Flammability and performance studies of eco-friendly ternary refrigerant mixtures used in vapour compression systems

The present article analyses the refrigerant safety parameters flammability, global warming potential (GWP) and coefficient of performance (COP) for twenty-seven combinations that contain two flammable and one non-flammable (dilutant) component. The flammability of the flammable refrigerants R290, R600, R600a, R152a and R161 were investigated with different dilutants such as R245fa, R13I1 and R134a. To determine the minimum inerting concentration (which decides the flammable zone), two methods were used: thermal balance method (TBM) and the modified thermal balanced method (MTBM). The MICs estimated with both the methods are compared against the 50 experimental data points available in the literature (for different ternary mixtures). It was found that for all the ternary mixtures, majority of the MIC values estimated with MTBM are within ± 8% while with TBM are within ± 30%. Fifty-five ternary mixture compositions were identified (from the proposed twenty-seven mixture combinations) using the MICs predicted by MTBM. The COPs of the identified mixtures M1–M6, M8–M12, M14–M24, M26–M30, M34–M39 and M53–M54 are estimated to be less than 10% of the COP of R134a (at the same operating conditions). It is also estimated that the corresponding GWP value of the mixtures (M1 to M6, M8 to M12, M14 to M24, M26 to M30, M34 to M39, M53 and M54) are reduced by 91 to 99% when compared to R134a (GWP = 1300).