Operation costs exergoeconomic of transcritical refrigeration cycle with carbon dioxide

ABSTRACTIn this work, the thermodynamic and exergoeconomic studies are performed to a single vapour compression refrigeration cycle which uses CO2 as a refrigerant in transcritical conditions. This analysis establishes the behaviour of the compressor discharge pressure based on the gas cooler temperature, when it is operating at ambient conditions greater than 20°C. The effect of varying the cooling chamber temperature is also shown. In the analysis, the coefficient of performance (COP), exergetic efficiency and exergoeconomic operation costs for each equipment are obtained, considering a refrigeration capacity of 5 TR. For instance, at a gas cooler temperature of 45°C and a cooling chamber temperature of −5°C, the maximum COP is 1.78 to a gas cooler pressure of 120 bar and the exergetic efficiency is 0.1556; however, operating at these conditions, it generates an exergoeconomic operation cost of 1.74 € h−1.