Comparative Analysis of Performance of R600a and R510a Refrigerants in a Retrofitted Refrigerating System

Hydrocarbons, in the environmentally friendly group have drawn much attention of scientists and researchers for application as refrigerants. In this work, the performance of two eco-friendly hydrocarbon refrigerants (R510A and R600a) in a retrofitted vapour compression refrigeration system was investigated experimentally and compared with the baseline hydro fluorocarbon refrigerant (R134a). Thermocouples and pressure gauges were fitted at the inlet and outlet of the compressor, condenser, and evaporator to measure the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant at various stages of the refrigeration cycle. The results obtained showed that the coefficient of performance (COP) of the system using the two hydrocarbon refrigerants was higher than the coefficient of performance (COP) obtained using R134a as a working fluid. Generally, the two hydrocarbon refrigerants performed better than R134a, but R510A gave the best overall performance in that it exhibited the lowest discharge pressure of 0.656MN/m2and the highest refrigerating effect of 253.29kJ/kg