Análisis de datos de un chiller para determinar el comportamiento de las curvas de enfriamiento del propilenglicol y su comparación con el cloruro de calcio.

Abstract

The reduction of energy consumption has motivated to improve the existing refrigeration systems, therefore the operation of a chiller equipment and the behavior of the secondary refrigerant based on propylene glycol in replacement of the calcium chloride solution was analyzed, this with the purpose of get the efficient operation of this equipment. The experimental phase of this project evaluates 218 liters of propylene glycol solution at a concentration of 15%, 21% and 30%. The variables of analysis of the project are temperature, flow and time, which are acquired through a user interface with the use of LabView software, this interface also facilitates the control of a servo motor that drives a valve to achieve the variation of the flow of propylene glycol circulation, which has made it possible to observe the influence of the flow on the refrigeration process in indirect systems. The cooling of the propylene glycol solution starts from room temperature to temperatures close to -10 ° C depending on the properties of the solution. The data obtained allow the realization of cooling curves of the secondary refrigerant, the curves show a variation of temperature and cooling speed different from the behavior of the cooling curves of calcium chloride, in which the propylene glycol solution requires more time to reach the same temperature as the calcium chloride solution, this leads to the fact that from the thermal point of view propylene glycol has lower properties than calcium chloride brine, although at a practical level it is necessary to analyze a greater number of aspects according to the application in order to make an optimal selection of a secondary refrigerant as shown in the development of this document.