Low-GWP Refrigerant Evaluation in AC Systems for High Ambient Temperature Applications - Literature Survey for Impact of Varying Refrigerant Charge on AC System Performance

Research output: Book/ReportCommissioned report

Abstract

The report summarizes the findings of ASHRAE Research project 1173, by Purdue University to assess the impact of varying refrigerant charge on air conditioner (AC) system performance. This project tested six residential air conditioners with varying the system charge in a wide range, using TXV or fixed-orifice as the expansion device. In summary, the systems using fixed-orifices are much more sensitive to reduction of the system charge than using TXVs. The systems using fixed-orifices had noticeable performance degradations when reducing the system charge below 90% relative to the factory charge; the systems using TXVs experienced drastic performance penalties when decreasing the system charge below 80%. In the cases, the TXVs were all fully open and couldn’t control the target superheat degree. In order to limit the system charge for lower-GWP refrigerants, without degrading the system performance much, the AC systems are recommended to use TXV and compact heat exchangers, i.e. micro-channel heat exchangers.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationUnited States
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Keywords

  • 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Low-GWP Refrigerant Evaluation in AC Systems for High Ambient Temperature Applications - Literature Survey for Impact of Varying Refrigerant Charge on AC System Performance'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this