Enhancing the performance of household refrigerators with latent heat storage: An experimental investigation

This paper presents the results of experimental tests carried out to investigate the performance of a household refrigerator using a phase change material (PCM). The PCM is located on the back side of the evaporator in order to improve its efficiency and to provide a storage capacity allowing several hours of refrigeration without power supply. The system has been tested with water and with a eutectic mixture (freezing point −3 °C) and for a range of operating conditions (PCM thickness, ambient temperature, thermal load). The analysis of the results shows a significant improvement of the performance compared to a conventional system.