Experimental study of R1234yf as a drop-in replacement for R134a in a domestic refrigerator

This paper presents an experimental study for three identical domestic refrigerators using R1234yf as a drop-in replacement for R134a. An alternative methodology was proposed to estimate the optimal mass charge for R1234yf; with the use of such methodology, new evidences were sought on the thermal behavior of the refrigerator compartments as well as at the heat exchangers. Additionally, energy performance for both refrigerants was measured, and, finally, a TEWI analysis was conducted. For the type of refrigerator evaluated, results showed that R1234yf presented an average (for the 3 refrigerators) of 0.4 °C for the fresh food compartment, and 1.2 °C for the freezer, among different charges with respect to R134a. The optimal charge for R1234yf was 92.2 g, which is about 7.8% lower than the one for R134a, which represents a small increase of 4% in energy consumption in comparison to R134a. Finally, the TEWI analysis for the R1234yf was 1.07% higher than the R134a.