PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF VAPOR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION SYSTEM BY VARYING AIR FLOW RATES IN AIR-COOLED AND EVAPORATIVELY COOLED CONDENSERS

摘要

Increasing the coefficient of performance (COP) of vapor compression refrigeration systems with conventional air-cooled condensers is a required problem especially in areas having adverse ambient conditions. An effective way of tackling this problem is by employing an evaporatively cooled condenser. In this paper, the effect of evaporative cooling on the performance of the vapor compression refrigeration system at three different ambient temperatures of 23°C, 29°C, and 35°C is studied. It also compares the effect of cellulose and steel-wire mesh pads used in an evaporative cooler. The effect on the performance of vapor compression refrigeration system is also evaluated by changing three different air flow rates (i.e., 1.15, 0.93, and 0.88 m/s) in air-cooled and evaporatively cooled condensers. The experimental results show that at 23°C for air flow rate of 0.88 m/s the performance of the system is increased by 2.3% and 1.1% by employing an evaporative cooler using cellulose and steel-wire pads, respectively, as compared to air-cooled condenser. Effect on the performance of the system will be more pronounced if evaporative coolers having high heat transfer coefficients are employed.