Experimental study on dynamic characteristics of organic Rankine cycle coupled vapor compression refrigeration system with a zeotropic mixture

The organic Rankine cycle coupled vapor compression refrigeration system is an attractive refrigeration technology that converts low-grade thermal energy into cooling capacity to improve waste heat utilization efficiency. Due to the inevitable change in ambient temperature and cooling demand, the dynamic characteristics of the combined system are worth studying. In this paper, a small experimental apparatus with a common condenser is designed and developed. The dynamic characteristic experiments under different disturbances are carried out to understand the response characteristics of operating parameters and the variation of system performance. The results show that the maximum response time of the system under different disturbances ranges from 493 s to 694 s. The impact of throttle opening on the response characteristics of refrigeration subsystem parameters is significantly higher than that of the organic Rankine cycle. The mass flow rate of organic Rankine cycle has the fastest response to pump frequency, while the compressor inlet temperature changes rapidly with the cooling water temperature. Under a step cooling water temperature, it is important to control the compressor inlet temperature to avoid liquid droplets in its inlet. In addition, the mass flow rate of organic Rankine cycle should be controlled reasonably to achieve the maximum coefficient of system performance. The cooling capacity of the system is mainly affected by the cooling water temperature and the throttle valve opening. During the experiment, the maximum cooling capacity and performance coefficient of the system are 3.75 kW and 0.275, respectively. This work can provide guidance for the design of the control strategy of the combined system. •An organic Rankine cycle coupled vapor compression refrigeration system was built.•Dynamic characteristics of the combined system under various disturbances were tested.•Response time and change rate of main parameters were provided.•System has a large thermal inertia with a maximum response time of 694 s.