Application of natural refrigerant propane and propane/isobutane in large capacity chest freezer

In this paper, we conducted some researches on natural refrigerant propane (R290) and its mixtures substituting for 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane (R134a) used in a large capacity chest freezer (BD-625). To examine the application possibilities of R290 and its mixtures to the large capacity freezer, their thermodynamic and refrigeration performances from both theoretical analysis and experimental test have been done. The theoretical analysis shows that R290 is higher by 87.7% and 54.2% than R134a in massic and volumetric refrigerating capacity respectively, propane/isobutene (R290/R600a, 90/10 wt%) is higher by 48.3% and 2.4% than R134a in volumetric refrigerating capacity and COP respectively. So R290 and its mixtures (R290/R600a) can meet the requirements of large capacity refrigeration and energy conservation as the alternatives of R134a. The experimental test shows that the power consumption of the experimental freezer charged with R290 is lower by 26.7% than that of R134a, the optimal ratio of R290/R600a is 93.75/6.25 wt% when it is used in the freezer and the corresponding power consumption is lower by 27.5% than that of R134a.