INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REFRIGERATION-REVUE INTERNATIONALE DU FROID, cilt.74, ss.505-516, 2017 (SCI-Expanded)
Lubricating oils play several key roles in compressors, such as lubrication of the parts exposed to friction, prevention of gas leakage at the compression chamber, and cooling of the pieces heated by friction. Oil viscosity and possibility of mixing with refrigerant are the significant factors that should be considered in choosing compatible lubricants. Generally, high viscosity lubricants reduce the efficiency and lubricants with low viscosity cause to direct contact between the metal parts in the compressor. In this study, an experimental procedure has been carried out to investigate the influences of oil circulation in the compressor working with R-404a refrigerant. Although this study has been devoted to a detailed attempt to identify the effects of oil viscosity on energy consumption, an innovative way to analyze this critical parameter has been carried out in parallel with other parameters including refrigerant charge amount, condenser water flow rate and air temperature in the evaporator. The sample oils selected for experiments are SL22, SL68 and SL220. The basic nature of the lubricants and their mixtures with refrigerant, COP value, compressor efficiency and exergetic efficiency of the system has been analyzed under different working conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.