Irreversible refrigerators with isothermal heat exchanges: Réfrigérateurs irréversibles avecéchanges thermiques isotherms

A maximum for the coefficient of performance (COP_f) is verified for a temperature difference between reservoirs and the hot isotherm of a closed irreversible cyclical refrigerator working at steady-state conditions. A maximum also exists when the COP_f is considered as a function only of a parameter depending on the thermal characteristics of the heat exchangers. The influence of the parameter and entropy generation on the COP_f maxima is described.     

Performance modeling of AMR refrigerators

A system modeling approach for predicting the performance of active magnetic regenerators using a one-phase approximation is presented. The approach is described for an arbitrary AMR device independent of the magnetic refrigerant, thermal losses or magnetic waveform. A general expression for magnetic work is derived which can be used for cycles where the low-field intensity is not zero. Additionally, a means of treating the varying magnetic field waveform as a single high and low field is described. The model is applied to a permanent magnet magnetic refrigerator using water–glycol as the heat transfer fluid. Simulated results are compared to experimental data which vary by heat load, frequency and utilization. A sensitivity analysis is performed using utilization, adiabatic temperature change, effective conductivity and particle size as independent variables. Comparisons to experimental data show that reducing the calculated magnetocaloric effect by 25% provides good agreement between simulations and experimental results.     

French Rationalism: A Broken Tradition

From the golden era of 1960s Rationalism to the present Inquietude Lucide, Joseph Abram describes the Rationalist tendencies in French architecture. Once dominated by the spectres of Le Corbusier and Auguste Perret, the rational was deeply embedded in French tectonic culture. Despite the current reassertion of the rational, the future, as Abram explains, appears less certain. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The temperature performance of domestic refrigerators

Chilled foods are stored for periods of between a few hours and many days in domestic refrigerators. However, there are little published data on the temperature performance of domestic refrigerators within the home. A survey has been taken in 252 households in the UK and some of the results are presented in this paper. The refrigerators investigated in the survey were found to have an overall mean temperature of approximately 6°C, which ranged from 11.4 to −0.9°C. Temperature ranges over the whole refrigerator varied from 4.5 to 30.5°C with 3.7% of the total being warmer than 20°C. On average 29.9% of refrigerators operated below 5°C and 66.7% operated below 7°C. Few refrigerators (7.3%) ran, on average, above 9°C. No refrigerator characteristic (apart from type) could be related to temperatures or temperature distribution in the refrigerators investigated.     

Classifying plant operator maintenance proficiency: Examining personal variables

For plant managers in charge of personnel recruitment, selecting the ideal plant operative rests upon the operator's proficiency and the manager's intuition and judgement. Research modelling of plant operators' maintenance proficiency was used to provide a classification tool to assist managers select the best operative. Three models were produced and evaluated in order to ascertain model robustness, efficiency and validity. The most efficient model used three personal attributes: years of relevant working experience on the machine, personal disposition and operator reliability. Validation statistics revealed that there was no significant difference between actual and predicted classifications and therefore the predictions were shown to be both reliable and robust. Future work is proposed that aims to model other factors that influence operator maintenance proficiency: work environment, motivational management, and training and educational factors.     

Comparative performance analysis of the low GWP refrigerants HFO1234yf,HFO1234ze(E) and HC600a inside a roll-bond evaporator

This paper presents the comparative performance analysis of the low GWP refrigerants HFO1234yf, HFO1234ze(E) and HC600a inside a commercial roll-bond evaporator for household refrigerators. The vaporisation performances were evaluated at two evaporation temperatures, −15 and −20 °C, and different refrigerant mass flow rates and compared with those of the traditional refrigerant for domestic refrigeration HFC134a. The performance analysis was carried out using both thermocouples installed on the rear side of the roll-bond evaporator and an IR thermo-camera. Each of the low GWP refrigerants tested can be considered a good substitute for HFC134a, provided that the compressor displacement is adjusted to deliver the proper refrigerant mass flow rate. Only HFO1234yf exhibits performance similar to HFC134a at the same mass flow rate, therefore it can be considered a direct drop-in substitute for HFC134a.     

Mapping the energy consumption of household refrigerators by varying the refrigerant charge and the expansion restriction

In this work the thermodynamic behavior of a household refrigerator was experimentally studied by simultaneously varying the refrigerant charge and the expansion restriction. A special charging device was designed and constructed for this purpose comprised of a cylinder, a load cell and two solenoid valves. In addition, the original capillary tube was replaced with a larger-diameter capillary tube and installed in series with a metering valve. The expansion restriction was varied by adjusting the capillary tube–metering valve pair to settings higher and lower than that of the original system. A total of 95 energy consumption measurements were recorded with different combinations of refrigerant charge and expansion restriction. A minimum energy consumption region comprised of several combinations of refrigerant charge and expansion restriction was clearly identified. It was also observed that an improper combination of expansion restriction and refrigerant charge may increase the energy consumption by up to 30%.     

Fluid choice and test standardization for magnetic regenerators operating at near room temperature

Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the performance of an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) operating near room temperature. A two-dimensional porous model is established to analyze the impact different heat transfer fluids (HTFs) have on the performance of the AMR. The internal temperature distribution and cooling capacity of the system are analyzed and the influence of the HTF discussed. The simulation results show that when mercury is substituted in place of water as the HTF, the cooling capacity can be enhanced by nearly 600%. A fluid with high conductivity, high density, and low specific heat is most suitable for use as the HTF. Furthermore, as the environmental conditions have a great impact upon the performance of the AMR, three feasible methods of standardization testing are proposed. These involve: the evaluation index under fixed test environment conditions, a maximum exergy method, and a maximum specific exergy method around the Curie temperature.