Experimental study on the performance improvement of a screw-compressor-type chiller

스크류 압축식 냉동기의 성능향상에 관한 실험적 연구

An experimental study on the performance enhancement of a screw-compressor-type chiller with 100kW of nominal cooling capacity has been carried out. Performance test facility was developed to investigate the effects of a partial modification from the existing chiller on the performance. By replacing the existing shell-and -tube heat exchangers with plate heat exchangers, the cooling capacity is increased by 15~18% and the COP is also increased by 19~21% depending on the operation temperature range. Charging mixed refrigerant R22/R142b(80 : 20) instead of R22 into the chiller with plate heat exchangers improves the cooling capacity by 4% and the COP very largely by 30%. Each contribution of the plate evaporator, plate condenser, and mixed refrigerant to the performance enhancement is examined by analyzing the refrigeration cycle and the heat transfer processes. It is also shown that the chiller performance can be improved by adapting 2-stage-compression cycle using an economizer.