Experimental investigation of the effects of different refrigerants used in the refrigeration system on compressor vibrations and noise

Abstract

Vibration and noise are undesirable effects in daily life and energy-consuming systems. In thisstudy, the effects of different refrigerants on noise and vibration in a sealed reciprocatingcompressor are discussed. The study compared the noise and vibration performances ofrefrigerants with lower ozone depletion potential (ODP) values compared to R22, which has a highODP value. The study was carried out experimentally in two stages. Firstly, tests were conductedfor the coefficient of performance (COP) of different refrigerants. Secondly, vibration and noisedata were obtained experimentally for different refrigerants. The results obtained from theexperiments showed that both the COP value and the compressor vibration and noise have differentvalues for R22 refrigerant and other alternative refrigerants, but values close to R22 are obtained.It was observed that the compressor noise values and vibration values vary depending on the typeof used refrigerant. Average vibration values were determined as 0.604 m/s2in R22, 0.603 m/s2inR438A, 0.593 m/s2in R417A, 0.622 m/s2in R422D and 0.637 m/s2in R422A. When the noisevalues are examined, it was measured as 61.327 dB for R22, 62.913 dB for R438A, 62.187 dB forR417A, 63.715 dB for R422D and 64.913 dB for R422A. R417A, which has a 99% similar noisevalue to R22, was determined as an alternative refrigerant. COP values were found as 4.07 in R22,3.98 in R438A, 3.63 in R417A, 3.37 in R422D, and 3.18 in R422A. R438A showing 95%similarity for COP can be used as an alternative to R22. Generally, it was observed that the noiseand vibration values are very close to each other for all refrigerants examined.