THEORETIC-EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF A CASCADE REFRIGERATION SYSTEM FOR LOW TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS USING THE PAIR R22/R404A

Abstract

This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of a cascade refrigeration system using the refrigerant R22 as the working fluid in the high temperature circuit (HT) and the refrigerant R404a as the working fluid in the low temperature circuit (LT). The present analysis aimed to obtain the condensing temperature of the LT that provides an optimal value for the coefficient of performance (COP) of the cycle. Parameters involved in the analysis included the evaporation temperature, the condensing temperature and the difference between the condensing temperature of the LT (TC_LT) and evaporation temperature of the HT (TE_HT) – ΔTCAS. Simulations were performed using the software EES (Engineering Equation Solver). In addition to the analysis, experimental data obtained from a prototype was compared with the simulated results which showed good agreement. The COP varies with the increase in the intermediate temperature; however this variation does not exceed 1%.