Energy Efficient Refrigerators: The Effect of Door Gasket

ABSTRACT The energy efficiency of refrigerators not only depends on the efficiency of the various components used in the cycle but also on their thermodynamics cycle efficiency as well the thermal efficiency of the cabinet housing the components. Efficiency improvements to the thermodynamics cycle and refrigerator components have been the subject of various papers published in the open literature. Not many researchers have looked at reducing the heat leakage into the refrigerator cabinet with the explicit objective of reducing the power consumption of the unit and hence improving its thermal efficiency. This paper is based on an experimental study of this topic, and includes information on the experimental rig used and the results obtained. This research was performed in two stages: The first stage was focused on improving the energy efficiency by changing wall insulation while the second stage was to study the heat transfer through the doors' gaskets. For the first part, a domestic refrigerator was instrumented with many thermocouples and heat flux meters to measure the inside and outside air temperatures and the heat transfer through the wall of the unit, respectively. These measurements were taken under different environmental conditions as well as different insulation thickness in the walls of the cabinet. For the second part, using a specially designed and manufactured experimental rig, various door gaskets were placed between a warm and a cold chamber and heat transfer through the gasket was measured. The results showed that by adding 30 mm polystyrene insulation to the walls of the refrigerator, the heat transfer through the walls reduced by around 35%. The power consumption data agreed very well with the measured heat flux through the walls. The percentage heat transfer through the doors' gaskets was confirmed to be about 13% of the total heat transferred into the unit