Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) nanoparticles for R134a and R152a refrigerants evaluating thermophysical properties and COP

Abstract

The advancement in nanorefrigerants has been remarkably expanded to improve the productivity of refrigeration systems. Nanorefrigerants represent outstanding thermal, rheological, and heat transfer properties. This conference paper describes the theoretical analysis of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) nanoparticles for volume concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 vol. % in R134a and R152a refrigerants to determine thermal conductivity, viscosity, Coefficient of Performance (COP), and energy savings. This paper concludes that the Coefficient of Performance is enhanced for both nanorefrigerants due to the remarkable thermal conductivity of nanoparticles. The R152a-based nanorefrigerants have shown a maximum coefficient of performance values than R134a-based nanorefrigerants. The maximum increment in Coefficient of Performance was reported about 1.43%for R152a-based nanorefrigerant as compared to the base refrigerant R152a. The results show an increment in thermal conductivity with increasing volume concentration with the maximum enhancement of 1.94% for 3 vol. %. The viscosity of nanorefrigerants increased with increasing volume concentration. The R152a-based nanorefrigerant reported minimal viscosity values than R134a-nanorefrigerant. The maximum annual energy savings with nanorefrigerants is reported for about 4819.08 kWh/year, which aids in achieving lower global warming emissions. To summarize, R152a-based nanorefrigerants in refrigeration applications are more promising to increase the performance and reduce the energy consumption than R134a due to their higher COP value and environmentally friendly nature.