International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06

Exergy and Energy Analysis of a Cascade

Refrigeration System Using R744+R170 for
Low Temperature Applications
M. Idrus Alhamid, Darwin R.B Syaka, and Nasruddin
AbstractThis article presents a thermodynamic energy and
exergy analysis to optimize a cascade refrigeration system to be
used for biomedical cold-storage application. An azeotrope
mixture carbon dioxide and ethanepropane (R744+R170R290)
cascade system has been promoted as a prospective alternative
solution to the use of HFC refrigerants. A novel multilinear
regression analysis was employed to develop mathematical
expressions for maximum COP, optimum evaporating
temperatures of the R290 cycle, and an optimum mass flow ratio
in terms of evaporating temperature, condensing temperature
and temperature differences in the systems cascade condenser.
Index Terms Refrigeration, Exergy, Mixture, Carbon dioxide,
Ethane, Optimize.

I. INTRODUCTION

iomedical preservation requires storing biological

specimens like stem cells, sperm, blood and organs, at a
storage temperature of around -80oC. For long-term storage of
biological materials, temperatures below -120oC are generally
considered to safeguard against the effects of devitrification
and Crystallization [1]. The use of a single-cycle vapour
compression refrigeration system can only achieve effective
cooling of about -40oC, and the efficiency begins to
deteriorate under -35oC due to the vast difference between the
evaporating and condensing temperatures. Thus, in order to
reach a lower temperature, a cascade refrigeration system is
utilized [2]. Cascade refrigeration systems consist of at least
two refrigeration systems that work independently. The two
refrigeration systems are connected by a cascade heat
exchanger where heat is released in the condenser lowtemperature circuit (LTC) and is absorbed from the evaporator
high-temperature circuit (HTC) [1]. Carbon Dioxide is
emerging as the most popular and efficient working fluid in
the low temperature circuit of these systems.
Manuscript received November 9, 2010. This work was supported in part
by Hibah Riset Pascasarjana 2010 University of Indonesia.
M. Idrus Alhamid from Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Laboratory,
Mechanical Engineering Department - Faculty of Engineering - University of
Indonesia, Kampus UI Depok, 16424, Indonesia (corresponding author, email: mamak@ eng.ui.ac.id).
Darwin R.B Syaka is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering
Department - Faculty of Engineering - University of Indonesia, Kampus UI
Depok, 16424, Indonesia.
Nasruddin from Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Laboratory,
Mechanical Engineering Department - Faculty of Engineering - University of
Indonesia, Kampus UI Depok, 16424, Indonesia.

Nomenclature
COP
[-]
DT

[ C]

[kJ/kg]

hs

[kJ/kg]

m&

[kg/s]

m& H m& L

[-]

[kPa]
[kW]
[-]
[kJ/kg.K]
[oC]
[kW]
[-]

coefficient of performance
temperature difference in the
cascade-condenser
specific enthalpy
specific enthalpy calculated at
suction entropy
mass flow rate
ratio of high-temperature circuit mass
flow rate to low-temperature circuit
mass flow rate
pressure
heat transfer rate
Compressor pressure ratio
specific entropy
temperature
work
quality

X& des

[kW]

rate of exergy destruction

Q&

RC
S
T
W&

Special characters
[-]
Efficiency

[-]
Exergetic efficiency

[kJ/kg]
Stream exergy

Subscripts
cas
Cascade
E
Evaporator
F
Cooling space
C
Condenser
H
High-Temperature circuit
isent
Isentropic
max
maximum
opt
optimum
L
Low-Temperature circuit
0
ambient
s
Isentropic
Carbon dioxide offers many advantages, as it is non-toxic,
non-flammable, readily available, inexpensive, and
environmentally friendly (i.e. does not damage the ozone layer
and has very low global warming potential [3]. However,
since the triple point of CO2 is about -56C, it has to be mixed
with other refrigerants (e.g. a hydrocarbon) for it to work at
required temperatures as low as -85C. Although hydrocarbon
refrigerants have good thermo physical properties and are
environmentally friendly [4], they can be rendered less
flammable if mixed with CO2.

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International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06

The experimental study of Niu and Zhang using a mixture
of propane and carbon dioxide at low temperatures found the
energy efficiency and cooling capacity of this mixture to be
higher than R13 [5]. However, this mixture barely reached a
minimum temperature of -72oC and the azeotrope mixture of
carbon dioxide and propane produces a temperature glide [6].
Therefore an azeotrope mixture produces more efficient
results an azeotrope mixture of ethane and carbon dioxide for
low temperature applications [7], appears to offer better
efficiency (COP) than a mixture of carbon dioxide and
propane [8].
Several researchers have evaluated the thermodynamic
performance of the two-stage cascade refrigeration systems.
Bhattacharyya et al. [9] studied a carbon dioxidepropane
(R744R290) optimum cascade evaporating system to define
an evaporating temperature of R744 for application in heating
circuits. Lee et al. [3] analyzed a carbon dioxideammonia
(R744R717) cascade system thermodynamically to
determine the optimum condensing temperature of R744 in
the low-temperature circuit. Getu and Bansal [10] analyzed a
carbon dioxideammonia (R744R717) cascade system
thermodynamically to determine the optimum condensing
temperature of R744 in the low-temperature circuit and mass
flow ratio, to give the system maximum COP in terms of subcooling, superheating, evaporating temperature, condensing
temperature and temperature difference in the systems
cascade condenser. The thermodynamic analysis of the carbon
dioxideammonia (R744R717) cascade system by Alberto
Dopazo et al. [11] employed both exergy analysis and energy
optimization, to determine the optimum condensing
temperature of R744 in the low-temperature circuit. However,
the aforementioned studies lacked a cascade system
thermodynamic analysis of a carbon dioxide and ethane
propane (R744+R170R290) mixture.
Hence, the main aim of the current research is to conduct a
thermodynamic energy and exergy analysis to determine the
optimum condensing temperature of a carbon dioxide and
ethane mixture (R744+R170) in the low-temperature circuit
and mass flow ratio, which can optimize the systems COP in
several areas, such as for various values of the condensing
temperature, the evaporating temperature, and the temperature
difference in cascade condenser of the system. The isentropic
efficiency is regarded herein as a function of the pressure ratio
of the compressor. This study also quantifies the exergy
destruction of each component, to determine the contribution
of each component to the overall efficiency of the system. A
novel multilinear regression analysis was employed to develop
mathematical expressions for maximum COP, optimum
evaporating and condensing temperatures of the R290 cycle,
and an optimum mass flow ratio in terms of evaporating
temperature, condensing temperature and temperature
difference in the systems cascade condenser.

II. THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A CASCADE

REFRIGERATION SYSTEM
The thermodynamic analysis of a two-stage cascade
refrigeration system was conducted based on the following
general assumptions.
1. Non-isentropic compression is expressed as a
function of the pressure ratio. The combined motor
and mechanical efficiency of each compressor is
assumed to be 0.93 [3].
2. Negligible pressure and heat losses/gains in the
pipe networks or system components.
3. Isenthalpic expansion across expansion valves.
4. Negligible changes in kinetic and potential energy.
5. The dead state conditions are 25oC and 101.3 kPa.
6. Difference between the refrigerated space
temperature (TF) and the evaporating temperature
(TE) is 5oC.
7. System cooling capacity is 0.5 kW.
Based on the above assumptions, balance equations are
applied to find the mass flow rate of each cycle, the work
input to the compressor, the heat transfer rates of the
condenser and the cascade-condenser, the entropy generation
rate and the exergy destruction rate as follows:
Mass balance
(1)
m& = m&

in

out

Energy balance

Q& W& = m& .h m& .h

out

(2)

in

Exergy balance

T
X& des = 1 0
T
out
j

.Q& j W& + m& . m& .

in
out

(3)

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the cascade refrigeration system

CO2+C2H6-C3H8

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International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06

Where:

COPcarnot =

TE
TC TE

(8)

The rate of heat transfer in the cascade heat exchanger is

determined by:
(9)
Q& cas = m& H (h5 h8 ) = m& L (h2 h3 )
The mass flow ratio can be derived from eq. (9) as

m& H / m& L =

Fig. 2 Log P-h diagram of the cascade refrigeration system

CO2+C2H6-C3H8
Specific equations for each systems components are
summarized in table 1.
The systems Coefficient of Performance (COP) has been
calculated by the following equation:

COP =

Q& E
W& H + W& L

(4)

The COP of the high temperature circuit has been

calculated by the following equation:

COPH =

Q& Cas , E
W&

(5)

and for the low-temperature circuit

COPL =

Q& E
W& L

(6)

The second-law efficiency of the whole system is defined

as the ratio of the actual COP to the ideal COPcarnot, which is

COP
COPcarnot

h2 h3
h5 h8

(10)

The equations of the mathematical model reveal that both

the systems COP and its energetic efficiency can be
expressed as a function of six design/operating parameters, as
shown in the equation:
(COP,) = f (TE , TC , Tcas,E , DT, s)
(11)
The thermodynamic state points of the cascade refrigeration
system are presented in Table 2. In this analysis the parameter
variations, include the cascade evaporating temperature
(Tcas,E), varying from 0oC to -42oC, the temperature of the
condenser varying from 30oC to 40oC, the evaporating
temperature from -80oC to -90oC, and the temperature
difference in the cascade heat exchanger from 0oC to 10oC.
The impact of these parameters on the refrigeration system
performance as the COP and exergy efficiency was analyzed.
The isentropic efficiency of each compressor is considered
to be equal to the volumetric efficiency and it is estimated
following the equation [11]
s = 1 0.04.RC
(12)
All refrigerant thermophysical properties were obtained
from the REFPROP 8 [12], for several state points as shown
in Fig. 1 and 2, and are directly calculated for the system
analysis main program with FORTRAN language.

(7)

Table 1 Balance equations for each system component

Component
mass
High-temperature circuit

energy

Compressor

m& 6 = m& 5

m& (h h5 )
W& H = 5 6 s

Condenser

m& 7 = m& 6

Q& C = m& 7 ( h7 h6 )

Expansion device

m& 8 = m& 7

h8 = h7

Cascade
condenser

m& 5 = m& 8 , m& 3 = m& 2

Q& cas = m& 5 (h5 h8 ) = m& 3 (h3 h2 )

m, H

exergy

X& des = W& H m& 5 ( 6 5 )

X& des = m& 7 ( 6 7 )

X& des = m& 8 ( 7 8 )
X& des = m& 5 ( 8 5 ) m& 3 ( 3 2 )

High-temperature circuit
Compressor

m& 2 = m& 1

m& ( h h1 )
W& L = 1 2 s

X& des = W& L m& 1 ( 2 1 )

Expansion device

m& 4 = m& 3

h4 = h3

X& des = m& 4 ( 3 4 )

evaporator

m& 1 = m& 4

Q& E = m& 1 ( h1 h4 )

T
X& des = 1 0
TF

m,L

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&
QE + m& 1 ( 4 1 )

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International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06

Tabel 2 Calculation of thermodynamic state points of cascade system using REFPROP 8

Evaporator outlet

Compressor outlet

High-temperature circuit
P5 = f (Tcas,E, x=1)
P6=P7
T5= Tcas,E
T6=f(P6, S5)
h5 = f (T5, P5)
h6s = f (P6, S5)
S5 = f (T5, P5)
h6 = (h6s h5)/isent+ h5
Low-temperature circuit
P1 = f (TE, x=1)
P2=P3
T1= TE
T2=f(P6, S1)
h1 = f (T1, P1)
h2s = f (P2, S1)
S1 = f (T1, P1)
h2 = (h2s h1)/isent+ h1
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Carbon Dioxide and Ethane Composition Selection
Figure 3 shows the effect of a carbon dioxide (CO2) and
ethane (C2H6) composition in mole fraction at a condensing
temperature (TC) = of 35oC, a temperature in the cascade
evaporator heat exchanger (Tcas,E) = of -35oC, a temperature
difference between the high temperature circuit evaporator
and the low-temperature circuit condenser in the cascade heat
exchanger (DT) = of 5oC and an evaporating temperature (TE)
= of -85oC.

Fig. 3 Effect of CO2 composition on COP

Figure 3 shows that increasing the CO2 composition will
generally decrease the COP of the system, whereas the highest
COP value is obtained with 100% ethane. This can be
explained by the fact that ethane has the high refrigeration
effect and excellent performance in the low temperature
circuit of a cascade refrigeration system [7]. A composition of
less than 8% ethane (92% CO2) can not be used if the
evaporator temperature (TE) is lower than -85oC, in order to
prevent CO2 from reaching a solid vapour phase. Also, the
ethane composition must be kept as low as possible to reduce
ethane flammability.
Therefore, the composition that produces the best COP at
mole fraction of carbon dioxide ethane is at 0.54 and 0.46 and
is chosen as the optimum composition for an evaporator
temperature of -85oC at its azeotrope point. Based on the
above data, the cascade refrigeration system was analyzed for
the mole fraction composition of 54% carbon dioxide and
46% ethane.

Condenser outlet
P7=f(TC, x=0)
T7=TC
h7= f (T7, P7)
S7= f (T7, P7)

Exspansion device
outlet
P8=P5
T8= Tcas,E
h8=h7
S8= f (P5, h8)

P3=f(Tcas,C, x=0)
P4=P4
T3= T5 DT=Tcas,C
T4= TE
h3= f (T3, P3)
h4=h3
S4= f (P1, h4)
S3= f (T3, P3)
Since an azeotrope mixture of carbon dioxide and ethane is
being promoted as a prospective alternative solution to HFC
refrigerants, it is compared with R23 and R508b. It can be
seen from Figure 4 that when the refrigerant propane is used
in a high-temperature circuit, the COP value of the azeotrope
mixture carbon dioxide + ethane functioning in the cascade
condensing temperature is more effective than the COP of
R508b and R23. Figure 4 shows that the relationship of Tcas,E
with COP is not linear.

Fig, 4 Effect of Tcas,E on COP of some selection refrigerants

B. Exergy Destruction
Figure 5 plots the curves of COP versus Tcas,E at TC = 35oC,
TE = -85oC and DT = 5oC. These plots are of the Tcas,E on the
COP of the High-Temperature Circuit and the LowTemperature Circuit, as determined by Eqs. (5) and (6). The
COP of the High-Temperature Circuit increases with
increasing Tcas,E, whereas the COP of the Low-Temperature
Circuit decreases as Tcas,E increases is apparent in a carbon
dioxide and ethane mixture (54+46). As shown in figure 4 it
represents a balance between COPL and COPH. It can be seen
that the intersection of COPL and COPH in figure 5.

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International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06

Fig. 5 Effect of Tcas,E on COPL and COPH

The Maximum COP usually indicates minimum exergy
destruction. It is shown by Fig 4 where the maximum COP for
the refrigerant azeotrope mixture of carbon dioxide and ethane
occurs in Tcas,E is equal by minimum exergy destruction
system as shown in Fig 6. Fig. 6 shows the effect of Tcas,E on
the exergy destruction of each component at the specified
conditions, with a condensing temperature (TC) of 35oC, an
evaporating temperature (TE) of -85oC and a temperature
difference in the cascade-condenser (DT) of 5oC. Table 1
presents the details of the exergy analysis. The overall system
efficiency is derived from the exergy destruction of each
component. Therefore, focusing on exergy and its destruction
for each component is a more direct way of analyzing the
potential for enhancing the energy efficiency of the cascade
refrigeration system.

Fig. 6 indicates that the exergy destruction rates of the

components in the high-temperature (C3H8) circuit, except the
cascade-condenser, decrease as Tcas,E increases. The exergy
destruction rates of the compressor and the expansion valve in
the low-temperature (CO2+C2H6) increases with increasing
Tcas,E, while The exergy destruction rates of the evaporator is
not affected by an increased Tcas.E. When Tcas,E = -40oC, the
C3H8 compressor has the largest exergy destruction, followed
in order by the CO2+C2H6 compressor, the C3H8 expansion
valve, the condenser, the cascade-condenser, the CO2+C2H6
expansion valve and the evaporator. When Tcas,E is shifted to 20oC, however, the CO2+C2H6 compressor has the largest
exergy destruction, followed by the C3H8 compressor, the
cascade-condenser, the CO2+C2H6 expansion valve, C3H8
expansion valve, the condenser and the evaporator.
Notably, the amount of exergy destruction of some
components increased as Tcas,E increased, but the others
decreased. Accordingly, the total exergy destruction rate of
the system is minimum at a certain Tcas,E, as shown in Fig. 6
where it is strongly influenced by compressor. This means that
the largest irreversibilities occurring in a compressor are
associated the largest irreversibilities occur in compressor is
associated with the electrical, mechanical and isentropic
efficiencies which are low because of the relatively small size
of system considerably here. These large losses emphasize the
need to pay close attention to the selection of this type of
equipment, since components of inferior performance can
considerably reduce the overall performance of the system.
C. Parameters Effect on COP and Exergetic Efficiency
To evaluate the effect of the operating parameters on both
the systems COP and exergetic efficiency, a statistical
procedure was used to analyze the parametric study results
using the range of values indicated in the previous section.
This statistical procedure is called the Bivariate Correlations.
In Table 3, the results of the Pearson correlations can be
observed. All of the evaluated parameters are statistically
significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed). Therefore, all the
parameters considered in Eq. (13) should be included in the
analysis and none should be discarded.
As seen in Table 3, the COP system is heavily affected by
the compressor isentropic efficiency (sL and sH),
TE, Tcas,E opt, DT and TC.

m& H m& L ,

Fig. 6 Effect of Tcas,E on exergy destruction rates of each

component and the whole system
Table 3 Bivariate Correlation results of COP and exergetic efficiency
TC
COPmax

II

TE

DT

sH

sL

Tcas,E opt

COPmax II

m& h m& l

Pearson Correlation -0.420** 0.732** -0.534** 0.970** 0.974** 0.631** 1

0.975* -0.948**
*

Sig. (2-tailed)

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

1331

1331

1331

1331

1331

1331

1331

1331

1331

Pearson Correlation -0.343** 0.622** -0.703** 0.945** 0.942** 0.658** 0.975** 1

-0.875**

Sig. (2-tailed)

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

N
1331
1331
1331
1331
1331
IJMME-IJENS December 2010 IJENS
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level 105306-0808
(2-tailed).

1331

1331

1331

1331
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International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06

In fig. 7, the COP system and the exergetic efficiency

trends with TE (a), DT (b) and TC(c) are shown reveals as a
linear relationship.
For all the cases previously studied, the compressor
isentropic efficiency was considered as a function of the
compression ratio using Eq. (12). Varying isentropic
efficiencies in high-temperature and low-temperature circuits
are shown in fig. 8 and show that the relationship between the
compressor isentropic efficiency and the COP is not linear. It
can be seen that the sL and sH cross at certain conditions.

Fig. 8 The COP system and exergetic efficiency as function of

the isentropic efficiency of compressor

Fig. 7 The COP system and exergetic efficiency as a function of (a) TE, (b)
DT and (c) TC

Also, the compressor isentropic efficiency, m

& H m& L and TE
have a greater effect than Tcas,E opt and DT on the system COP;
while the influence of TC is relatively small. Increases in the
compressor isentropic efficiency and TE add to the COP
system; however increases in DT and TC diminish the COP
system.
The exergetic efficiency is clearly affected by the
compressor isentropic efficiency (sH and sL), m
& H m& L , DT,
Tcas,E opt, TE and TC. Just as was seen in the COP system, an
increase in the compressor isentropic efficiency and TE results
in an increase in the exergetic efficiency, and an increased DT
and TC decreased exergetic efficiency.

Fig. 9 The COP system and exergetic efficiency as function of

m& H m& L
The mass flow rates ratio indicates the requirements for
compressor power consumption. A large ratio of the mass
flow rate is also an indicator of the amount of power
consumed by the compressor system. Fig. 9 shows that the
COP trend is not a linear relationship. These results indicate
that a maximum COP exists that corresponds to an m
& H m& L
optimal value.
Fig. 10 shows the behavior of both the COP and the
exergetic efficiency versus Tcas,E opt variations. These results
indicate that there is a Tcas,E optimal value. Consequently, a
maximum COP exists that corresponds to the Tcas,E opt optimal
value. This optimal value also corresponds to the minimum
for the exergy loss rate of the whole system, as can be seen in
Fig.6.

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Fig. 10 The COP system and exergetic efficiency as a function

of Tcas,E
D. Optimization
Fig. 11a shows the effect of the evaporating temperature TE
on the corresponding COPmax at various condensing
temperatures TC and various temperature differences in the
cascade-condenser DT. The figure shows that decreasing TE
reduces COPmax. Fig. 11a reveals the linear relationships
between COPmax and the parameters of TE, TC and DT.
Figs. 11b shows the influence of the evaporating
temperature TE on the corresponding m
&H m
& L opt at various
condensing temperatures TC and various temperature
differences in the cascade-condenser DT. The figure shows
that decreasing TE increases m& H m& L OPT. Fig. 11b also reveals
the linear relationships between m
& H m& L OPT and the
parameters of TE, TC and DT.
Fig. 11c presents the effect of the evaporating temperature
TE on the corresponding Tcas,E opt at various condensing
temperatures TC and various temperature differences in
cascade-condenser DT. The figure shows that increasing TE
will increases Tcas,E opt. Fig. 11c again reveals a linear
relationship.
The effects of various parameters on the performance of the
azeotrope mixture of carbon dioxide and ethanepropane
cascade system have been observed. It is therefore imperative
to develop mathematical equations as a guide for setting
optimum thermodynamic design parameters.

Fig. 11 The influence of TE on (a) the COPmax, (b) on the

m& H m& L opt and (c) the Tcas,E opt of a CO2+C2H6-C3H8 cascade
refrigeration system .

Table 4 Summary of statistical information for eq. (15)-(17)

m& H m& L OPT
COPmax
Predictor
Standard Error Probability Standard Error Probabilit
Coefficient
Coefficient
y
Constant
0.0034400
0.000
0.0155400
0.000
TE
0.0000374
0.000
0.0001687
0.000
DT
0.0000374
0.000
0.0001687
0.000
TC
0.0000374
0.000
0.0001687
0.000
Number of points (n) = 1330 Number of points (n) = 1330
rms = 0.00431239
rms = 0.0194632
Adjusted R2 = 99.8%
Adjusted R2 = 98.2%

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TCAS,E,OPT
Standard Error Probabilit
Coefficient
y
0.2349000
0.00
0.0025500
0.00
0.0025500
0.00
0.0025500
0.00
Number of points (n) = 1330
rms = 0.294205
Adjusted R2 = 98.8%

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International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06

With a multilinear method, the maximum coefficient of
performance (COPmax), the optimum mass flow ratio of high&H m
&L
temperature circuit to that of low-temperature circuit m

opt

and the optimum evaporating temperature of high-temperature

circuit (Tcas,E,opt) of the cascade system were charted as a
function of the input predictor variable data, such as
evaporating (TE), condensing (TC), and difference in cascade
heat exchanger temperatures (DT). The development of the
regressed equations included the calculation of 1330 data sets.
The resulting equations for the maximum COP, the
optimum mass ratio and the optimum cascade evaporating
temperature are, respectively, given by:
COPmax = 2.78 + 0.0206 TE - 0.0150 DT - 0.0118 TC (13)
&H m
& L opt = -2.17 - 0.0365TE + 0.0133DT
m
+ 0.0241TC
(14)
Tcas,E opt = 11.5 + 0.664 TE - 0.397 DT + 0.368 TC
(15)
The unit used in Eqs. (13) to (15) is Celsius (oC). A
summary of statistical information is shown in table 4. The
standard error coefficient is the standard error of the curve fit
parameters, defined as the square root of the estimated
variance of the parameter. The smaller the standard error the
more precise the estimator. The probability value in table 4,
indicates that the relationship between the predictor and the
response variable is statistically significant at an a-level of .05
(2-tailed). This is also shown by the fact that the probability
value for the estimated coefficient of the predictor variable is
0.000, which means that the predictor variable was
significantly affected by the response variable.
The root mean square error is a frequently-used measure of
the differences between values predicted by a model. An
adjusted R2 that adjusts for the number of explanatory terms in
a model can be interpreted as the portion of the total variation
that is accounted for by the predictor variable. An adjusted R2
value of 98.2% of m
& H m& L opt means that 98.2% is due to the
predictors variables while the remaining 1.8% is caused by
something else.

IV. CONCLUSION
This work studies the maximum coefficient of performance
COPmax for CO2+C2H6-C3H8 cascade refrigeration systems in
reference to three design parameters: condensing temperature
TC, evaporating temperature TE, and the temperature
difference in the cascade-condenser DT. The following
conclusions are drawn from the analytical results for a
CO2+C2H6-C3H8 cascade refrigeration system.
1. For a specific system and operating conditions, results
show that following both, exergy and energy
optimization methods, an optimal condensing
temperature of a cascade-condenser can be obtained.
2. An increase in the evaporating temperature increases the
COP of the system and decreases the mass flow ratios.
An increase in the temperature difference in the cascade
condenser reduces both the COP and mass flow ratios.

An increase in the condensing temperature results in a

decrease in the COP and an increase in refrigerant mass
flow ratios
3. Using a multilinear regression method, the maximum
coefficient of performance (COPmax), the optimum mass
flow ratio of high-temperature circuit to that of lowtemperature circuit, m& H m& L Opt, and the optimum
evaporating temperature of high-temperature circuit
(Tcas,E,opt) of the cascade system, can be obtained from
Eqs. (13) (15).

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