Evaluation on Cycle Performance of R161 as a Drop-in Replacement for R407C in Small-Scale Air Conditioning Systems

  • FANG Yibo ,
  • WU Mei ,
  • GUO Zhikai ,
  • NI Hang ,
  • HAN Xiaohong ,
  • CHEN Guangming
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  • 1. Key Laboratory of Refrigeration and Cryogenic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
    2. State Key Lab for Fluorine Greenhouse Gases Replacement and Control Treatment, Zhejiang Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Hangzhou 310023, China

Online published: 2023-12-04

Supported by

This work has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51936007 and No.51576171).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022

Abstract

In this work, with excellent environmental characteristics and thermodynamic properties, R161 is considered as a drop-in replacement of R407C used in small-scale air conditioning systems. In order to study the potential of R161 in the application, the theoretical and experimental cycle performances of R161 and R407C were compared under different working conditions. The experimental results agreed well with theoretical results. In the experiment, COPs of R161 were about 15% higher than those of R407C. The compressor power consumptions of R161 were about 18% lower than those of R407C. The discharge temperatures of R161 were about 0–4°C lower than those of R407C. Besides, the annual electric consumption of a small-scale split air conditioning in Beijing, Shanghai and Hongkong could be reduced by about 19.5%, when the working fluid was changed from R407C to R161. Overall, the results indicated that R161 has a better cycle performance and good compatibility with the existing systems designed for R407C.

Cite this article

FANG Yibo , WU Mei , GUO Zhikai , NI Hang , HAN Xiaohong , CHEN Guangming . Evaluation on Cycle Performance of R161 as a Drop-in Replacement for R407C in Small-Scale Air Conditioning Systems[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2022 , 31(6) : 2068 -2076 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-022-1678-6

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