Riccardo Brignoli

Limited options for low-global-warming-potential refrigerants

Hydrofluorocarbons, currently used as refrigerants in air-conditioning systems, are potent greenhouse gases, and their contribution to climate change is projected to increase. Future use of the hydrofluorocarbons will be phased down and, thus replacement fluids must be found. Here we show that only a few pure fluids possess the combination of chemical, environmental, thermodynamic, and safety properties necessary for a refrigerant and that these fluids are at least slightly flammable. We search for replacements by applying screening criteria to a comprehensive chemical database. For the fluids passing the thermodynamic and environmental screens (critical temperature and global warming potential), we simulate performance in small air-conditioning systems, including optimization of the heat exchangers. We show that the efficiency-versus-capacity trade-off that exists in an ideal analysis disappears when a more realistic system is considered. The maximum efficiency occurs at a relatively high volumetric refrigeration capacity, but there are few fluids in this range.

Thermophysical properties and heat transfer and pressure drop performance potentials of hydrofluoro-olefins, hydrochlorofluoro-olefins, and their blends

This article considers the heat transfer and pressure drop performance potentials of halogenated propene isomers during in-tube condensation and in-tube flow boiling using the penalty factor and total temperature penalization concepts, respectively. In particular, five isomers are considered: R-1233xf, R-1233zd(E), R-1234yf, R-1234ze(E), and R-1243zf. In addition, to these five pure fluids, the heat transfer and pressure drop performance potentials are investigated for five R-32/R-1234yf blends and for twenty-seven blends being considered as part of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerants Evaluation Program. The article also presents thermophysical property estimations for the five pure fluids relative to R-134a or R-123, and the five R-32/R-1234yf blends relative to R-134a. The thermophysical properties considered are the ones that influence the heat transfer and pressure drop performance potentials, and include the thermodynamic properties temperature, pressure, density, latent heat of vaporization, and specific heat, and the transport properties thermal conductivity and viscosity. The article also presents a literature review of relevant articles for condensation and boiling heat transfer and pressure drop of fluorinated propene isomers.

Energy efficiency of a reversible refrigeration unit using R410A or R32

The aim of this article is twofold: first, to compare the performance of R410A with that of R32, which is considered a possible HFC substitute with lower global warming potential (675 instead of 2088); second, to exploit the effect of the circuit length in the finned coil of a packaged air-to-water reversible unit with given water plate heat exchanger and scroll compressor. Both scopes are pursued through the analysis of a case study, a system with nominal cooling capacity of about 74 kW at 35°C dry-bulb outdoor air temperature and a nominal heating capacity of about 70 kW at 2°C dry-bulb and 1°C wet-bulb ambient temperature. The performance of the two refrigerants inside a “real” machine is simulated by means of an advanced numerical model of a packaged reversible refrigeration unit. The system consists of a single refrigerating circuit with two identical scroll compressors. The compressor was characterized by its experimental performance curve according to Standard EN 12900 (EN 2013a) for both R410A and R32. Off-the-shelf copper tubes and louvered aluminum fins were considered for the condenser and typical brazed-plate heat exchanger for the evaporator of the chiller configuration. The finned coil heat exchanger was first thermodynamically optimized for R410A and R32 for both condenser and evaporator operation with regard to the number of internal circuits according to the total temperature penalization performance evaluation criteria (Cavallini et al. 2010; Brown et al. 2013), without changing the overall heat exchanger dimensions. The effect of finned coil circuit length on the performance of the investigated reversible unit with the two refrigerants was then analyzed at nominal design conditions and under a seasonal perspective. Based on the modeling work, it is possible to conclude that R32 system efficiency performance is acceptable as alternative to R410A for packaged air-to-water reversible unit.

A data-driven approach for fault diagnosis in HVAC chiller systems

Faulty operations of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) chiller systems can lead to discomfort for the user, energy wastage, system unreliability and shorter equipment life. Faults need to be diagnosed early to prevent further deterioration of the system behaviour and energy losses. Since it is not a common practice to collect historical data regarding unforeseen phenomena and abnormal behaviours for HVAC installations, in this paper a semi-supervised, data-driven approach is employed for fault detection and isolation that makes no use of a priori knowledge. The proposed method exploits Principal Component Analysis to distinguish between anomalies and normal operation variability and a reconstruction-based contribution approach to isolate variables related to faults. The diagnosis task is then tackled by means of a decision table. The fault diagnosis algorithm performance is assessed by exploiting an experimental dataset from a frictionless centrifugal chiller system.