Comparative Study for Heat Transfer Enhancement and Energy Saving in HVAC system using Nanoparticles

Abstract

HVAC systems cover many applications such as air conditioning systems in desalination plants, radiological and nuclear facilities. Also, they play an important role to achieve a suitable environment for human comfort. These systems consume more electricity than other devices, so it is important to improve the thermal performance of these systems to meet the depletion of energy resources. Rapid advances in nanotechnology have led to a new generation of heat transfer fluids called Nanofluids, where the addition of nanoparticles to essential fluids changes the properties of heat transfer. This paper presents an experimental comparative study of CuO and Al₂O₃ nanoparticles on the performance of R134a refrigeration system using POE oil. CuO and Al₂O₃ nanoparticles are individually mixed with POE mineral oil with concentration of 0.1% by weight to improve the lubrication performance and heat transfer of the cooling system. Results shows that R134a using POE oil with CuO nanoparticles of concentration 0.1% by weight works normally and enhances the COP by about 32.5 % while Al₂O₃ of the same concentration enhances the COP by about 16.8 % when compared to POE only. Furthermore, the results show energy consumption reduction of 16.6% with using CuO while Al₂O₃ reduces the energy consumption by 10.1% when compared with POE only. Moreover, CuO nanoparticles present increase in COP by about 13.5% and reduction in energy consumption by about 7.2% when compared with Al₂O₃ nanoparticles.