Experimental investigation of using LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) as alternative refrigerant in domestic refrigerators

ABSTRACT Thesis of Master's Degree EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF USING LPG (LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS) AS ALTERNATIVE REFRIGERANT IN DOMESTIC REFRIGERATORS Serhat ŞENGÜR Fırat University The Institute of Natural Sciences Mechanical Education Main Scientific Branch 2005, Page: 81 The air-conditioning and refrigeration industry is changing fast owing to the continuing debate on environmental issues such as global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer and energy efficiency. It results in new refrigerants appearing on the market as replacements for environmental unacceptable refrigerants. Recently, much attention has been paid to the so-called "natural fluids", which are claimed to be more environmentally friendly than synthetic fluids. They are hydrocarbons and their mixtures. They are proposed to be used as refrigerants in domestic refrigerators to replace potentially ozone depleting fluids. They offer other advantages of being very inexpensive and available in large amounts. They are environmentally friendly with zero ozone depletion potential, and they do not cause the greenhouse warming effect. The main disadvantage is that they are highly flammable substances and must be handled with caution. Also, blends or mixtures of some refrigerants can be considered as substitutes or alternatives to existing refrigerants. The objective of this work is to investigate experimentally that liquefied petroleum gas (L.P.G.) can replace R-12 in domestic refrigerators. L.P.G. used in this study, is commercially available in local market, and it is a mixture of the following hydrocarbons on a weight basis: % 30 propane and % 70 n-butane. Different masses of this mixture were studied. The results show that L.P.G. provide good performance parameters, such as coefficient of performance of refrigerator, compression power, volumetric efficiency, condenser duty, compressor discharge pressure and temperature. Keywords : Domestic refrigerators; Refrigerants; Coefficient of performance; Refrigerant R-12; Liquefied petroleum gas L.P.G., IX