Experimental study on R1234yf/R134a mixture (R513A) as R134a replacement in a domestic refrigerator

In this paper, a comparative experimental study between R134a and its low GWP alternative R1234yf/R134a (called R513A, 44/56% weight) in a domestic refrigerator was presented. Three kinds of tests were carried out under the same ambient condition. The optimal charge for R513A is 80 g, which is 5.9% lower than that of R134a (85 g). The pull down time of R513A is reduced by 21% compared to R134a. The 24-h energy consumption of R513A is 3.5% lower than that of R134a. During the freezing test, R513A saved 43.2 min compared to the baseline test, which indicates that the freezing capacity of R513A is better than R134a. In addition, R513A shows a similar behavior to the baseline test with the discharge temperature and compressor pressure ratio of R513A lower than those of R134a.