Analysis of a CO2 Transcritical Refrigeration Cycle with a Vortex Tube Expansion

A carbon dioxide (CO2) refrigeration system in a transcritical cycle requires modifications to improve the coefficient of performance (COP) for energy saving. This modification has become more important with the system’s more and more widely used applications in heat pump water heaters, automotive air conditioning, and space heating. In this paper, a single vortex tube is proposed to replace the expansion valve of a traditional CO2 transcritical refrigeration system to reduce irreversible loss and improve the COP. The principle of the proposed system is introduced and analyzed: Its mathematical model was developed to simulate and compare the system performance to the traditional system. The results showed that the proposed system could save energy, and the vortex tube inlet temperature and discharge pressure had significant impacts on COP improvement. When the vortex tube inlet temperature was 45 °C, and the discharge pressure was 9 MPa, the COP increased 33.7%. When the isentropic efficiency or cold mass fraction of the vortex tube increased, the COP increased about 10%. When the evaporation temperature or the cooling water inlet temperature of the desuperheater decreased, the COP also could increase about 10%. The optimal discharge pressure correlation of the proposed system was established, and its influences on COP improvement are discussed.