Energetic Investigation of R1234yf/R134a Blends in an Ideal Vapor Compression Refrigeration Cycle

Abstract

This study investigated the theoretical use of the various R1234yf/R134a blends with different mass fractions as working fluid in an ideal vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The performance of both pure R1234yf and R134a in the system was investigated using an energetic approach. The results showed about 6.46% decrease in COP in the cycle with R1234yf compared to the cycle with R134a. The R1234yf/R134a blends were then studied at different refrigerant mass fractions. The results showed that the global warming potential decreased by about 80% as the R1234yf content in the blend increased. On the other hand, the COP of the system decreased by about 5.64%. In conclusion, it has been shown that the mass fraction of refrigerants can be determined by optimizing the global warming potential and the coefficient of performance reduction.