Effect of Al2O3 Nanoparticles and Span-80 as Refrigerant Additives on Improving Cooling Performance of a Refrigeration System

This study investigates the effect of R141b-Al2O3 nanorefrigerant with mass fractions of 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5% and 0.9% (w/w%) on the refrigeration time, energy consumption and performance coefficient of a vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS). The effects of span80 and Tween80 surfactants on the stability of the nanorefrigerant were also investigated, and the optimum sonication time required to prepare stable nanofluids was determined. The results showed that Span-80 is more effective than Tween 80 at producing a stable nanorefrigerant. Then, the effect of span80 surfactant on the efficiency of VCRS was investigated. The results showed that upon using the nanorefrigerant, COP increased by up to 214% compared to the pure refrigerant. Furthermore, using the nanorefrigerant with a surfactant improved the performance coefficient by 52% compared to the nanorefrigerant without a surfactant.