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A THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF REFRIGERANTS. I. THERMODYNAMIC LIMITS OF THE VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE

Published

Author(s)

Piotr Domanski, J S. Brown, Jae H. Heo, Janusz Wojtusiak, Mark McLinden

Abstract

This paper explores the thermodynamic performance limits of the vapor compression cycle. In particular, we apply evolutionary algorithms to explore the performance of thousands of hypothetical refrigerants defined by their thermodynamic parameters using the extended corresponding states model. We identified optimal values of these fundamental parameters required to reach the performance limits. The study confirmed the fundamental trade-off between the coefficient of performance (COP) and volumetric capacity, and indicated refrigerant critical temperature as a single dominant parameter influencing the tradeoff. Thermodynamic performance limits depend on the operating conditions and cycle design. These limits are represented by Pareto fronts developed for the objective functions COP and volumetric capacity. As expected, performance of current refrigerants falls below the Pareto front limits. We demonstrate that for practical cycles the developed methodology and resulting Pareto fronts are more realistic benchmarks for the performance potentials of refrigerants than is COP alone, which is an efficiency only metric.
Proceedings Title
4th IIR Conference on Thermophysical Properties and Transfer Processes of Refrigerants
Conference Dates
June 17-19, 2013
Conference Location
Delft, NL
Pub Type
Conferences

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Keywords

coefficient of performance, refrigeration, refrigerants, vapor compression cycle
Buildings and construction and Building control systems

Citation

Domanski, P. , Brown, J. , Heo, J. , Wojtusiak, J. and McLinden, M. (2012), A THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF REFRIGERANTS. I. THERMODYNAMIC LIMITS OF THE VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE, 4th IIR Conference on Thermophysical Properties and Transfer Processes of Refrigerants, Delft, NL, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=913596 (Accessed June 14, 2026)
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Created June 18, 2012, Updated May 7, 2026
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