An experimental analysis of the use of phase change materials in household refrigerators.

The aim of this work is to study the effect of applying phase change materials (PCMs) in the cold and warm sides of HC-600a household refrigerators. To this end, two types of PCMs were applied in the freezer and three in the fresh-food compartment. Three types of PCMs were also integrated into the wire-and-tube naturaldraft condenser. Pull-down, pull-up and energy consumption tests were carried out with each system configuration for comparison with results for an off-the-shelf household refrigerator. It was found that the pullup time increases when PCMs are placed in the refrigerated compartments, regardless of the type, amount or location, with a minor impact on the energy consumption. In contrast, energy savings of up to 5.4% were achieved with the integration of water slabs into the condenser, with this percentage being strongly dependent on the compressor on and off times.