Study on Energy Recovery in Refrigeration System Using a Pelton-type Expander

A power recovery device in domestic CFCs/HCFCs refrigeration system in which a Pelton-type expander together with a centrifugal auxiliary compressor is used to replace the throttling valve is presented.The effects of two typical arrangements of the auxiliary compressor in the system,i.e.in series and in parallel,on the system performance including recovery work,heating capacity and COP,were compared theoretically with different refrigerants such as R410A,R134a,and R22.A prototype of the expander-compressor unit was developed.Experiments were carried out to validate the expander-compressor unit and compared the performances of conventional vapor compression refrigeration system and modified system using R410A as refrigerant.The results showed that the Pelton-type expander-compressor unit worked reliably and stably at the two-phase condition in domestic refrigeration system.Further investigation and improvement have been discussed.