Investigation of the heat transfer effect of Ni/R134a nanorefrigerant in a mobile hybrid powered vapour compression refrigerator

The study investigated the effect of the use of 0.04%Ni/R134a nanorefrigerant as working fluid in a vapour compression refrigeration system designed to work with hybrid power source of grid-electricity/battery/solar power. The nanoparticle was prepared via the one step method and dispersed into the mineral oil. R134a was employed as the base refrigerant and the performance of the system with the nanorefrigerant was compared, in terms of the coefficient of performance, pull down time and power consumption, with that of the base refrigerant. The results showed that the refrigeration system performed better with the nanorefrigerant as working fluid with any of the power sources and also with the hybrid solar/battery power. The system with nanorefrigerant performed better with improved coefficient of performance in the range of between 7.05% when used with solar/battery as power source and 14.12% when with only battery as power source. The system's pull-down time showed far better results with the nanorefrigerant compared with base refrigerant. However, the system with nanorefrigerant slightly consumed more power with the highest consumption being 28.7% (with battery only as power source) higher that that with the base refrigerant. Based on the outcome of the results, the system can be deployed for vaccine preservation in off-grid remote arears, and also for domestic and commercial applications.