Preliminary design of a low-temperature refrigeration system with natural refrigerants for a psychrometric chamber.

The sectors of refrigeration and air-conditioning have always been affected by great changes and innovations. Today's revolution seeks to find low-GWP solutions that maintain high efficiency without increasing the risks for people: this is a major challenge to which the industry has to respond. One of these important sectors is the refrigeration of psychrometric chambers. These chambers are used in many industrial applications for various purposes, so there are many refrigeration technologies used to ensure the required indoor conditions. Even for this type of equipment, innovative solutions and technologies will be needed according to the environmental requirements. In this context, an analysis was carried out to develop the preliminary design of a refrigeration system using natural fluids able to reach the indoor temperature of -80 °C for a psychrometric chamber used for laboratory tests. The project involved sizing of the main components, market analysis and the application of the safety requirements (EN 378:2016).