EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF A DOMESTIC REFRIGERATOR WITH POE-Al sub( 2)O sub( 3) NANOLUBRICANT

This paper presents the performance of a minibar domestic refrigerator operating with and without nanoparticles of alumina oxide, Al sub( 2)O sub( 3). The Al sub( 2)O sub( 3) nanoparticles were mixed with polyolester (POE) lubricant to form nano-lubricant at 0.2% concentration by volume and were prepared via a two-step method. The evaluation was carried out by determining the general performance in terms of refrigeration capacity (Q sub( L)), compressor work, coefficient of performance (COP), and the power and energy consumption of the system working with both lubricants, POE-Al sub( 2)O sub( 3) and POE. The refrigerator attained its optimum operating level at 42 psi for both. The performance of the refrigerator operating with POE-Al sub( 2)O sub( 3) was improved compared with the system working with POE in terms of energy consumption and COP. The energy consumption of the refrigeration system with POE-Al sub( 2)O sub( 3) at optimum refrigerant charge was the minimum and maximum COP of 321 Wh and 2.67. The highest percentage of energy consumption reduction was 2.1% at the optimum refrigerant charge.