Obiective
Although the refrigerant R-22 is being phased out and
gradually replaced with HFC refrigerants, existing airconditioning
systems largely operate with R-22. The
purpose of this research was to determine the performance
penalty of a 3 ton residential air-conditioning system
associated with various low R-22 charge levels. The test
environments were maintained at constant temperatures and
humidities to meet the ASHRAE and ARI standards.
Thermocouples, pressure transducers, humidity sensors, and
power transducer were installed properly to monitor the
system performance. The cooling capacity and COP were
determined by both air enthalpy and refrigerant enthalpy
methods. Based on the experimental results, an economic
analysis was performed to evaluate the savings if an airconditioning
system is properly maintained at full charge
level.