Simulation of vapour compression air conditioning system using Al2O3 based nanofluid refrigerant

Abstract

The energy crisis, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emis-sions are major environmental issues at present. It is critical to achieve and reduce emissions and energy consumption through the use of environmentally friendly refrigerants. Utilizing an environmentally friendly refrigerant such as HFC-32 may offer a viable solution to the ozone depletion potential (ODP) and global warming issues. This study examines the effects of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles at volume concentrations of 0.06, 0.08, 0.1, 0.12, and 0.14% in pure refrigerants such as HFC-32 and R-410a used in air-conditioning systems based on the vapour compression refrigeration cycle. The thermophysical properties of pure and nanorefrigerants have been determined using REFPROP (NIST properties of fluid Refer-ence) and a theoretical formulation model using MATLAB software. The important outcomes of HFC-32 nanorefrigerant show the maximum performance with 0.14% alumina nano addi-tives which results in a 46.14% increase in the coefficient of performance (COP) and massive power savings upto 31.59%. Thermal conductivity exhibited an increase with an increment in nanoparticle concentration. Maximum thermal conductivity of 0.172 W/m-K is recorded in the case of HFC-32/Al2O3 nanorefrigerant with 0.14% volume concentration. The net re-frigeration effect of pure refrigerants (R410a and HFC-32) is 77% and 79% and on addition of nanorefrigerants to the pure the net refrigeration effect increases to 81.2% and 83.5% for R410a and HFC-32 respectively.