Title: Experimental performance comparison of R1234yf and R134a automobile air conditioning systems employing a variable capacity compressor

Authors: Erkutay Tasdemirci; Ertan Alptekin; Murat Hosoz

Addresses: TUSAS-Kazan Vocational School, Gazi University, Ankara, 06560, Turkey ' Department of Automotive Engineering, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, 41001, Turkey ' Department of Automotive Engineering, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, 41001, Turkey

Abstract: The use of refrigerants from the hydrofluorocarbon family has been restricted due to their high global warming potential, and the manufacturers have been using R1234yf recently, a refrigerant from the hydrofluoroolefin family, as a substitute for R134a in mobile air conditioning (MAC) systems. In this study, a laboratory MAC system with a variable-capacity compressor was set up, and its comparative energetic and exergetic performance was evaluated for the cases of using R1234yf and R134a by changing the test conditions in a wide range. The results revealed that the system with R1234yf provided on average 13.7% less cooling duty and 12.8% less coefficient of performance based on the total power input relative to the system with R134a. Furthermore, the system with R1234yf destructed on average 18.9% more exergy per unit cooling duty. Excluding the condenser, the components of the R1234yf system destructed more exergy per unit cooling duty than those of the R134a one.

Keywords: R1234yf; R134a; exergy; automobile; air conditioning; variable-capacity compressor.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2022.129169

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2022 Vol.90 No.1/2/3/4, pp.1 - 18

Accepted: 26 Jan 2022
Published online: 27 Feb 2023 *

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