EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF OPTIMUM REFRIGERANT INSULATION COMBINATION IN A VCR SYSTEM USING TAGUCHI METHOD

Various studies have been done to investigate the effect of various parameters on the performance of the vapour compression system. In the vapour compression refrigeration cycle, external parameters such as refrigerants and Insulation materials have a higher effect on the performance of vapor compression refrigeration system. For the purpose of finding the best combination, we have selected the Taguchi method. Minitab software helped us to apply the Taguchi method to find out the possible combinations that are formed. In the present study, Using Taguchi L16 orthogonal array considering the two deign parameters viz. Type of Refrigerant and Type of Insulation experiments were conducted and were analyzed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to obtain the significant values of the Coefficient of performance and Work required for the compressor at 95 % confidence level. From ANOVA it can be concluded that the Insulation (X) and Refrigerant (Y) both are significant for COP and Wc. Percentage contribution of input parameters was also calculated. For COP experiment the percentage contribution of Insulation (X) is equal to 95.85% and Refrigerant (Y) is equal to 3.87%. For Wc experiment, the percentage contribution of Insulation (X) is equal to 77.58% and Refrigerant (Y) is equal to 19.46%.