Effect of evaporator temperature on vapor compression refrigeration system

This paper presents a comparable evaluation of R600a (isobutane), R290 (propane), R134a, R22, for R410A, and R32 an optimized finned-tube evaporator, and analyzes the evaporator effect on the system coefficient of performance (COP). Results concerning the response of a refrigeration system simulation software to an increase in the amount of oil flowing with the refrigerant are presented. It is shown that there is optima of the apparent overheat value, for which either the exchanged heat or the refrigeration coefficient of performance (COP) is maximized: consequently, it is not possible to optimize both the refrigeration COP and the evaporator effect. The obtained evaporator optimization results were incorporated in a conventional analysis of the vapor compression system. For a theoretical cycle analysis without accounting for evaporator effects, the COP spread for the studied refrigerants was as high as 11.7%. For cycle simulations including evaporator effects, the COP of R290 was better than that of R22 by up to 3.5%, while the remaining refrigerants performed approximately within a 2% COP band of the R22 baseline for the two condensing temperatures considered.