6

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The suitable and alternate working fluids for refrigeration systems,

heat pumps and air conditioners have gained considerable attention due to
growing environmental awareness. The unsafe fluids are banned in response
to the environmental issues discussed in Chapter 1 and new environment
friendly alternatives are being developed. New approaches are being
developed in design, maintenance and servicing of refrigeration equipments.

As per Montreal Protocol, HCFC22, the generally accepted and

most suitable refrigerant for air conditioners must be phased out by 2030 by
developed countries and by 2040 by developing countries because of its
Ozone Depleting Potential (UNEP 2000). Even if the control measures of the
Montreal Protocol are implemented by all nations, the atmospheric abundance
of chlorine will at least double during the next few decades (Kurylo 2003). To
return the ozone layer to its natural state will require very strong measures,
including a complete phase out of all fully halogenated CFCs, halons, carbon
tetrachloride and methyl chloroform, as well as careful use of HCFC
substitutes. There are concerns that continuous use of HCFC22 will lead to
increased levels of stratospheric chlorine and to more significant ozone
depletion (Cavallini 1995). Due to contribution of HCFC22 to the ozone
depletion, substitutes for HCFC22 have been developed (Hughes 1994). The
phasing out of ozone depleting refrigerants has led to the quest for
 7

eco-friendly alternative refrigerants. Refrigerant mixtures have been

introduced to achieve acceptable properties reasonably well matched to those
of the fluids to be replaced.

The demand for air conditioners increases day by day as the

technological revolution based on information technology and globalization
impact upon the societies and people (Paul Spoonley 2001). In the modern
world, refrigerators and air conditioners installed in homes, business and
industry are the leading users of electric energy. As the fossil fuel reserves are
getting depleted at a fast rate, it is an urgent need to improve the energy
efficiency of vapour compression system as it is most widely used in majority
of modern cooling equipments. Preliminary survey revealed that one of the
methods to improve the efficiency of these systems is to provide internal heat
exchanger for the full use of evaporator, higher cooling capacity and better
dehumidification (Meyer and Wood 2001).

With the above objectives in mind a detailed literature survey has

been carried out to assess the ongoing research in the area of alternate
refrigerants and the possibility of adopting internal heat exchanger in small
capacity window air conditioners.

2.2 REVIEWS ON ALTERNATE REFRIGERNTS

The environmental problems by CFCs and HCFCs have been

encouraging engineers and researchers to develop new alternate refrigerants
with highly efficient machines (Kurylo 1993). Earlier investigators like
Hwang et al (1997) have reported that there are no pure alternative refrigerant
for HCFC22. Tashtough et al (2002), Jansen and Engels (1995) and Joseph
Sekhar et al (2003) have studied the aspects of new alternate refrigerants to
domestic refrigeration systems. Similar studies have been reported on R22
replacement by Green (1995) and Hwang et al (1995) in the earlier stage.
 8

During the process of selecting potential alternate refrigerant mixtures to

replace R22, certain screening approaches have been followed. In such an
attempt Vineyard et al (1989), applied criteria like toxicity, instability, ozone
depletion potential, flammability, boiling point and commercial availability to
more than 200 pure compounds that would make up the components of
zeotropic mixtures.

Studies have been reported in the literature on alternatives to R22.

Various alternatives have been proposed and tested in an effort to comply
with the Montreal Protocol. Among a number of refrigerants assessed as
potential replacements for HCFC22, the most promising alternative
refrigerants that emerged were R410A and R407C. Among these two, R410A
is a near azeotropic mixture with a gliding temperature difference of less than
0.2 oC. Its vapour pressure is roughly 50% higher than that of HCFC22 and
hence the capacity increases significantly. The better vapour compression
system performance of R410A is attributed to high evaporation heat transfer
coefficients and compressor efficiency and low system pressure drop (Devotta
et al 2001). Due to high pressure, compressors need to be redesigned
completely and also the heat exchangers need to be optimized to
accommodate lower volumetric flow rates associated with the use of R410A
(Dongsoo et al 2000). Studies conducted by Chin and Spatz (1999) also reveal
that R410A seems to be the leading long term candidate for the new
residential and light commercial equipment. They also noted that the
performance of R410A is higher than R22 when the ambient temperature is
lower than 35 oC. Due to the compressor efficiency degradation, the
performance of R410A is inferior to that of R22 at higher ambient
temperatures.

On the other hand, R407C is a non azeotropic refrigerant mixture

whose gliding temperature difference is roughly 6 oC (Dongsoo et al 2000). Its
 9

vapour pressure is similar to that of R22 and hence it is expected that R407C
may be used in existing equipment without having major changes. At present
it seems that R410A can be adopted in new systems while R407C are used in
the existing systems. HFC407C is a close match to HCFC22 in existing
equipment with respect to energy efficiency and other performance
parameters such as compressor discharge temperature and pressure. Studies
by Aprea et al (2004) show that the performance of HFC407C is superior to
blends like HFC507 and HFC417A. Heat transfer behavior of R407C has
been described by Bivens et al (1994).

The performances of some new refrigerant mixtures like

R32/125/152a, R125/290, R32/125/290 have been theoretically and
experimentally investigated by Yang Zhao et al (1999) under varying working
conditions and they can be suitable replacements for R22. The evaporator
temperature range considered is -35 to 10oC and condenser temperature range
from 30° to 60 oC. The performances of the R32/125/152a mixtures are close
to that of R22 under all range of operating conditions.

Devotta et al 2001 assessed the suitability of some selected fluids as

alternatives to R22 for air conditioners, using NIST CYCLE_D
thermodynamic analysis. The refrigerants studied are R134a, HC290, R407C,
R410A and three blends of R32, R134a and R125. Evaporator and condenser
temperatures were fixed as 7.2 oC and 55 oC respectively, neglecting the
pressure drops. Pressure ratio of R407C is higher than R22 for the range of
evaporator temperatures due to higher discharge pressure. They also have
reported that discharge temperature of R407C is considerably lower than R22.
Specific compressor displacement of R407C is same as that of R22. Hence it
may be possible to retrofit R22 compressors with R407C. Table 2.1 shows
the summary of derived thermodynamic data of the refrigerants studied by
 10

Devotta et al 2001 relative to R22 and the variations in COP of the

refrigerants are shown in Figure 2.1.

3.5
3.0

2.5

2.0
COP

1.5 R410
R407C
1.0 HCFC22
0.5 HFC134a

0.0
-5 0 5 10 15
o
Evaporating Temperature C

Figure 2.1 Variation of COP with evaporator temperature at

o
condenser temperature of 55 C (Devotta et al 2001)

Table 2.1 Summary of Derived Thermodynamic Data (Devotta et al 2001)

% Relative to HCFC-22
Refrigerant Cooling Pressure Compressor Discharge
COP
Capacity ratio power Pressure
R407-C - 1.76 1.72 6.60 1.75 7.67
R-410A -8.90 41.21 -2.29 9.81 55.60
HFC-134a 4.40 -33.00 13.75 -4.27 -31.45
HC-290 1.00 -14.13 -6.87 -1.00 -12.42
HFC-32/HFC-34a 1.00 -1.00 8.80 -1.00 1.30
(30/70 by wt%)
HFC-32/HFC-125 -8.32 45.40 2.00 8.30 57.72
(60/40 by wt%)
HFC-32/HFC-125/HFC- 0.34 2.93 7.44 0.35 6.71
134a (30/10/60 by wt%)
 11

The performance of nine R22 alternatives have been studied by

Pannock and Didion (1991) and Domanski and Didion (1993), using
Cycle-11. Sagia (2001) developed an algorithm on the basis of heat and
thermodynamics theory to define the blend with the most favorable
composition, as an environmentally acceptable solution for R22 replacement.

Judge et al 1997 have developed a heat exchanger simulation for

transient and steady state mixtures and pure components. Simulation is
focused on air to refrigerant condensers and evaporators found in residential
heat pumps to quantify the effects of using a zeotropic mixture R407C, with
cross, parallel and counterflow heat exchangers. According to this study
whenR407C is used with a pure counterflow heat exchanger, the capacity can
be improved by 4.4% for typical heat pump operating conditions.

Experimental comparison between R22 and R407C has been done

by Aprea et al 2003, to evaluate the compressor performance in a purpose
built rig using semi-hermetic compressor. COP as a function of outlet water
temperature at the condenser shows that the overall energetic performance of
R22 is always better than that of R407C. The difference is in the range 8% -
14%. This study also shows that R407C has smaller actual volumetric
efficiency due to smaller mass flow rate and lower isentropic compressor
efficiency than that pertaining to R22.

Experimental analysis has been carried out by Devotta et al 2005 on

1.5 TR window air conditioner retrofitted with R407C shows a lower COP
compared to R22 (Figure 2.2) under various operating conditions. Lower COP
is due to the reduced cooling capacity and increased power consumption with
R407C. They have also found that the pressure drop reduces both in
evaporator and condenser when the working fluid is R407C (Figure 2.3). The
decrease in pressure drop may be attributed to the lower R407C mass flow
rate (Navarro et al 2005).
 12

3.0
R407C
2.5
R22
2.0

1.5
1.0

0.5
0.0
DT ETA ETB
Operating conditions

Figure 2.2 Comparison of COP of R22 and R407C at various operating

conditions (Devotta et al 2005)

140
HCFC-22 Evaporator
120
Pressure drop (kPa)

R407C Evaporator
100 HCFC 22 Condenser
80 R407C Condenser

60
40
20
0
DT ETA ETB
Operating conditions

Figure 2.3 Comparison of evaporator and condenser pressure drops of

R22 and R407C at various operating conditions (Devotta
et al 2005)

It is perhaps not surprising that the search for alternatives has

concentrated on chemically similar compounds as CFCs and HCFCs which
could be used as substitutes. An alternative solution, which has until been
 13

largely overlooked, may be provided by hydrocarbons, which offers the

possibility of a cheap, readily available and environmentally acceptable
alternatives to CFCs and CFC substitutes. The absence of chlorine results in
zero ozone depletion potential. The global warming potentials are also very
low. Major hydrocarbons under consideration are propane, isobutene, n-
butane, perfluorocyclobutane, cyclopropane and propylene. Among these
refrigerants, R290 is considered as a replacement for R22 and R502. These
natural refrigerants are environmentally friendly, non toxic, chemically stable,
compatible with many materials and miscible with mineral oils. Besides this
the zeotropic refrigerant mixtures of hydrocarbon refrigerants have potentials
to enhance the performance and efficiency of a system due to their
temperature gliding effect (Chang et al 2000). The only major problem is the
flammability of hydrocarbon refrigerants.

Experimental study on the performance of hydrocarbon

refrigerants, namely propane and LPG mix as a suitable replacement for the
widely used refrigerant R22 in refrigeration and heat pump applications
conducted by Purkayastha et al 1998 revealed that the hydrocarbon
refrigerants performed better than R22 but with a small loss of condenser
capacity. The mass flow rate and compressor discharge temperature have been
found to be significantly lower than R22.

Chang et al 2000 also have experimentally investigated the

performance of a heat pump system using hydro carbon refrigerants. Propane,
isobutane, butane and propylene, the single component hydro carbons and
Propane / isobutane and propane / butane are the binary mixtures. The cooling
and heating capacities of R 290 are found slightly smaller than those of R22
with slightly higher COP than that of R22. The capacity and COP of R1270
are slightly greater than R22, which is a good indication for R1270 to be the
possible alternative for conditioning and heat pump applications. When
 14

zeotropic mixtures of R290 / R600a and R290 / R600 are used, the cooling
and heating capacities increase almost linearly with respect to mass fraction
of R290. COPs of the mixtures are found to be higher than linearly
interpolated values based on those of pure components. COP of hydro carbon
mixtures for the cooling condition is higher than that of R22 for a wide range
of composition of mixtures. Propane and mixtures as alternate refrigerant has
also been reported by various investigators like Treadwell (1994), Halozen et
al (1994), Richardson and Butterworth (1995), Kim et al (1994) and
Richardson and Ritter (1996). Lee et al 2002, Alok and Agarwal (1998),
Ritter (1996), Lee and Su (2002) and Horst and Florian (1997) also have
reported studies on HC.

The major set back reported with HCs is the flammability. James
and Missenden (1992) claimed that in case of the household refrigerators, the
possibility of explosion by flammability can be negligible because half the
amount of HCs can be charged compared to general CFC. Also, some simple
safety devices such as a ventilation system and a leak detector can be installed
to overcome the flammability problem in large sized air conditioning systems.
Extensive studies on flammability of hydrocarbons have been conducted by
Richard and Shanland (1992). Studies on the use of hydrocarbon in
refrigeration system have also been done by various investigators including
Chen et al (1994), Colbourne (2000) and Jung (1996).

2.3 REVIEWS ON INTERNAL HEAT EXCHANGER

As vapour compression cycle is widely used in modern cooling

equipment, the energy efficiency improvement of this cycle draws more
attention. Most residential and mobile air conditioning and refrigeration
systems are direct expansion units and have protection against liquid slugging
in the compressor by utilizing about 60%-90% of the evaporator capacity for
cooling and the remaining for superheating the refrigerant. This superheating
 15

portion of the evaporator provides only little contribution to the total cooling
capability. This practice also results in excessive evaporator volume.

To provide higher cooling capacity, liquid overfeeding operation

(LOF) used in larger systems, has been suggested to small air conditioning
systems in recent years. This is achieved by using a heat exchanger referred as
internal heat exchanger. Internal heat exchanger patents date back to the
1970s. Since then many forms and variants have been investigated (Meyer
et al 2001)

Internal heat exchangers may have positive or negative influences

on the plant overall efficiency, depending on the working fluids and the
operating conditions. According to Navarro et al 2005, the main benefits of
liquid line/suction line heat exchanger (internal heat exchanger) are:
increasing refrigerating effect at the evaporator, sub cooling liquid refrigerant
ensuring liquid phase entrance to the expansion device and minimizing the
risk of liquid refrigerant presence at the compressor inlet. The possible
disadvantages are: increasing suction specific volume at the compressor
entrance, decreasing the refrigerant mass flow rate which is delivered by the
compressor, increasing compressor discharge temperature, increasing pressure
drops at the suction and liquid lines and becoming a possible lubricant trap.

Boewe et al (1999) and Boewe et al (2001) have analyzed the

influence of IHE when using R744 as working fluid in automotive air
conditioning systems, where the presence of the IHE has a great influence on
the energy efficiency.

Mei et al (1994) designed and tested a new liquid overfeeding

mobile air conditioning system that can use the evaporator 100% effectively.
An accumulator heat exchanger (IHE) has been included in the study and the
much subcooled liquid enters the expansion device. In the evaporator, the
 16

liquid is not fully evaporated and remaining liquid is evaporated in the

accumulator heat exchanger by heat transferred from the condenser liquid.
The compressor suction line will always have saturated or nearly saturated
vapour and therefore a high mass flow rate. The compressor discharge
temperature will decrease and thus the compressor power consumption per
unit mass flow rate will also decrease. In the mean time, the whole evaporator
is used and the system’s cooling capacity is increased. It is estimated that this
concept can improve the overall efficiency of mobile air conditioning system
by 15% to 20%. At 2020 rpm, the mass flow rate of LOF is about 29% higher
than for operation with no LOF feature. The refrigerant side heat transfer
coefficient is a function of the mass flow rate and hence a higher mass flow
rate means a higher heat transfer coefficient. At 880 rpm LOF has shown
7.6% improvement in cooling capacity and at 2020 rpm 35%. Power
consumption has been lowest with LOF (the lower compressor discharge
temperature of the LOF reduces the power consumption). Discharge pressure
is at the highest for LOF. However the compressor high – low pressure ratios
for the LOF are the lowest. Because of the LOF system’s higher cooling
capacity, coupled with lower compressor power consumption, COPs of LOF
operation are higher.

A two TR(EER 10) off the shelf window air conditioner was
modified and tested by Mei et al,1996, with and without liquid overfeeding
(LOF) feature. A recuperative accumulator heat exchanger has been added
and the system charged with an additional 15% of R22 for additional piping.
Original components have not been replaced. LOF operation is reported to
improve the system cooling capacity and COP. At 28oF, LOF improves the
cooling capacity by 14% and COP by 10%. As ambient temperature
increases, the improvement decreases. At 43oF, the COP of the LOF becomes
equal to, or less than, that of the baseline unit. LOF has a lower compressor
pressure ratio, lower compressor discharge temperature, higher refrigerant
 17

mass flow rate, slightly higher power consumption and slightly higher suction
pressure.

Bivens et al 1997 has tested heat pumps and water chillers with
accumulators (IHE). Commercial split type heat pump of capacity 8.8 kW
with scroll compressor, fin and tube heat exchangers, suction line accumulator
and thermostatic expansion valve have been used and the capacity of R407C
is found to be increased by 0.98% - 1.09% and COP by 0.94% - 0.97%,
compared to R22. Further, a water chiller of capacity 528 kW with screw
compressor, water inside tube shell and tube condenser and evaporator was
tested. The weight percentages of components (R23/R125/R134a) have been
fixed as 30/10/60. During this test, the capacity with the mixture (R407C) is
found to be reduced by 36% compared to operation with R22 due to a reduced
mixture heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator. Power required was
increased by 14% due to reduced mixture heat transfer coefficient in both the
evaporator and condenser (causing lower refrigerant evaporator temperature
and pressure and higher condenser pressure). The combined effect was a
reduction in COP of 44%.

The effects of suction/liquid heat exchanger COP of cycle have

been discussed by Aprea et al 1999, from a thermodynamic point of view. A
simple criterion for evaluating the suitability of using a suction /liquid heat
exchanger is presented and discussed. The criterion has been positively
checked for several working fluids such as CFCs, HCFCs and other
substitutes. When a 15 oC heating of the refrigerant in the suction / liquid heat
exchanger takes place, it was found that there is rise of 2% in COP for R502
and 3% decrease for R32. The application of the criterion to R502 and R22
together with their most credited substitutes has been presented. Graphical
approach made by them shows that the thermodynamic advantage of adopting
a suction line heat exchanger is more for R22 than R407C.
 18

Dongsoo et al 2000 have tested 14 refrigerant mixtures composed

of R32, R125, R152a, R290 and R1270 in a breadboard heat pump in an
attempt to find a substitute for R22 used in residential air conditioners. The
capacity of heat pump was 3.5kW and heat transfer fluid has been water both
in evaporator and condenser. Suction line heat exchanger (E Stick) of 530mm
long, 12.8mm inner diameter and 22.8mm outer diameter have been in this
study. It has been reported that R407C has 0.8% more COP than R22 without
suction line heat exchanger (Figure 2.4). Also the capacity of R407C is 8%
more than that of R22 without suction line heat exchanger (SLHX). Table 2.2
shows the reference numbers of refrigerants for Figure 2.4. For most of the
refrigerants tested, COP increases with the addition of suction line heat
exchanger (Figure 2.5), showing a maximum of 3.9% for the mixture
containing large quantities of R125. This is due to the large specific heat of
R125. For R22, the COP and capacity have been found to increase by 2% and
0.8% respectively. For R407C, COP increases by1.5% whereas the capacity
decreases by 1.2%. In the application of alternate refrigerants, the lifetime and
reliability of the system as well as the stability of the refrigerant and lubricant
should be considered. These characteristics can be examined indirectly by
measuring the dome and discharge temperatures. The dome temperatures
measured during this study for R22 and R407C are found to be 50 oC and 45oC
respectively, without suction line heat exchanger. The compressor discharge
temperatures with R22 and R407C have been found to be 116 oC and 91oC
respectively. With the addition of SLHX, compressor discharge and dome
temperatures increase by a range of 4.5 oC – 8.6oC. Still these temperatures are
lower than those with R22 without the use of SLHX. Therefore it can be said
that even though SLHX is added, there seems to be no problem in the system
with the mixtures tested in the study.
 19

Table 2.2 Refrigerants tested in the study by Dongsoo et al 2000

Ref. Temperature
Refrigerants
Number glide (oC)
1 R22 0.00
2 23% R23/ 25% R125/ 52% R134a 6.64
(R407C, Du Pont’s AC9000)
3 26% R32/ 14% R125/ 60% R134a 6.87
4 26% R32/ 20% R125/ 54% R134a 6.74
5 50% R125/ 30% R134a/ 20% R152a 4.64
6 70% R125/ 10% R134a/ 20% R152a 4.85
7 75% R125/ 5% R134a/ 20% R152a 4.77
8 25% R32/ 71.5% R134a/ 3.5% R152a 10.91
9 26%R32/ 60% R134a/ 14% R152a 6.19
10 30% R125/ 60% R134a/ 10% R1270 6.08
11 33% R125/ 55% R134a/ 12% R1270 5.82
12 43.6% R125/ 45.9% R134a/ 10.5% R1270 5.40
13 30% R32/ 70% R134a 6.93
14 26% R32/ 74% R134a 6.77
15 45% R290/ 55% R134a 0.00

10
8
Change in COP (%)

6
4
2
0
-2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
-4
-6
Refrigerants

Figure 2.4 Effect of using various refrigerants when compared to R22

reported by Dongsoo et al 2000 for systems without SLHX
 20

5
4

Change in COP (%)

3
2
1
0
-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
-2
Refrigerants

Figure 2.5 Effect of using SLHX on COP for various refrigerants

(Dongsoo et al 2000)

A new dimensionless group has been identified by Klein et al

(2000) to correlate the performance impacts attributable to liquid-suction heat
exchangers. Also it extends the previous analyses to include new refrigerants.
The analysis includes the study of impact of pressure drops through the liquid
– suction heat exchanger on the system performance. Refrigerants R507A,
R404A, R600, R290, R134a, R407C, R410A, R12, R22, R32 and R717 are
the refrigerants investigated. This study specifically considers the effects of
pressure drops and it presents general relations for estimating the effect of
liquid – suction heat exchangers for any refrigerant. The beneficial effects of a
liquid suction heat exchanger are offset by the refrigerant pressure drops that
occur in the heat exchanger. A potential increase in the capacity is possible by
sub cooling the liquid refrigerant before expansion. Neglecting the reduction
in refrigerant mass flow rate, liquid suction heat exchangers lead to
performance improvement for any refrigerant. They have reported that liquid
suction heat exchangers increase the temperature and reduce the pressure of
the refrigerant entering the compressor causing a decrease in the refrigerant
density and compressor volumetric efficiency. The potential performance
 21

advantage of a liquid suction heat exchanger is reduced due to pressure losses

in the heat exchanger. They also report that the cooling of the condensate that
occurs on the high pressure side serves to increase the refrigeration capacity
and reduce the likelihood of liquid refrigerant flashing prior to reaching the
expansion device. On the low pressure side, the liquid –suction heat
exchanger increases the temperature of the vapour entering the compressor
and reduces the refrigerant pressure, both of which increases the specific
volume of the refrigerant and thereby decreases the mass flow rate and
capacity.

Despite these developments and achievements, there had been no

documented mathematical process, model or design procedure that can
describe the sizing of accumulators (internal heat exchangers) with respect to
their relevant operating systems. Also there had been no evidence of any
equations that accurately and sufficiently describe the heat exchange process
taking place within the heat exchanger accumulator. Heat exchanger
accumulator design seemed to be an experimental trial and error procedure
with each design improving with experience gained.

In these circumstances, the heat exchange process that takes place

within the heat exchanger accumulator (internal heat exchanger) has been
studied by Meyer and Wood 2001 and they have developed a mathematical
model of a heat exchanger accumulator. This model has been used to develop
a universal design procedure to size the heat exchanger according to the
operating system into which it has to be installed. The model predicted that
for a 10oC increase in evaporator temperature and condenser temperature will
cause a 3% (23 mm) increase in the required coil length while 10oC decrease
in each caused a 2% (17 mm) decrease in the required coil length. The
experimental facility established by them comprised a compressor with a
cooling capacity of 3780W and 0.83kg of R22 charge. Experiments were
 22

conducted at an evaporator temperature of 7oC and condenser temperature of

50 oC. The experimental results show that the LOF operation increases 0.4%
of the condensing pressure. On the other hand, increase in exit temperature
has been noted to be very small. 2.1% increase in evaporator pressure
indicates a reduction in the work required. It reduces the pressure ratio also by
1.7% resulting in less work and longer compressor life. Better compressor
isentropic efficiency is due to the reduced pressure ratio. An increase of 4% in
the mass flow rate is attributed to the higher evaporator temperature, lower
pressure ratio and increase in compressor isentropic efficiency. As a result,
there is a decrement in power consumption by 1%, and increment in cooling
capacity by 6.5% (related to the fact that refrigerant is sub cooled in the heat
exchanger). COP has also increased by 7.5% (Figure 2.6).

4
Percentage

0
Pc Pe Pc/Pe ηi m P Qe Qc COP
-2

-4

Figure 2.6 Effect of using Internal Heat Exchanger in an R22 system

by Meyer and Wood (2001)

Influence of adopting an internal heat exchanger on a single stage

vapour compression plant energy performance at different operating
conditions has been studied by Navarro et al (2005). The relative variation in
refrigerating capacity has been observed to be more for R407C when
compared to R22 due to the adoption of IHE (Figure 2.7). The relative COP
 23

variation due to adoption of IHE is also more for R407C in lower

compression ratios and it is reversed when compression ratio increases
(Figure 2.8). It has also been reported by these authors that the effectiveness
of IHE remains approximately constant during the experimental tests carried
out.

5.0
4.5
Relative capacity variation

4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
R134a
1.0
R22
0.5 R407C
0.0
3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5
Compression ratio with IHE

Figure 2.7 Relative variation in refrigerating capacity by using IHE

(Navarro et al 2005)

3.5
Relative variation of COP

3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5 R134a
0.0 R22
-0.5 R407C
-1.0
3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5
Compression ratio with IHE

Figure 2.8 Relative Variation in COP by using IHE (Navarro et al 2005)

 24

In general, in small capacity air conditioners and heat pumps, a

condition almost similar to liquid overfeeding operation in large system can
be achieved by including an IHE. This has been addressed by various authors.
Some of them like Meyer and Wood 2001 used the name as accumulator heat
exchanger. This can also be achieved by using capillary tube suction line heat
exchanger as noted by few authors like Bansal and Rupasinghe (1998), Pate
and Tree (1984), Peixoto and Bullard (1994), Meyer and Dunn (1998), Bittle
et al (1995) and Bansal et al (1996). Capillary tube suction line heat
exchanger is nothing but a capillary tube soldered to the outer surface of the
suction line. The capillary tube and the suction line form a counter flow heat
exchanger. Dirik et al (1994) and Wolf and Pate (2002) also have studied the
aspect of using non-adiabatic capillary tubes in vapour compression systems.
Unlike simple liquid suction line heat exchange, the problem in a capillary
tube suction line heat exchanger is more complex. Refrigerant may enter the
capillary tube in either a two phase or sub cooled state, flash due to friction in
the adiabatic inlet section or later in the diabetic segment, and recondense in
the diabetic section and flash again in the adiabatic outlet segment. It
normally exits into the evaporator in a choked condition, at a vapour quality
of approximately 10% as quoted by Yang and Bansal (2005).

2.4 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE LITERATURE SURVEY AND

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT RESEARCH WORK

From the literature review presented so far, the following are the
major conclusions.

(a) Based on studies related to alternate refrigerants:

(i) Refrigeration and air conditioning systems are

indispensable in the modern world.
 25

(ii) Among various options, vapour compression system

occupies over 80% of refrigeration and air conditioning
applications.

(iii) Man-made CFCs were extensively used in all vapour

compression systems upto 1990s. Ozone layer depletion
due to the use of CFCs is found to be of major concern.
Hence replacements for CFCs were attempted. At present
HCFCs are used which also needs replacement due to
environmental concerns.

(iv) While attempting to find replacement for CFCs and

HCFCs, two broad approaches have been tried, viz.,
alternate refrigerants with totally new refrigeration
system design, and retrofitting the existing machines
with alternate refrigerants.

(v) Considerable studies have been reported for CFC and

HCFC replacements with totally new system design and
limited studies have been reported on the retrofitting
approach.

(vi) At present R22 has been widely used in air conditioning

systems. The promising alternatives reported out of the
various research studies are R410A, R407C and
hydrocarbons.

(vii) From the studies reported, it appears that R407C is

suitable for retrofitting in existing systems and R410A
for adopting in new system designs. Flammability of
hydrocarbons is said to be of major concern in practical
use.
 26

(viii) Almost in all studies, R407C is found to be a close match

for R22. However, the COPs of retrofitted R407C
systems are about 7-15% lower than R22 ones.

(b) Based on studies related to the use of IHE

(i) Use of IHE is found to have either positive or negative

effect on the performance of VCR system depending
upon the refrigerant used, system design and operating
conditions.

(ii) Fully flooded evaporator (evaporator with liquid

overfeeding system) with IHE is found to have better
performance in large capacity systems.

(iii) In case of small capacity systems, the efficiency

improvements are offset by the cost factors. Hence least
attempts have been made earlier. In the recent times, few
studies have been reported due to increased energy costs
and increased awareness on reducing CO2 emissions.

(iv) While adding IHE with the existing systems, increased

suction vapour superheat is found to be a major negative
factor. However, the liquid sub cooling has a positive
effect. Net result depends on the particular situation. In
considerable number of occasions, 5-10% improvement
in COP are reported, Limited studies have been reported
in the literature regarding the use of IHE in small
capacity systems.
 27

2.4.1 Background and Objectives of the Present Work

From the above said conclusions, it is felt that R407C can be a

suitable replacement for R22 systems for retrofit considerations. The drop
(about 5-15%) in COP reported by replacing R22 with R407C can be offset
by judicially using IHE, which has the potential to improve the COP by about
5-10%. If such an approach works, retrofitting of existing R22 systems with
R407C and by the addition of IHE, almost similar performance can be
obtained.

Including IHE with existing system, is found to superheat the

suction vapour to a large extent. It is claimed to be a major detrimental factor.
Hence it is decided to isolate a portion of evaporator while using IHE.
Keeping the above aspects in mind it has been decided to carry out the
following in the present research work.

(i) Creating an experimental facility to study the performance

of one TR of air conditioning system.

(ii) With the experimental facility created, conducting

performance studies with R22 system without IHE.

(iii) Conducting experiments by retrofitting the same system with

R407C (without IHE).

(iv) Conducting experiments to find out the fraction of

evaporated area to be isolated while adding IHE.

(v) Conducting experiments with R22 and IHE by isolating a

predetermined portion of evaporator.

(vi) Conducting experiments with R407C and IHE by isolating a

predetermined portion of evaporator.
 28

(vii) Performing simulation studies with IMST-ART v 3.20

software.

(viii) Presenting and discussing the results to arrive at certain

conclusions regarding the background which stimulated this
research work.

The following chapters present these details.