Development and experimental validation of a dynamic model for household refrigerators with hydrocarbon refrigerant mixtures

Natural hydrocarbons (HCs), with their negligible ozone depletion (ODP) and low global warming potential (GWP), are promising candidates for household refrigeration systems. A household refrigerator with a natural HC refrigerant also uses less electricity compared to an ordinary refrigerant. In this study the dynamic behavior of a household refrigerator was first modeled, and then the model was modified for mixed refrigerants. The equations of different sections were developed based on mass and energy balances. Following that, the proposed model was validated by comparing it to experimental data. Simulation results agreed well with the experimental findings, with a 0.33% error in daily energy consumption (kWh/day) and a ± 1 °C error in air cabinet temperature fluctuation. Based on the developed dynamic simulator, a parametric study was carried out to investigate the impact of mass fraction of different hydrocarbon refrigerants on energy consumption and cabinet air temperature fluctuations. The amount of energy consumed with various refrigerants was in the range of 0.254–0.570 kWh/day, and the standard deviation of cabinet air temperature was in the range of 1.86–2.24 °C.