Experimental investigations on the performance of a vapor compression refrigeration system under the influence of magnetic field generated using magnetic pair and Halbach array

ABSTRACT

In the present study, an attempt has been made to carry out an experimental investigation on the variations in the performance of vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS) with the application of magnetic configurations. Magnetic configurations used for the present work were pair of magnets (MC-1) and Halbach array (MC-2) with the magnetic field intensities of 3000 and 7200 Gauss, respectively. The coefficient of performance (COP) was first determined in the absence of a magnetic field and then with the application of magnetic configurations on the condenser liquid line. Experimental outcomes show that the performance of the VCRS is dependent on the magnetic field strength and the magnetization time for the given conditions. Under the same conditions, the COP of the system increased up to 8.38% for MC-1 using two magnetizers and 9.94% for MC-2 using one magnetizer. Finally, it was observed that the TEWI analysis for the MC-1 and MC-2 was lesser than the conventional system, which was in the range of 0.72–2.11% and 1.83–3.39%, respectively. From the results, it can be concluded that the application of the Halbach array is an effective, economical, and prominent way to improve the performance of the VCRS compared to the pair of magnets.

KEYWORDS:

• Magnetic field
• Halbach array
• Response time
• Magnetization time
• COP

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management Nagpur, and J D College of Engineering and Management Nagpur for supporting this experimental work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rahul Deshmukh

Mr. Rahul Deshmukh is working as research scholar at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management Nagpur, India. He has more than 4 years of academic & research experience. His research interest includes Refrigeration & air-conditioning, and Heat transfer applications.

Dinesh Zanwar

Dr. Dinesh R Zanwar has graduated in Engineering from Government College of Engineering, Amravati. He completed his post-graduation in Industrial Engineering and Management from Indian Institute of Technology, Kaharagpur and Ph. D. from RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur. At present, he is working as Associate Professor in Department of Industrial Engineering at Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management, Nagpur, India. He is serving SRCOEM, Nagpur since 1992. His areas of interest and research are Cold Storage Design, Refrigeration, System Analogies, Optimization, System Development, Modelling and Simulation, Productivity Improvement, Soft Computing Techniques, Automation, Artificial Intelligence.

Sandeep Joshi

Dr. Sandeep Joshi is working as Assistant Professor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management Nagpur, India. He is deeply involved in the applied research in Mechanical Engineering. His special research interest includes Solar Photovoltaic systems, Solar thermal systems, and Thermal management systems.

Shyamal Chakrabarty

Mr. Shyamal Chakrabarty is working as Assistant Professor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, JD College of Engineering and Management Nagpur, India. His research area includes Heat transfer and storage systems, Refrigeration, and Solar energy.