Review on Applications of Zeotropic Mixtures

• Published in: Journal of thermal science Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 285 - 307
• Main Authors: Bai, Mengjie, Zhao, Li, Zhao, Ruikai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01.04.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Classical and Continuum Physics; Emissions control; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Engineering Thermodynamics; Environmental impact; Environmental protection; Heat and Mass Transfer; Invited Review; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Rankine cycle; Refrigeration; Thermodynamic cycles; Thermodynamics; Working fluids; Zeotropic mixtures; combined power and refrigeration systems; heat pump; refrigeration; natural working fluids; zeotropic mixtures; organic Rankine cycle
• ISSN: 1003-2169; 1993-033X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11630-022-1569-x

Compared with the pure fluids, the zeotropic mixtures can balance the requirements of environmental protection, heat source matching and system safety, and exhibit excellent thermodynamic performance. However, compared to the widespread applications of pure fluids, zeotropic mixtures are rarely exploited in thermodynamic cycles, and there is a lack of targeted summary on refrigeration systems, organic Rankine cycle systems and combined power and refrigeration systems. In the recent years, zeotropic mixtures are developing at an unprecedented pace, while the working fluids components are inevitably explored in the process. In this paper, the research progress of zeotropic mixtures in the field of refrigeration systems, organic Rankine cycle systems and combined power and refrigeration systems are reviewed. Based on the review of zeotropic working mixtures, the reasonable predictions can be proposed. In the future, environmental problems will still be one of the most important concerned issues. Therefore, the zeotropic mixtures consisting of natural hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide, which are environmentally friendly, have great potential for development. Furthermore, zeotropic mixtures of natural working fluids can improve comprehensive energy efficiency of combined systems and will play an important role in future carbon emission reduction technologies.