University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Two-Speed Compressor Operation in a Refrigerator/Freezer

Srichai, P.R.; Bullard, C.W.

Content Files
TR121.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/11603

Description

Title
Two-Speed Compressor Operation in a Refrigerator/Freezer
Author(s)
  • Srichai, P.R.
  • Bullard, C.W.
Issue Date
1997-07
Keyword(s)
cycling performance
Date of Ingest
2009-04-24T23:37:22Z
Abstract
A two-speed compressor was installed in a side-by-side refrigerator in order to validate simulation results which predicted significant increases in energy efficiency due to better load matching and reduced temperature lift. The steady state system COP at the low compressor speed (2400 rpm) was found to increase by 12% to 19% when compared to the high compressor speed (3600 rpm). About 9% of the energy savings achieved at the low compressor speed were attributable to the lower temperature lift; most of the remainder was due to the fact that the compressor itself operated more efficiently at the low speed. The savings observed at the low speed are net of the penalty incurred by the heat exchanger fans consuming some of the energy savings during the longer on-cycles. Additional experiments demonstrated that a refrigerator's energy efficiency could be increased by reducing the condenser fan speed when operating at low ambient temperatures. The decrease in fan speed causes a re-distribution of charge from the condenser to the evaporator resulting in a reduction in evaporator superheat and an overall increase in evaporator capacity.
Publisher
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center. College of Engineering. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Series/Report Name or Number
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center TR-121
Type of Resource
text
Genre of Resource
Technical Report
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/11603
Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Project 66

Owning Collections

Technical Reports - Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center PRIMARY