Effect of door opening duration on a refrigerator with R600a and LPG refrigerants

This research experimentally compares steady and recovery state energy characteristics of 30 g LPG and R600a refrigerants in a vapor compression household refrigerator subjected to varied door opening durations (30, 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 s). Test parameters such as pull down time, recovery rate, total energy consumption and coefficient of performance were estimated in the system affixed with thermocouples, pressure gauges and energy meter. Results show that the refrigerants attained evaporator air temperatures lower than ISO 8187 requirement (-3 °C) at steady state. LPG refrigerant gave lower evaporator air temperature and recovery rate than R600a refrigerant. Furthermore, the total energy consumption and coefficient of performance of the system with LPG is found to be lower by 1.3 % − 5.7 % except at 120 and 180 s, and higher by 19.3 % − 22.6 % than R600a refrigerant. In conclusion, the LPG performs better than R600a in refrigerators subjected to repetitive door openings.