A study on the cycle characteristics of an auto-cascade refrigeration system

This study presents experimental results on the cycle characteristics of an auto-cascade refrigeration system. The auto-cascade refrigeration (ACR) system is driven by a single compressor, using zeotropic mixture as refrigerant, which achieves cascade between high and low boiling point components by an evaporative condenser for the purpose of obtaining a lower evaporation temperature comparing with single refrigerant system. The coefficient of performance, cooling capacity, evaporation temperature, and pressures and temperatures of refrigerant at the inlet and outlet were measured and parameter analyses were conducted with different charging concentrations, different temperatures of cooling water and different matches of cycle flux between high and low boiling point components under the same evaporating pressure. The systematic theoretical analyses and experimental results depict the relations between the above parameters in an auto-cascade refrigeration system, which constitute a useful source for the auto-cascade refrigeration system’s design and analysis.