Studi Eksperimental Pengaruh Variasi Diameter Pipa Kapiler Terhadap Unjuk Kerja Mesin Pendingin 1 Pintu

Abstract

In a refrigeration system, capillary pipes play a crucial role as an expansion device. This component, although simple in construction, has a significant influence on the overall performance of the refrigeration system. The selection of capillary pipes is an important aspect because it affects the pressure drop and temperature of the working fluid which, ultimately impacts the performance of the refrigeration machine. This study aims to determine the effect of variations in pipe diameter on the performance of a 1-door cooling machine. The research method used is experimental, with three variations of capillary pipe diameters, namely 0,026“, 0,028”, and 0,031" with the same capillary pipe length of 2 m. This study also used two types of cooling loads, namely 6 L of water and 2 kg of tomatoes. Testing was carried out for 8 hours with data collection intervals every 5 minutes. The parameters measured are pressure, temperature, voltage, and electric current. The results showed that the variation of 0,026” has the highest average values of performance and evaporator capacity at 7,59 and 227,690 kJ/kg. The lowest average values of performance and evaporator capacity are found in the variation of 0,031”, amounting to 6,76 and 217,171 kJ/kg. Meanwhile, the average values of performance and evaporator capacity for the variation of 0,028” amount to 6,82 and 224,414 kJ/kg. Furthermore, regarding the cooling load, the results obtained for the variation of 0,026” indicate that the final temperatures of water and tomatoes are -13,2 °C and -5,7 °C, respectively. For the variations of 0.028 and 0.031, the final temperature of water is -9.6 °C and -6.4 °C, while for the final temperatures of tomatoes, they are -3.1 °C and 1.2 °C, respectively