Thermodynamic Analysis on the Performance of Barocaloric Refrigeration Systems Using Neopentyl Glycol as the Refrigerant

• Published in: Journal of thermal science Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 1063 - 1073
• Main Authors: Dai, Zhaofeng, She, Xiaohui, Wang, Chen, Ding, Yulong, Zhang, Xiaosong, Zhao, Dongliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Classical and Continuum Physics; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Engineering Thermodynamics; Entropy; Heat and Mass Transfer; Operating temperature; Performance evaluation; Phase transitions; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Refrigerants; Refrigeration; Room temperature; Thermodynamic cycles; Thermodynamics; thermodynamic analysis; barocaloric refrigeration; neopentyl glycol; COP; refrigeration capacity
• ISSN: 1003-2169; 1993-033X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11630-023-1801-3

Barocaloric refrigeration is regarded as one of the next-generation alternative refrigeration technology due to its environmental friendliness. In recent years, many researchers have been devoted to finding materials with colossal barocaloric effects, while neglecting the research on barocaloric refrigeration devices and thermodynamic cycles. Neopentyl glycol is regarded as one of the potential refrigerants for barocaloric refrigeration due to its giant isothermal entropy changes and relatively low operating pressure. To evaluate the performance of the barocaloric system using Neopentyl glycol, for the first time, this study establishes a thermodynamic cycle based on the metastable temperature-entropy diagram. The performance of the proposed system is investigated from the aspects of irreversibility, operating temperature range, and operating pressure, and optimized with finite-rate heat transfer. The guidance for the optimal design of the system is given by revealing the effect of the irreversibility in two isobaric processes. The results show that a COP of 8.8 can be achieved at a temperature span of 10 K when the system fully uses the phase transition region of Neopentyl glycol, while a COP of 3 can be achieved at a temperature span of 10 K when the system operates at room temperature. Furthermore, this study also shows that the system performance can be further improved through the modification of Neopentyl glycol, and some future development guidance is provided.