Refrigerating machine operating characteristics under various mixed refrigerant mass charges

This paper reports the results of experimental investigation of a low-temperature Joule–Thomson refrigerating machine, working by use of a non-azeotropic mixture of refrigerants and with a single-stage hermetic compressor. The temperature, hydraulic and power performance of the machine are determined experimentally in relation to the mixed refrigerant (MR) mass charge. Variations of the MR refrigerating machine operating performance with the working mixture mass charge are found to be considerably different from the analogous performance variations of a refrigerating machine charged with a pure refrigerant. The peculiarities of those relationships are analyzed theoretically. The specific value of a minimum acceptable MR mass charge for the investigated system and its correlation with internal processes in the machine loop are established as well. If the refrigerant mixture mass charges are below the minimum ones, the temperature and power performance of the MR machine differ essentially from the design performance and such operating modes are considered inadmissible.