Experimental evaluation of system modifications to increase R1234ze(E) cooling capacity

Abstract

The GWP limitations are being progressively introduced in Europe through Regulation EU No 517/201, phasing out R134a in most of its refrigeration and air conditioning applications. Pure hydrofluoroolefins are proposed to substitute this fluid, however generally system modifications are needed to achieve a good performance. In the case of R1234ze(E), the cooling capacity is always much below that of R134a in drop-in or light retrofit substitutions.

This work performs an experimental comparison using R1234ze(E) and R134a under different refrigeration operating conditions. R1234ze(E) is tested considering the use or not of an internal heat exchanger, and R134a at the same or lower compressor rotation speed. Results show that the use of R1234ze(E) with an open-type compressor 43% larger and an internal heat exchanger of 25% effectiveness, leads to a cooling capacity augmentation, enough to reach R134a cooling capacity in the different conditions tested. For R450A, it is sufficient only with the IHX activation.