 59(6):4037–4047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2020.07.009
Mahbubul IM, Saadah A, Saidur R, Khairul MA, Kamyar A (2015) Thermal performance analysis of Al2O3/R-134a nanorefrigerant. Int J Heat Mass Transf 85:1034–1040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.02.038
Raghavulu KV, Rasu NG (2021) An experimental study on the improvement of coefficient of performance in vapor compression refrigeration system using graphene lubricant additives. Energy Sources Part A Recov Util Environ Eff. https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2021.1909186
Safaei MR, Ranjbarzadeh R, Hajizadeh A, Bahiraei M, Afrand M, Karimipour A (2019) Effects of cobalt ferrite coated with silica nanocomposite on the thermal conductivity of an antifreeze: new nanofluid for refrigeration condensers. Int J Refrig 102:86–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2018.12.007
Sendil Kumar D, Elansezhian R (2012) Experimental study on Al2O3–R134a nano refrigerant in refrigeration system. Int J Mod Eng Res 2(5):3927–3929
Sendil Kumar D, Elansezhian R (2014) ZnO nanorefrigerant in R152a refrigeration system for energy conservation and green environment. Front Mech Eng 9:75–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-014-0285-y
Senthilkumar A, Anderson A, Praveen R (2020) Prospective of nanolubricants and nano refrigerants on energy saving in vapour compression refrigeration system—a review. Mater Today Proc 33:886–889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.416
Senthilkumar A, Anderson A, ManigandanSekar, (2021) Performance analysis of R600a vapour compression refrigeration system using CuO/Al2O3 hybrid nanolubricants. Appl Nanosci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-021-01936-y
Sheikholeslami M, Farshad SA (2021) Numerical simulation of effect of non-uniform solar irradiation on nanofluid turbulent flow. Int Commun Heat Mass Transfer 129:105648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2021.105648
Singh DK, Kumar S, Kumar S, Kumar R (2021) Potential of MWCNT/R134a nanorefrigerant on performance and energy consumption of vapor compression cycle: a domestic application. J Braz Soc Mech Sci Eng 43:540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-021-03240-w
Sundararaj S, Manivannan R (2020) Comparative energetic and exergetic analysis of vapour compression refrigeration system with Au, HAuCl4 and CNT nanoparticles. AIP Conf Proc 2270:110038. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0019669
Taghizadeh A, Taghizadeh M, Azimi M, SulaimanAlsagri A, Alrobaian AA, Afrand M (2020) Influence of cerium oxide nanoparticles on thermal conductivity of antifreeze. J Therm Anal Calorim 139:225–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-08422-2
Xing M, Wang R, Yu J (2014) Application of fullerene C60 nano-oil for performance enhancement of domestic refrigerator compressors. Int J Refrig 40:398–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2013.12.004
Yilmaz AC (2020) Performance evaluation of a refrigeration system using nanolubricant. Appl Nanosci 10:1667–1678. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-020-01258-5
Zawawi NNM, Azmi WH, RedhwanAAM SMZ, Sharma KV (2017) Thermo-physical properties of Al2O3–SiO2/PAG composite nanolubricant for refrigeration system. Int J Refrig 80:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2017.04.024
Zhang S, Yunan Yu, Zheng Xu, Huang H, Liu Z, Liu C, Long X, Ge Z (2020) Measurement and modeling of the thermal conductivity of nanorefrigerants with low volume concentrations. Thermochim Acta 688:178603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2020.178603
Zhelezny VP, Lukianov NN, Khliyeva OY, Nikulina AS, Melnyk AV (2017) A complex investigation of the nanofluids R600a-mineral oil-AL2O3 and R600a-mineral oil-TiO2. Thermophysical properties. Int J Refrig 74:488–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2016.11.008
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
KA: data curation, software, conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing. ME: supervision, resources, conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing. JBR: software, conceptualization, writing—review and editing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arumuganainar, K., Edwin, M. & Raj, J.B. Investigation on the performance improvement of household refrigeration system using R-134a refrigerant blended with ceria nano additives. Appl Nanosci 12, 1753–1761 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-022-02365-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-022-02365-1