Performance enhancement of air conditioning using thermosyphon system’s energy storage unit for cooling refrigerant before entering the condenser

This research focused on application of a heat transfer device, a Thermosyphon system energy storage unit (TSES unit), to air conditioning systems. The aim was to experimentally investigate use of the TSES unit to provide energy savings and enhance the heat transfer of the refrigerant. The TSES unit was installed between the compressor and the condenser. R-22, R-410A and R-134a refrigerants were used as working fluids in the thermosyphon heat pipe. Comparison of a conventional air conditioning system with the TSES unit-based air conditioning system shows that R-134a provides the best performance enhancement of the investigated refrigerants. The results show that the TSES unit-based system with R-134a reduced the refrigerant temperature at the condenser inlet to 11.67 °C, had the highest coefficient of performance with an increase of 22.75 %, increased the system’s cooling by 19.62 % and reduced power consumption by up to 3.76 %. This confirms that the device can lead to real energy savings.