Theoretical-experimental analysis of operational parameters and the performance of an industrial refrigeration system

Abstract

The quest for reducing electricity consumption and increasing productivity in refrigeration systems has become frequent, and increasingly important in the market. Thus, as companies have devoted precious time to the detailed study of the yields of the operating cycles. This work proposes the study of the coefficient of performance (COP) of a steam compression cycle, which uses ammonia as a refrigerant. The analysis takes place through the variation of the operating parameters of the cycle, such as: compressor discharge temperature, condensation pressure, subcooler outlet temperature, operating temperature. For that, the experimental data were collected directly in the industrial plant and, thus, the various thermodynamic states and the energy and entropy balances, enabled a cycle performance analysis. The results indicated an improvement of the COP in the working system under optimized operating conditions, reaching a maximum value of 4.5.