Performance analysis of an ejector enhanced refrigeration cycle with R290/R600a for application in domestic refrigerator/freezers

This study presents an ejector enhanced vapor compression refrigeration cycle (EVRC) using zeotropic mixture R290/R600a for domestic refrigerator/freezers. An ejector and a phase separator are adopted in EVRC to enhance the cycle performance. Energetic and exergetic analysis methods are utilized to theoretically investigate the system operating performance of EVRC and compared with the traditional vapor compression refrigeration cycle (TVRC). The results demonstrate that EVRC outperforms TVRC and exhibits higher coefficient of performance (COP), volumetric cooling capacity and exergy efficiency. Under the given operation condition, the system performance improvement of EVRC over TVRC in the aspect of COP, volumetric cooling capacity and exergy efficiency can reach up to 14.2%, 37% and 17.7%, respectively. The performance characteristics of the proposed novel cycle show its potential advantages for application in domestic refrigerator/freezers.