Arnaud, D.

Caillie, J. P.

English

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Purdue UniversityPurdue e-PubsInternational Refrigeration and Air ConditioningConference School of Mechanical Engineering1990Comparative Performances of HFA 134a andCFC-12 in a Reciprocating Water ChillerD. ArnaudATOCHEMJ. P. CaillieATOCHEMFollow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iraccThis document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact epubs@purdue.edu foradditional information.Complete proceedings may be acquired in print and on CD-ROM directly from the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories at https://engineering.purdue.edu/Herrick/Events/orderlit.htmlArnaud, D. and Caillie, J. P., "Comparative Performances of HFA 134a and CFC-12 in a Reciprocating Water Chiller" (1990).International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference. Paper 120.http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iracc/120COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCES OF HFA l34a AND CFC 12 IN A RECIPROCATING WATER CHILLER D. ARNAUD - J.P. CAILLIE ATOCHEM G~oupe ELF AQUITAINE Cent~e d'Application de Levallois 95, rue Danton 92300 LEVALLOIS PERRET (FRANCE) ABSTRACT In o~de~ to compare the thermodynamic pe~formances of HFA 134a and CFC 12 in a semi-indust~ial system, the autho~s have designed and. tested . an exp_e~iment:al 15 kW wate~ chille~ equiped with a s~m~-herm~t~c ~ec~p~ocat~ng comp~esso~ charqed with naphtenic m~ne~al o~l. Di~ect measu~ements have been made on the total enerqy consumption of the compressor the frigorific energy p~oduced at the evaporator A qood aqreement was obse~ed between these measures and the pe~formances deduced from temperatu~e. pressure and flow rate measu~ements on the ref~iqerant circuit. compa~ative thermodynamic performances of the unit efficiency of the comp~essor qlobal heat t~ansfe~ coefficient of the evapo~ator we~e ~epo~ed and discussed fo~ both ~efriqe~ant HFA l34a and CFC 12 ove~ a cold wate~ temperatu~e ranqe of - 1o•c to + s·c and for a constant condensation temperatu~e of + 32.5"C. The influence of the charge of refrigerant on the pe~formances of the unit has also been studied and is discussed. After 500 hours of continuous operations it was not obse~ed any mechanical or performances disfunctioninq of the system due to the non miscibility of HFA 134a with the oil. 1 - INTRODUCTION The use of Hyd~ofluo~oalcane (HFA) 134a has been investigated in ~ecent years for ~eplacinq CFC 12 in recip~ocating compressors. Several resea~ch and development activities are presently in p~oqress for developpinq this new ~efriqerant, especially a lot of work is done to develop new synthetic oils miscible with HFA l34a. Polyalkylene qlycols basis have been proposed ( l-3] but seem nC?t to meet all refrigeration industry requirements because of the~r hiqh hyqroscopy and thermal instability in contact with some materials present in the refriqeration system. 354 Few eXperimental results have been presented till now on the behaviour of HFA 134a in contact with standard. mineral oil used today with CFC 12. The objectives of this work was to evaluate the new refrigerant HFA 1J4a in an existing installation defined for CFC 12 and. to show that it was possible in some cases, to use HFA 134a with standard naphtenic mineral oil, especially in an industrial system equiped. with an oil separator. 2 - TEST INSTALLATION The 15 kw water chiller used. in these series of tests was developped and constructed by a french OEM, according our schedule. A schematic diagram of the system is shown in !iqure 1. II oooli219 watar IBZp~aio:~~ valval 11'1 !I Tlil u T4 II 8 T!i e----1 P4 'I' 'I' PS I ColloSaJiaar ,......, ,., II II 1'2 ~ ~ II ~ P3 II II 8T10 TJ l!l I '~'-'[j' u~ I i I l!lYaporator I i Ill I I I I T1Z 0 l!l I I 11•110._ I W1 I s~ /-r 'P7 I ;!.J 0 Co•preaaor ~ I L.........J Tl. T1 L.........J P& I !: II I w c P I W2 Sensors F T p Flowmeters Temperature gauges Pressure gauges Wattmeters EHE OS EH WCP External heat exchanger oil separator w figure 1 Compressor reciprocating (3 pistons) displacement : 49.5 m3;h at 1 450 rpm Electric heater Water circulation pump lubricant : original 150 sus naphtenic mineral oil. Oil separator : . Oil capacity 770 cm3 355 Condenser : horizontal multitubes 12 tubes o! 1.2 m length each condensation of refrigerant outside tubes Evaporator coaxial tube-in-tube evaporation of refrigerant inside tube Expansion valve thermostatic expansion valve with external pressure equali-zation R 22 bulbe (in the case of HFA 134a tests) R 12 bulbe (in the case of CFC 12 tests) Calorjmeter box 165 liters of a monoethylene glycol solution The water chiller and calorimeter box include 25 sensors (flowmeters, wattmeters, temperature and pressure gauges) as shown in fiqure 1 which are connected to a computer. Integration of the data were instantaneously made to generate a thermal assess of the system and follow directely the evolution of every crucial parameters. 3 - TESTS CONDITIONS In this stucl.y, the concl.ensation temperature has been maintained. constant and equal to 32.5"C by adjusting the flow rate of the cooling water at the condenser. For both refrigerant, the evaporator superheat was controlled. and maintained constant equal to 3-4 ·c by acl.justing·- the opening and. closing of the thermostatic expansion valve. The temperatures of the chilled water loop at the evaporator calorimeter were varied between - 10 • C to + 5 • c by adjusting the value of the electric heater. Direct measurements of the evaporator capacity have been made at thermal equilibrium by measuring the total heat input (electric heater + water circulating pump + through - the-wall heat loss) at the calorimeter box containing the chilled. water loop where the evaporator is merged.. Seconcl.ary estimation o! the evaporator ·capacity has been obtained from the temperature, pressure and flowrate measurements on the refrigerant circuit : good agreement (within 3-5 %) has been observed with the direct measurements and has permitted to check the validity of the theoretical thermodynamic properties of refrigerants tested. 356 Direct estimation of the condenser capacity has been made through the measurements of temperature· rises and flowrate on the cooling water side. A second estimate of the same evaporator capacity has been obtained from temperature, pressure and flowrate measurements on the refrigerant circuit and was also in good agreement with the first estimation. The input power of the compressor was directly measured from a wattmeter. Analysis of the efficiencies of the compressor for both refri-gerant has been obtained from known ( enthalpies, vapor density [ 4]) or measured ( flowrate, temperature pressure) thermophysical properties of the ·tested refrigerant at working temperatures and pressures. 4 - PERFORMANCES TESTS RESULTS Results presented here were extracted from the test data and are plotted in a serie of graphs comparing the evolution of some important parameters of the water chiller with both refrigerants CFC 12 and HFA 134a. Thermodynamic data correspond to direct measurements made on the calorimeter box. Frigorific capacity : Figure 2 FRIGORIFIC CAPACITY 18 16 14 kW 12 10 8 6 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 CHILLED WATER TEMPERATURE ('C) FIGURE 2 6 Results o:bserved correspond to eXpected values deduced from theoretical thermodynamic properties of refrigerants CFC 12 and HFA 134a. 357 The friqorific capacity of the water chiller is 4 % to 15 % lower for HFA 134a over the ranqe of colj water test temperatures. However it is interestinq to note that the difference becomes lower as the cold temperature increases, as at lower temperature, the volumetric efficiency of the compressor penalizes in greater extent HFA 134a because of its much more higher compression ratio (fiqure 3). 7, 5 7 6. 5 6 5.5 5 4.5 3, 5 COMPRESSION RATIO 3 ~--~~--~----~----~----+-----~--~----~ -10 -B -6 -4 -2 0 2 CHILLED WATER TEMPERATURE ("C) FIGURE 3 rnput power of the gompressor : figure 4 6.5 6 5, 5 kW 5 4,5 INPUT POWER OF THE COMPRESSOR ---_________________ ...... ------· .... ~--~-~------------------------· .... -----------------------HFA134a .. ~~~;' . 6 .r-~_ ... _ ... -r 4~---+----+---------+----+----+2----+4--~6 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 CHILLED WATER TEMPERATURE ("C) FIGTJRE 4 358 It has been o.bserved that the. d{fference of measured input power at the compressor between the two refrigerants tested remains constant, equal to o. 5 kW over the range of cold water tested temperatures, lower values being observed with HFA 134a (about 10% comparing to CFC 12). This difference is pro.bably due to the lower density of HFA 134a vapors at given inlet temperatures. coefficient of performance : figure 5 2, 8 2, 6 2. 4 2, 2 2 1,8 1,6 u -10 -B COEFFICIENT OF PERFORMANCE OF THE INSTALLATION -6 -4 -2 0 2 CHILLED WATER TEMPERATURE !'C) FIGURE 5 6 Compared to CFC 12, the coefficient of performance (COP) of the installation charged with HFA 134a varies .between - 8 % and + 5 %, lower values .being observed at low temperatures. From - 4 • c to + 5 • C chilled water temperature the COP of the installation becomes greater in the case of HFA 134a, indicating better compressor yields. compressor yields . Isentropic efficiency : figure 6 Isentropic efficiency of the compressor has been estimated from direct measurements of temperatures and pressures at the inlet and outlet of the compressor. Because of reequilibration of temperature inside the and measurements of temperature not precisely at cyclinder, direct estimation was not possible refrigerant. compre5sor the head for each However for the same levels of temperatures measured, relative comparison was possible and is presented in figure 6. It can be seen that isentropic efficiency is a.bout 5 % higher for HFA 1J4a denoting a greater non adiabaticity of the compressor in the case of CFC 12. 359 RATIO OF THE ISENTROPIC EFFICIENCIES CFC12 / HFA134a -10 -8 . Volumetric yield 0. 85 0. 84 0. 83 0. 82 0. 81 0. 8 0. 79 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 CHILLED WATER TEMPERATURE ('Cl FIGURE 6 figure 7 VOLUMETRIC YIELD OF THE COMPRESSOR 0, 78 +----+---+------f-----------------i -10 -B -6 -4 -2 0 CHILLED WATER TEMPERATURE ('C) FIGURE 7 2 4 6 6 Volumetric yielcl has :been estimated from the ratio of the actual volume swept :by the compressor (directely declucecl from measurements of refrigerant flowrate and temperature at the inlet) over the theoretical swept volume (given by the constructor). From - 1o·c to - 2•c this yield is slightly lower in the case of HFA 134a (2 % in the extreme conditions) corresponding to a greater compression ratio for HFA 134a. 360 . overall heat transfer coefficient at tne evaporator : figure 8 The overall heat transfer coefficient at the evaporator has been estimated from temperature and friqorific capacity measurements. Refriqerants flowrates varied from . 4.5 to B kq;mn in the case of CFC 12 . 3 to 4.5 kq/mn in the case of HFA 134a Experimental results show a lower (about 20 %) overall heat transfert coefficient for HFA 134a. 2400 2200 2000 1600 W/ (m~ ."cl 1600 1400 1200 1000 B 10 OVERALL HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT AT THE EVAPORATOR 12 14 16 18 HEAT FLUX (kw/m'l FIGURE 8 361 20 22 5 - INFLUENCE OF THE CHARGE OF REFRIGERANT The influence of the charqe of refrigerant on the variation of frigorific capacity at the evaporator has been studied in the sa~e conditions as performances tests, at a constant cold temperature of - 2.s·c, by discharging the system. Results on figure 9 show that the minimal refrigerant charge is lower of about 18 % for HFA l34a in the system, due to the greater heat of vaporization of HFA l34a comparing to CFC 12 at a given temperature. LOSS OF FRIGORIFIC CAPACITY AT THE EVAPORATOR -0. 5 0. 5 J HFA134a I ~ t -1 kW -1. 5 -2 i CFC12 \ \ I \ l -2. 5 -3 + ~ L 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 CHARGE OF REFRIGERANT (kg) FIGURE 9 362 6 - STABILITY OF REFRIGERANT AND LUBRICATING OIL Both refrigerants CFC 12, HFA l34a and. llll:lricating oil were sampled and analysed. before trials and after 500 hours of continuous operations. Results of analysis a:t'e shown in table 1 and 2. It was not observed any significant changes in composition of oil and. :t'efrige:t'ants due to a disfunctioning of the system : both refrige:t'ants and. oil a:t'e quite stable in the conditions of the tests. In simila:t' condition, HFA 134a seems even mo:t'e stable than CFC 12. TABLE 1 ANALYSIS OF REFRIGERANTS Optllratinq hou:t's Ope:t'atinq hOU:t'S with CFC 12 with HFA 134a 0 500 0 500 Global purity of :t'efriqerant 99.9 99,9 99.9 99.9 % weight by p:t'oducts No siqnificant (ppm weiqht) - R 22 : 500 evolution TABLE 2 Ope:t'atinq hoU:t'S 0 500 hours 500 hoU:t'S with CFC 1<! with HFA 134a Colo!:' yellow yellow yellow Water content (ppm weight) 30 45 40 Total acid. number (mg KOH/g) 0.001 0.020 0.020 Viscosity at 40'C (centistocks :lo.o :l2. 0 32.0 spectroscopy analysis (ppm w.) Fe - 1 -Cu - 2 <! haloqens - 2 -NMR analysis ratio CH3 group % 0.64 0.65 0.64 cH2+CH group aromatic ratio % 2.7 2.6 2.7 aromatic + aliphatics 363 7 - CONCLUSION This is an example of using HFA 134a in an existing installation defined for CFC 12. These tests have permitted to verify that : it is possil:lle to use HFA 134a in existing CFC 12 industrial or semi-industrial installations l:ly only adapting the expansion valve . . loss of performances of the system are in accordance with theoretical performances of HFA 134a and may l:le acceptal:lle in some existing applications . • HFA 134a and standard naphtenic mineral oil are chemically compatil:lle in particular it was not observed any chemical reaction l:letween the oil and the refrigerant at such high operating temperatures as 90"C. . After 500 hours of operation, with the configuration of the system tested (presence of oil separator and the compressor l:lelow) It was not ol:lserved any accumulation of oil at the evaporator or any mechanical disfunctioning of the compressor due to the non miscibility of HFA 134a with the oil. This has to l:le confirmed on longer period tests and other configurations. REFERENCES 1 - J.W. Linton, w.K. Snelson "Performance comparison of refri-gerants R-134a and R 12 in a Residential Exhaust Air heat Pump" ASHRAE transaction june 89. 2 - E.A. Vineyard ; J.R. Sand, W.A. Miller 11Refrigerator-Fee:~:er Energy testing with alternative refrigerants" • . ASHRAE CFC : time of transition p. 205-210 3 - K.S. Sanvorden ker "Materials compatibility of R 134a in refrigerant systems" ASHRAE CFC : time of transition p. 211-216 4 - o. ARNAUD "proprietes thermophysiques du HFA 134a" CAL Information octobre 1989 publication ATOCKEM. 364 

Comparative Performances of HFA 134a and CFC-12 in a Reciprocating Water Chiller

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Comparative Performances of HFA 134a and CFC-12 in a Reciprocating Water Chiller

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