Exergy analysis of a domestic refrigerator using eco-friendly R290/R600a refrigerant mixture as an alternative to R134a

The aim of the present work is to bring out an exergy analysis of the hydrocarbon refrigerant mixture of R290/R600a as an alternative to R134a on the performance of a domestic refrigerator which is originally designed to work with R134a. The performance of both refrigerants was evaluated using an exergy analysis. The effects of evaporator temperature on the coefficient of performance (COP), exergy loss, exergic efficiency, and efficiency defect in the four major components of the system for R134a and R290/R600a mixture were experimentally investigated. The results obtained showed that the COP of R290/R600a mixture was improved up to 28.5 % than that of R134a. The highest average exergic efficiency of the system (42.1 %) was obtained using R290/R600a mixture at an evaporator temperature of 263 K (-10 A degrees C). The overall efficiency defect in the refrigeration cycle working with R290/R600a mixture was consistently better than R134a.