Abstract
We tested to use several compositions of a four-component-mixture R 32/125/134a/600 as a refrigerant for replacing R 22 in refrigeration system of refrigerated warehouses. R 32, R 125, and R 134a are hydrofluorocarbons and R 600 is normal butane. The refrigeration system designed for R 22 can be used without any change or with very minor change. By using appropriate composition of the four-component refrigerant, existing refrigeration system can provide best performance because the adjusted properties of the refrigerant can somewhat compensate for the individual hardware problems. Practical operation test was done by using a refrigeration system of nominal cooling capacity of 30.2 kW with a 22 kW two-stage compressor which equipped for an 858m3 refrigerated warehouse maintaining at -30°C. The pressure condition and the coefficient of performance of R 32/125/134a/600 are similar to R 22 from a theoretical viewpoint. The power consumption of R 32/125/134a/600 was small enough or not to be worse than that of R22, which was confirmed from the actual test results.
