Thermodynamic Irreversibility Analysis of Dual-Skin Chest-Freezer

In this work, a transient analysis of a dual-skin chest-freezer refrigeration system, operating with R290, is studied numerically with the purpose of performing the characterization of the system through the second law of thermodynamics. A mathematical model which accounts for refrigerant mass distribution inside the system is used. In addition, this work addresses the calculation of entropy generation and exergy destruction for characterizing the system performance during its operations. In order to validate the model, a comparison with measured experimental data is performed for both pull-down and on-off operations. The characterization of the system through the second law of thermodynamics is conducted using two different methods. One consists of a direct calculation of the entropy generation rate and the second one in the calculation of exergy destruction rate. The equivalence of these two methods is used as an indicative of the "correctness" of the performed calculations. The model results agree near 97% with the experimental data used in the comparisons. Entropy generation and exergy destruction results along time for the whole system and in its individual components are characterized with the second law. These results are very useful for improving refrigeration system design.