Experimental investigations on R430A as a drop-in substitute for R134a in domestic refrigerators

Abstract

In this work, the energy performance of a domestic refrigerator has been experimentally investigated using R430A as a possible drop-in substitute to replace R134a. Experiments have been carried out in an R134a-based single evaporator domestic refrigerator of total volume 190 L. The pull-down and ON/OFF cycle performance tests were carried out at 32 ± 0.3 ℃ ambient temperature. The continuous running performance test was carried out for wide range of ambient temperatures between 24 ℃ and 43 ℃ by maintaining evaporator temperature at −12 ± 0.2 ℃. The experimental results showed that the R430A has 3.9% lower energy consumption with 3.8%–6.4% higher coefficient of performance when compared to R134a. However, the compressor discharge temperature of R430A was observed to be 2 ℃–4 ℃ higher when compared to R134a. The lubricant used in R134a compressors is physically stable and retains its lubricant property at 4 ℃ elevated temperature when operating with R430A. The total equivalent warming impact of R430A was found to be 4%–5% lower when compared to R134a due to its higher energy efficiency and lower global warming potential. The results confirmed that R430A is found to be a good drop-in substitute to phase out R134a in domestic refrigerator servicing sectors.

Keywords

Domestic refrigerator R430A global warming R134a

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