Performance investigation of a vapor compression refrigeration system with and without heat exchanger using mono and hybrid nanofluids and operated with R1234yf

In recent years, the need for energy in the world has been increasing. Approximately one third of the world’s energy consumption is carried out by buildings. Most of this rate is due to heating, cooling and air conditioning systems. Therefore, improvements in these systems will provide major energy savings on a global scale. Compressors are the components that consume the most energy in heating, cooling and air conditioning systems. Reducing the energy consumption of compressors is of great importance. The thermodynamic and environmental performances of mono and hybrid nanolubricants acquired from different nanoparticles (TiO2 and B) used at different concentrations (0.5 wt% and 1 wt%) in vapor compression refrigeration systems (VCRS) with and without heat exchanger (HEX) were investigated in this study. Because of the experiments, the COP enhanced by 10.46% in the 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricant in the experimental system with HEX. Compared to POE, exergy efficiency improved by 23.36% in the experimental system without HEX with 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricant and by 28.48% in the experimental system with HEX with 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricant. In the energy consumption of the compressor, a decrease of 7.94% was obtained with 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricant in the experimental system without HEX and a decrease of 8.06% was obtained with 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricant in the experimental system with HEX compared to POE. Compared to POE, 7.92% improvement in total exergy destruction was found in the 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricant in the experimental system without HEX and 8.72% improvement was found in the 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricant in the experimental system with HEX. The enviroeconomic value of 1 wt% TiO2-B hybrid nanolubricants gave better results than POE and mono nanolubricant. Consequently, the hybrid nanolubricant used in the VCRS with HEX showed better thermodynamic and environmental performance than POE and mono nanolubricants.