Feasibility study of hydrocarbons as environmentally friendly refrigerants

Within the framework of this project aimed at continuously improving the performance of absorption-diffusion cycles, and in the search for new refrigerants to replace commonly used fluids. We are presenting new hydrocarbon mixtures: the most volatile fluid, propylene, is chosen as the refrigerant, and the least volatile as the absorbent. The study of the thermodynamic feasibility of the cycle consists in determining the operating limits of absorption refrigeration machines with the various alkane pairs considered. Modeling on ASPEN PLUS and ASPEN HYSYS flowsheeting software, we found that the hydrocarbon mixture chosen is the one that gives the best COP compared with those given by the hydrocarbons tested. The calculation of the coefficient of performance will lead to the choice of the best performing blend. As a follow-up to this work, we are proposing the search for other more efficient and more environmentally-friendly working couples.

Autorentext

Nessrine Soli is Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Process Chemistry at the Institut Supérieur des Sciences Appliquées et Technologiques de Gabès (ISSATG) at the University of Gabès, where she worked from 2018 to 2020. From 2021 to 2022, she worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Ecole Nationale des Ingénieurs de Gabès.