Effect of Humidity on Condensation in Vapour Compression Refrigeration System for Fresh Foods Transport Vehicles

Abstract

In today’s world the developed countries rely on the refrigerated container (reefer) vehicles for the transportation of cold chain products such as fresh foods. In India this technology was introduced in late 1980s but the growth was very slow compared to other countries and failed to match the international trends. However recently, with fast development of roadways, urbanisation and connectivity the reefers get a massive response. The reefers have several advantages but they consume considerable amount of electrical energy to operate. Reefer works based on vapour compression refrigeration cycle in which condenser is an important device. This condenser uses fan-blown atmospheric air over it to remove vaporization heat from refrigerant. The temperature of refrigerant after condensation has effects on Coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigeration system. This temperature can be altered by the relative humidity of air. The result of our project shows that the increase in air humidity by 18.60% increases the COP by 11.37% and also it reduces the power consumption.