First industrial application of non-azeotropic mixture
Abstract Experiments were carried out on a heat pump which recovers energy from a refrigerating installation and warms water from 58 to 68°C. The aim of our experiment is to compare the COP and the thermal power of the heat pump using non-azeotropic mixture instead of R12. Therefore performances of the heat pump have been determined with R12 to obtain a reference, then R12 was replaced by a ternary mixture. The installation includes 31 sensors connected to a computer. We can evaluate the influence of non-azeotropic mixture on the volumetric and isentropic compression efficiencies and on the overall coefficient of heat transfer of the condenser. Tests with the mixture give the following results compared with R12: + 20% for the thermal power at the condenser; +1.5% for the COP; −2% for the volumetric efficiency; −10% for the overall coefficient of heat transfer at the same heat flux. The influence of refrigerant leakages on the mixture composition was studied. The leakages were simulated during running of the plant. It was noticed that the leakages at the input of the dry expansion evaporator and at the top of the receiver do not modify the concentration of the different components enough to change the working conditions of the heat pump.