Refrigerator manufacturers are constantly pressured by the government to increase the energy efficiency of their products. The traditional approach focused on changes to the level of component and thermal insulation is almost exhausted, requiring much investment in marginal efficiency improvements. One alternative is the approach at the system level or refrigeration cycle. Redesigning the refrigeration cycle currently employed, including the introduction of new components, it is one of the objectives of this line of research. The study is focused on the liquid separator, component widely used in industrial refrigeration applications and chemical processes where it is needed to separate phases of a flow. In domestic applications, due to limitations of space and refrigerant charge, your project becomes a challenging process.

In order to investigate and to better understand this process, a test bench with a cooling capacity of 300 W operating with R600a, was designed and coupled to a typical refrigerator for studying the effects of variation in temperature, mass flow and title efficiency some geometries separators previously designed with the aid of a mathematical model. With the experimental results of the first prototypes, intended to enhance the model and thereby provide the separator of the behavior in the system at operating conditions typically encountered in domestic applications.