ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF A DOMESTIC REFRIGERATOR: APPROACHING A SUSTAINABLE REFRIGERATOR

In the perspective of reducing the household energy consumption, current research in conventional refrigeration is concentrating on introducing innovative designs and enhances the energy efficiency of the refrigeration system. This research work compares the performance of the domestic refrigerator by employing hot-wall air cooled and box type shell and tube water-cooled condenser. The energy and exergy analysis methods help to localize exergy losses in the refrigerator. The investigation is carried out according to ISO 15502:2005. Experimental studies were conducted in the same refrigerator unit operating with a different condenser to determine the coefficient of performance, exergy efficiency, and exergy loss in all components of the domestic refrigerator. The experimental result shows that COP is increased by 18-20% and the exergy efficiency of the refrigerator with water cooled condenser unit is found to be higher by 6.89-9.13% than the one with a hot-wall air cooled condenser. The per day energy consumption of a refrigerator with a water-cooled condenser reduces by 17% in comparison with conventional refrigerator. The irreversibility of the refrigerator with the water-cooled condenser is reduced by 34 % than that of the conventional system under similar operating conditions.  The total equivalent warming impact of refrigerator working with the water-cooled condenser is 16% lower than that the refrigerator with air cooled condenser. The utilization of water-cooled condenser in household refrigerators enhances energy efficiency.