In situ refractometry for concentration measurements in refrigeration systems

Conference · Wed Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:345239

Newell, T A ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

An in situ refractometer was developed that is capable of measuring both the concentrations of oil in refrigerants, and the concentrations of aqueous coolant brines. A description of the technique, and example data are presented for R-134a/PAG oil, aqueous ethylene glycol, and aqueous propylene glycol solutions. The R-134a/PAG oil sensor data show a measurement sensitivity of less than 0.1% oil in the refrigerant, although error between data sets shows an uncertainty of approximately {+-}0.8%. Ethylene glycol and propylene glycol data show high signal level variations due to the large variation of the index of refraction between water and the glycols.

• OSTI ID: 345239
• Report Number(s): CONF-9702141-; TRN: IM9922%%172
• Resource Relation: Conference: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) winter meeting, Philadelphia, PA (United States), 24-28 Feb 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of ASHRAE transactions: Technical and symposium papers, 1997. Volume 103, Part 1; PB: 1136 p.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
REFRIGERANTS
LUBRICATING OILS
BRINES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
REFRACTIVE INDEX
CONCENTRATION RATIO