Experimental investigation of HFC407C/HC290/HC600a mixture in a window air conditioner

HCFC22, one of the widely used refrigerants in window air conditioners must be phased out soon as per the Montreal protocol. Presently, HFC407C is considered as a potential drop in substitute for HCFC22, but retrofitting HCFC22 systems with HFC407C with polyol ester oil (POE) is a major issue as HFC407C is immiscible with mineral oil. The miscibility issue of HFC407C with mineral oil was overcome with the addition of a HC blend to it. The above technoeconomic feasibility issues to retrofit the existing HCFC22 systems with an ozone friendly refrigerant and retain the energy efficiency of the system are challenges in the air conditioning sector. In this present work, an experimental analysis has been conducted in a window air conditioner retrofitted with eco-friendly refrigerant mixtures of HFC407C/HC290/HC600a without changing the mineral oil. Its performance, as well as energy consumption, was compared with the conventional one. It is observed that the mixtures demand lengthening of the condenser in order to maintain the discharge pressure within acceptable limits. This also resulted in better heat transfer at the condenser. Therefore, in this study, the condenser tube length was increased by 19% to suit the mixtures as compared to HCFC22. Compared to HCFC22, the refrigeration capacity of the new mixture was 9.54–12.76% higher than that of HCFC22, while the actual COP was found to be 11.91–13.24% higher than that of HCFC22. The overall performance has proved that the HFC407C/HC blend refrigerant mixture could be an eco-friendly substitute to phase out HCFC22.