Mar 29 2019
Despite many developments to improve the efficiency of the refrigerator, it still eats up a substantial amount of energy every year.
Energy efficiency of a normal refrigerator is affected by the heat-insulating property of the thermal barriers of the freezer. This is due to its low inner temperature. There is a significant difference in temperature between the freezer of a traditional refrigerator and ambient air temperature and the normal thermal barrier of the freezer causes considerable cold loss.
Jingyu Cao, University of Science and Technology of China
Cao and his research team proposed that the efficiency of the refrigerator can possibly be enhanced by using part of the freezing used to cool the unprocessed food compartment. They have reported their study outcomes in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, from AIP Publishing.
The evaporating temperature of the refrigeration cycle depends only on the freezer temperature and appropriate reduction of the evaporator area in the fresh food compartment will not decrease the overall efficiency. Most families need one or two refrigerators and they are always on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That wastes a lot of energy. Even if we can save a little energy, that helps the human race be more energy-efficient.
Jingyu Cao, University of Science and Technology of China
Cao and his coworkers were not the first researchers to try to improve the efficiency of domestic refrigeration. Although various experiments by other researchers have dealt with different parts of the refrigerator for improving the consumption of energy, an absolute result has not been achieved. In the study by Cao, a different refrigerator having a loop thermosyphon has been presented, which could minimize the amount of heat transferred between the freezer and atmospheric air.
“One of the surprises was how much energy we saved. The energy-saving ratio of the improved walls got close to 30 percent—more than we had expected. This technology even works in hot climates like the desert.”
The research by Cao has produced promising results despite the fact that it is currently based only on theoretical calculation. “It has great potential to be popularized as a sustainable energy technology or applied in the renewable energy field, considering its significant energy-saving effect, simple structure and low cost,” stated Cao.