Comparison of R134a and R516A’s Performance at Different Air Velocities in Two Evaporator Ejector Cooling System

Abstract

This study aims experimentally to investigate the performance parameters of R134a and the alternative R516A refrigerant in two evaporator ejector cooling system (DEES) at different air velocities of evaporator#1. Firstly, the tests were carried out with R134a refrigerant under steady-state conditions at different air velocities and then repeated with low GWP R516A refrigerant. As the tests were carried out with R134a, higher cooling capacity was achieved at different air velocity values. When the air velocity value was 1.1, 1.7, 2.2, and 2.7 m s-1, the COP value obtained from the tests with R134a was 1%, 2%, 5%, and 4% higher than R516A, respectively. Additionally, test results illustrate that the higher air velocity contributed to increasing performance parameters, however air velocity higher than 2.2 m s-1 had a slight effect. The study concluded that R516A performance values are slightly lower than R134a performance and can be alternatively used as a refrigerant in vapor compression refrigeration (VCR) systems.