Design of a Microscale Refrigeration System for Optimizing the Usable Space in Compact Refrigerators

Abstract

This research aims to enter the miniature refrigeration machine sector with the objective of designing a small scale unit while maintaining a competitive coefficient of performance (COP), comparing with a Peltier plates system. To this end, a research of the current technology was carried out in order to obtain indicative values on the scales that were being worked on and their application. After the previous research, a refrigeration cycle was designed in EES (engineering equation solver). From this design, different conclusions were obtained: (1) The correct sizing of the compressor revolutions together with its displacement is crucial for the equipment to be able to provide the desired cooling capacity. (2) In order to obtain the desired cooling capacity in the microscale refrigeration system, the heat exchangers must have fins. (3) Of the analysed refrigerants, R600a is the best choice, as it shows favourable characteristics (high COP and low compression ratio) when working in this type of cycle.

A Review of Small-Scale Vapor Compression Refrigeration Technologies

“…Modeling has also been applied to the optimization of micro-scale vapor compression systems [78]. A numerical model was conducted on EES [79] using fundamental thermodynamic equations to define inlet and outlet states of each component, and calculate cooling power and cycle COP, neglecting pressure drop, heat losses, and superheating and subcooling values near the saturation curve.…”

Analiza delovanja majhne parno-kompresijske hladilne naprave

“…V delu Goenaga et al [27] so poskušali načrtovati enoto miniaturnega hladilnega sistema ob ohranitvi konkurenčnega koeficienta učinkovitosti v primerjavi s sistemi Peltier modulov. V ta namen je bila izvedena raziskava trenutne tehnologije z namenom pridobitve okvirnih vrednosti delovanja posameznih komponent.…”

“…V sklopu te metode je celotna površina prenosnika toplote zapakirana znotraj enačbe števila prenosnih enot (27), ki je brezdimenzijska prenosna velikost prenosnika toplote.…”