Performance evaluation of a 250 L household refrigerator
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Abstract
The performance of a typical 250 L cooler type refrigerator is analyzed based on experimental data by employing the first and second laws of thermodynamics at steady state in order to quantify the location of loses on component-level and to determine the efficiency potential of each component. Based on the measured data, energy and exergy rates for components modeling them as steady flow systems are calculated to quantify the sites and amounts of energy and exergy loses. The analysis indicates that the second law efficiency is 20.5% which is very low compared with other refrigerators, although the first law efficiency is within a normal range. The reasons for such a low second law efficiency are due to large exergy destructions in the compressor, after the condenser, evaporator, suction line heat exchanger, and dryer-capillary tube. One of the most significant results drawn from the study is that a compressor should be taken as a key component for a higher efficiency refrigerator.