Conference Year
2021
Keywords
modeling, compressor lubricant oil, heat exchanger, system performance, Automobile AC
Abstract
We present the method to simulate refrigerant-oil mixtures (Thome 1995) via a one-dimensional (1D) transient multi-physics system-level simulation tool, GT-SUITE. The impact of oil on bubble point and evaporation enthalpy is first validated, followed by the comparison of the predicted heat transfer coefficient and friction factor with the data by Zurcher et al. (1997). A system model of an automobile air-conditioning (AC) system is developed and validated using experimental data by Liu and Hrnjak (2016). The predicted evaporator capacity and system coefficient of performance (COP) matches very well with the data (both have an average error of 1.4% and the largest error of 4.2%). The simulation provides the detailed state of the refrigerant-oil mixture and the oil concentration along the refrigerant path. The local heat transfer rate from the simulation gives insights into the effectiveness of the evaporator area for engineering design.