Computational Studies on Thermal Performance of Domestic Refrigerator with PCM Integrated Condenser

Integration of PCM based thermal energy storage has been the focus of researchers for improving the energy efficiency in domestic refrigerators and also in addressing sustainability in refrigeration. The present investigation on domestic refrigerator was designed and developed with PCM placed on the condenser side to study the thermal performance numerically. CFD analysis of the proposed refrigerator was performed by varying the outer diameter to (25 mm, 20 mm and 15 mm) of PCM encapsulation tube and thermal conductivity of the PCM to (5%, 10%, 15% and 20% augmentation). The surface temperature of condenser decreased with increasing thermal conductivity because of the enhanced heat transfer characteristics, achieving a minimum surface temperature of 31°C for 20% thermal conductivity case. The proposed domestic refrigerator integrated with PCM on the condenser side, shows promising reduction in energy consumption, consequently mitigating the emissions and ushering new energy efficient technology.