Thermal management and performance enhancement of domestic refrigerators and freezers via phase change materials: A review

Abstract This paper reviews and discusses various studies on the application of phase change materials (PCMs) with domestic refrigerators and freezers regarding thermal management and performance enhancement. Covered previous studies in this review indicate the potential of PCMs in improving COP and exergy efficiency of refrigeration systems, in addition to reducing energy consumption, CO2 emissions and compartment temperature fluctuation. The paper also presents the effect of PCM performance under different thermal loads including phase change temperature, ambient temperature, evaporation temperature, door opening, defrosting and power failure. The effect of PCM's configuration, geometry, orientation and location on the performance of refrigeration systems, are also discussed. The literature review concludes that many researches have concentrated on the incorporation of PCM at the evaporator and compartment, while few studies have been carried out at the condenser section. The most common PCMs used in domestic refrigeration systems are water and eutectic PCMs solutions. We conclude that eutectic PCMs demonstrate better system performance than water.