Author, as appears in the article.: Albà, CG; Alkhatib, III; Llovell, F; Vega, LF
Department: Enginyeria Química
URV's Author/s: Llovell Ferret, Fèlix Lluís
Keywords: Vapor-liquid-equilibria Techno-economic analysis Synthetic refrigerant blend Regional environmental impact Polar soft-saft Low-gwp refrigerant Drop-in replacement thermodynamic perturbation-theory techno-economic analysis regional environmental impact polyatomic fluid mixtures polar soft-saft phase-equilibria pc-saft low-gwp refrigerant low gwp mixtures exergy analysis equation-of-state drop-in replacement directional attractive forces binary-mixtures
Abstract: An urgent action to mitigate climate change is the replacement of hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigeration systems, for low-global warming potential (GWP) alternatives, with stringent legislations in place. However, very limited options exist for single-component low-GWP refrigerants with similar technical performance. This work presents an integrated approach for the rational design of low-GWP refrigerant blends, focused on replacing R134a (GWP 1430), and R410A (GWP 2088), used in automotive and domestic air-conditioning, and in high pressure commercial and industrial refrigeration, respectively. A 4 E analysis (energy, exergy, economic and environmental) was employed to select suitable candidates. The molecular polar soft-SAFT theory was used in a predictive manner to fill the gap in thermodynamic data required for evaluating the technical performance based on initial selection criteria including GWP, toxicity, flammability, and degree of azeotropy. Potential candidates from a pool of 432 options were narrowed down and evaluated using a drop-in analysis to replace the working fluids R134a and R410A in today's refrigeration and air conditioning cycles, resulting in seven promising blends. Environmental and cost rate evaluation (geographically dependent based on electricity cost, HFC utilization taxes, and carbon emission factors) quantified the impact associated with their use and emissions, allowing to identify suitable replacements: three blends for replacing R134a: (90/10) wt.% R1243yf + R152a, (90/10) wt.% R1243yf + R134a, and (60/40) wt.% R1243zf + R1234ze(E), and one for replacing R410A: (90/10) wt.% R1123 + R32. This work showcases the importance of using robust thermodynamic models in the search of low-GWP refrigerants blends, considering the 4 E criteria.
Thematic Areas: Saúde coletiva Renewable energy, sustainability and the environment Química Materiais Interdisciplinar Green & sustainable science & technology Geociências Engenharias iv Engenharias iii Engenharias ii Engenharias i Energy & fuels Economia Ciências ambientais Ciências agrárias i Ciência de alimentos Biotecnología Biodiversidade Astronomia / física Arquitetura, urbanismo e design Administração pública e de empresas, ciências contábeis e turismo
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Author's mail: felix.llovell@urv.cat
Author identifier: 0000-0001-7109-6810
Record's date: 2024-08-03
Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Link to the original source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032123006639
Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Papper original source: Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews. 188
APA: Albà, CG; Alkhatib, III; Llovell, F; Vega, LF (2023). Hunting sustainable refrigerants fulfilling technical, environmental, safety and economic requirements. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 188(), -. DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2023.113806
Article's DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2023.113806
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2023
Publication Type: Journal Publications