Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2021) 28:34248–34258

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11214-z

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Vapour absorption refrigeration system for rural cold storage:

a comparative study
Divya Arputham Selvaraj 1 & Kirubakaran Victor 1

Received: 21 July 2020 / Accepted: 11 October 2020 / Published online: 16 October 2020
# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract
Value addition of agro products improves the livelihood opportunities for rural farmers. Cold Storage is one of the techniques to
improve the shelf life of agro product. With the increase in the utilization of refrigeration and air cooling using vapour com-
pression refrigeration technology, global warming and ozone depletion due to the refrigerants have also been increased. So, to
overcome this problem, several restrictions were placed on the refrigerant by the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC). There is no way to slow down the growth of this technology, so the focus should be shown on
finding an alternative. Various studies have been carried out on an alternate refrigeration system. This paper attempts to study the
power quality challenges in the conventional vapour compression system. A comparative analysis of vapour compression
refrigeration (VCR) and vapour absorption refrigeration (VAR), power factor analysis and temperature measurement on both
technologies has also been carried out and reported.

Keywords VAR . VCR . Power factor . Refrigerant . Global warming . Ozone depletion

Abbreviation IGBT Insulated gate bipolar transistor

UNFCC United Nations Framework DVR Dynamic voltage restorers
Convention on Climate Change SSB Solid state breaker
VAR Vapour absorption refrigeration SSTW Solid state transfer switch
VCR Vapour compression refrigeration CFL Compact fluorescent lamp
CFC Chlorofluorocarbon LCD Liquid crystal display
HFC Hydrofluorocarbon IC Internal combustion
HCFC Hydrochlorofluorocarbon
GWP Global warming potential
ODP Ozone depleting potential
PFC Perfluorocarbon
Introduction
NABARD National Bank for Agriculture
Refrigeration is the removal of heat from a selected environment
and Rural Development
to the desired level and dissipating the heat to the surrounding.
SHE Solution heat exchanger
For the process to work, a working fluid is required, which is
RHE Refrigerant heat exchanger
refrigerant. Historically, even before the invention of refrigera-
THD Total harmonic distortion
tion technology, the concept of refrigeration was there (Gantz
VSD Variable speed drive
2015). It was in practice by utilizing the runoff water from the
fresh snow for food storage, or even the natural ice was harvested
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues
and sent for trade, which is also mostly used for food storage.
Even salts like NaCl and CaCl2 were used to reduce the
* Kirubakaran Victor
kirbakaran@yahoo.com
temperature up to − 20 °C to − 50 °C. After several decades of
research, the current refrigeration technology was brought into
1
Centre for Rural Energy, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be effect. Refrigeration is required for food storage, pharmaceu-
University, Chinnalapatti, India tical application and even better lifestyle by air cooling, which
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258
also uses the same technology. As the rate of growth in-
creases, the consumption rate on the technology is also in-
creasing. Thus, refrigeration technology has become an un-
avoidable part of our life.
Vapour compression refrigeration is the first technology to
come into use. With the industrial revolution, it became easy
for technology to reach domestic market. A mechanical refrig-
erator with a closed cycle was designed to commercialize the
technology.
Before 1929 cooling technology used sulphur dioxide,
methyl chloride, chloroethane, was used as the refrigerant.
Most of them have toxicity problems and have a bad odour.
In a measure to overcome these issues, fluorinated alternatives
like CFC, HCFC, and HFC came into effect. Both CFC and
HCFC are chlorinated components. Chlorine is the major el-
ement that causes ozone depletion. Among these two, CFC is
more stable and reaches the stratosphere without any problem
and hence causes more damage to the ozone layer than the
HCFC and then came HFC, ammonia, hydrocarbon, CO2 and
water, which does not contain any chlorine molecules. Among
these, ammonia and hydrocarbon are highly flammable.
Hydrocarbon, in particular, will demand high electrical and
mechanical safety equipment making it an impossible option
any time soon. Along with good refrigerant properties, CO2
also has unity global warming potential (GWP) and ozone
depleting potential (ODP) equal to zero. But it has technical
difficulties, like, it is inefficient, requires high temperature and
high-pressure compressor. Another substitute considered is
water, which is environmentally friendly with zero ODP and
GWP, but cannot be used for VCR (Benhadid-Dib and
Benzaoui 2012).
Once the changes in the ozone layer in the Antarctic were
noticed, the seriousness of the CFC usage was realized.
Usually, ozone depletion is caused by halons that include
chlorine, fluorine, carbon and bromine, which are most com-
mon in refrigeration and air conditioning devices. Due to high
stability and chlorine content, CFC plays a huge role in ozone
depletion. With the help of the Montreal Protocol, restrictions
were made on the ozone-depleting substances. With HCFC as
a substitute, developed countries were asked to drop the use of
CFC immediately. According to the Montreal Protocol, to
overcome the greenhouse effect, developed countries should
phase out HCFC by 2030 and developing countries have to do
the same by 2040. So, to avoid the chlorine, hydrofluorocar-
bon (HFC) and perfluorocarbon (PFC) came in as a replace-
ment. Before taking a deep breath, it was found that all the
above-mentioned chemical components have the ability to
trap the heat from solar radiation leading to global warming.
They can cause 50 to 10,000 times more damage than the
CO2, which no more sounds environmentally friendly.
Ozone depletion itself is interrelated with global warming, as
ozone-depleting substances are also greenhouse gasses. Under
UNFCCC, in the Kyoto Protocol, restrictions were placed on
34249
the greenhouse gases (Montreal Protocol, Framework
Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol 2002).
Harnisch et al. (2002) have estimated the HFC, PFC and
SF6 by atmospheric measurement and compared it with the
report submitted by the Annex 1 nation to UNFCCC on 15
April 2000. The results have clearly shown that HFC-22 that
is the by-product of HCFC-22, reported by Annex 1 countries,
was not the same as the atmospheric measurement, but for
HFC-134a one of the most common refrigerants, atmospheric
measurement and country data agree with each other. So, even
more effort in measurement should be shown, so that a better
restriction on the emission can be brought into effect.
Singh et al. (2019) made critical analysis of the efforts
made by India to reduce ODP and GWP. As a member of
the Montreal Protocol, the 1990s Indian Government has been
preparing to phase out ozone-depleting substances. An in-
crease in air conditioning and refrigerator would test India’s
commitment to the Montreal Protocol. In 2016, 197 countries
ratified the Kigali Amendment and India is one of them, where
it falls under group 2 countries. India has actively been taking
part in the reduction of these chemical components. As a part
of it, India has made domestic policies to stay in the lane to
reach the goal. Ministry of Environment, the Forest and
Climate Change has implemented India Cooling Action Plan
(ICAP). Policy documents and action plans were reviewed
regularly. In the first phase of 2012 to 2015, policy regula-
tions, technical assistance, awareness and monitoring of
HCFC consumption in each sector were made. For the second
phase (2017–2023), India will try to move towards low global
warming potential refrigerants. As a member of the Kigali
amendment, India will phase down HFC use from 2028.
Already R22 usage is reduced to 38% in 2017, R410 usage
is reduced to 36% and HCFC is reduced to 38%.
Simultaneously, R32 and R290 usage have increased to 17%
and 6%, respectively. R290 has shown low GWP and ODP.
Calm (2002) has discussed the leakage of refrigerant from
the system, which also has a huge impact on the environment.
Chiller refrigerant losses occur in different ways at different
phases of its life. In the initial phase, losses would be minimal.
Operating and intermittent phases are recurring throughout its
lifetime. Finally, the disposal phase is a one-time event when
the chiller lifetime is over. Usually, a leak is due to the pres-
sure difference, and hence the high-pressure system experi-
ences more leaks. This leak will also affect overall system
performance. This leakage also affects the overall perfor-
mance in case the system is small. The most commonly used
refrigerants R11, R12, R123 and R134a, have a global
warming potential (GWP) of 4600, 10,600, 120 and 1300,
respectively. It is necessary to provide proper care to reduce
leakage, so several instruments were developed to check any
leakage. Proper disposal and reuse of the refrigerant would
also help reduce its impact on the environment. So, more than
one-third of the disposal phase refrigerant can be recovered
34250
and reused. If a refrigerant provides low efficiency, then by
default, it does not mean it is an environmentally friendly
refrigerant. R-123 is the most commonly used refrigerant that
does not offer good operating temperature and contributes to
increased global warming. Beshr et al. (2015) has also ex-
plained the environmental impact caused by the supermarket
refrigerant located at six different US locations. The commer-
cial refrigerator effect on the environment is due to both re-
frigerant leaks and high electricity consumption. Both direct
and indirect emissions were included in the study.
Commercial refrigeration also consumes more electricity,
which would automatically increase its indirect CO2 emission.
Multiple DX systems, cascade N-40/CO2 system, transcritical
CO2 booster system and secondary/central DX system are the
four models taken for study. GWPs of commonly used refrig-
erants N-40, L-40 and R-404A are 1273, 285 and 3943, re-
spectively. Shifting towards low GWP refrigerant would re-
duce the effect of yearly leakage rate, but it will also increase
the indirect emission for electricity generation. According to
Saif and Elhedhli (2015), refrigeration requirement for the
cold supply chain is huge as it is required for warehouse and
trucks. Cold supply chains are also huge contributors to green-
house gases due to direct (leakage) and indirect (electricity
consumption) emissions. The study includes plants, ware-
houses, retailers and transportation. With the help of mathe-
matical modelling, calculations for different locations were
made. In addition to the leakage of HFC leakage, it also re-
leases a large amount of CO2.
According to Aprea et al. (2012), electricity generation is
also a contributor to greenhouse gases by the emission of
CO2. In the USA after lighting, air conditioning and refrigera-
tion occupy second place in electricity consumption. The
Vapour compression system requires a large amount of elec-
tricity. So, the concept of total equivalent warming impact
(TEWI) was introduced. TEWI involves CO2 emission, starting
from manufacturing, operation, maintenance to disposal. It also
includes fossil fuel emission, thus involves both direct and in-
direct emission throughout its lifetime. This makes VCR to
have more TEWI. To reduce the refrigeration global warming
effect, a search for low GWP refrigerants should be done. R-22
has 0.05 ODP but 1700 GWP. Alternatives considered for R-22
are R-407C and R-422D. The direct contribution by R-22 and
R-407C throughout their lifetime is 6375 and 5400 kg of CO2.
Due to low-efficiency, R-407C also contributes to more indirect
CO2 emission. R-422D has more GWP than R-22.
From the discussion, it is clear that several efforts were
taken to reduce/altogether remove the damage caused by this
ever-growing technology. To make the efforts more fruitful,
several aspects were considered to find a substitute-refriger-
ant. Even the suggested refrigerant like water cannot be used
in the VCR system. At the same time, in the VAR system,
water along with other chemicals like LiBr and ammonia can
be used as a working fluid. Both of these selected chemicals
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258
do not cause any environmental problems. VAR can also be
easily driven by solar energy, reducing the indirect emission
by the system. In that case, VAR is preferred to VCR.
Literature review
According to Sawicka (2019), more than half of the world’s
yearly crop produced is wasted and one-third of food pro-
duced is lost per year during post-harvest handling. In devel-
oped countries, it brought up to 680 billion dollars loss, and
developing countries, it is around 310 billion dollars. The food
produced in one country would be equivalent to food wastage
in another. Per capita waste in Europe and North America is
95–115 kg/year while only 6–11 kg/year is the per capita
consumption in countries like South Asia, South East Asia
and some African countries. So, proper handling of post-
harvest would result in achieving food security. In developing
countries, the maximum loss is from an earlier stage, and for
middle and high-income countries, it is from the later stage of
the supply chain. Out of all the solutions presented for reduc-
ing post-harvest wastage, storage has a huge role because
most of the losses occur during the storage of crops due to
lack of infrastructure. Traditional storage is not enough to
meet the need, and it is a must to incorporate modern technol-
ogy for agricultural produce storage as it would also help
preserve generic diversity and achieve sustainability.
In China, realizing the need for fresh agricultural prod-
ucts in attaining food security, Deng et al. (2012) have
pointed out the importance of updating logistics standard
to maintain the cold storage infrastructure up to date.
State-owned cold chains are more than 30 years old.
Several cold chain logistics are discussed. A well-
developed cold chain logistics would help reduce circula-
tion costs and also improve the quality of the agricultural
product. Cold storage could also help to improve the local
economy, especially, for the farming community.
Understanding the need to store the agricultural product
and also as a support to the Umudike community, where
there is no cold storage, Ugwu and Ogbonnaya (2012) have
developed a 0.83TR cold storage room for a temperature
range of − 15 to 35 °C. The author has also highly recom-
mended the commercialization of technology. Mande et al.
(1997) has stated that 30% of India’s agricultural products
are spoiled during storage and transportation. So, the author
has designed a 10-kW demonstration model of a solar hy-
brid adsorption cooling system for rural areas in India where
electricity is still not reliable, to reduce agricultural wastage.
The system is designed to be maintained at 1–3 °C. The
payback period of this system would be 3–5 years.
Maheshwar and Chanakwa (2006) has discussed the post-
harvest losses in India due to cold chain gaps. Poor handling,
poor storage, middlemen’s presence and lack of preservation
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258
technique lead to 30%, 30%, 30%, 5%, and 5% losses, respec-
tively. Due to this gap, about 40 million tons of fruits and
vegetables get wasted. In the fourth largest onion producing
state, Rajasthan does not even have single cold storage.
Maharashtra losses about 50% of its onion produced due to
lack of storage facility. A 24-h delay in shipment of mangoes
without any cold storage has collapsed the entire cold chain
and resulted in the failure of Vijaya Agricultural Produce
Export Development Agency. Even though fruits and vegeta-
bles can provide 8 and 4.8 times more profit, respectively,
than the cereals, due to poor infrastructure, they are not pre-
ferred. Even a small change in temperature would affect the
shelf life of the fruits and vegetables. Lack of infrastructure
would also reduce the export potential. To improve marketing
opportunities, integrated cold storage for the farm is recom-
mended by the author. It is clear that cold storage is giving us
an opportunity to achieve food security.
In tropical countries like India, cold storage for agricultural
produce is a basic necessity. To reduce post-harvest losses and
protecting the quality, a controlled environment is required. The
optimum temperature for storing tropical fruits like avocado,
banana, mango, papaya, pineapple and custard apple is 10 °C,
14 °C, 13 °C, 12 °C, 10 °C, 15 °C, respectively (Kader 1993).
Under the Kigali Amendment, a plan for developed and
developing countries to work together to achieve a sustainable
cold chain system is considered. The key challenges addressed
in achieving it are related to developing countries. This is due to
small farmers’ financial capacity, lack of awareness, lack of
necessary infrastructure and lack of related skill and knowledge
(UN environment program 2019). Other challenges include
high energy consumption, rising real estate costs and lack of
logistical data. Cold storage would help maintain colour, tex-
ture and nutritional value. It reduces the bacteria formation and
maintains hygiene and humidity (Joshi et al. 2018).
Only 2% of India’s product is handled in the cold supply
chain. Per capita fruits and vegetable consumption in India is
149 g and 152 g per day, much lower than the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health
Organization (WHO) recommendations. Improving India’s
cold storage might lead to a second green revolution. Lack
of cold storage would also cause instability in agricultural
products. Due to the lack of cold storage, only the fruits and
vegetables with longer shelf life are stored. About 60% of
India’s cold storages are located in West Bengal, Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The government has supported
cold storage in India by tax exemption and subsidies. With
the help of subsidies, between 2009 and 2012, 1066 govern-
ment cold storages are developed. During the period of 2011–
12 through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD), 2252 crore rupee was invested in
cold storage. But due to many reasons, it is still not reaching
the small farmers. Even private owners require 17 licences
from the state and central government to start a cold storage
34251
unit making it tough to adapt. Due to the lack of logistical
data, even foreign direct investment has failed. New policy
changes are required to make the technology reach all the
country’s parts equally (Sivaraman 2016).
With the view of vapour absorption cycle playing a huge
role in the reduction of environmental pollution, the author
has discussed the recent development in vapour absorption
cycle.. The most basic cycle is a single effect system.
VAR’s commercial model is the single effect and double
effect system with lithium bromide-water or ammonia-
water as the most commonly used refrigerant. For refriger-
ation temperature above 0 °C, lithium bromide-water is
used, and ammonia-water is selected to reach temperature
lower than 0 °C. To improve the potential of the system, a
multistage absorption cycle is also developed. The triple
effect cycle can be developed by using a conventional dou-
ble effect cycle, just by adding a high-pressure generator on
top of it. A newly designed two-stage triple effect cycle
requires a high-pressure generator, which will increase the
manufacturing cost. In order to improve performance, a dif-
ferent type of heat exchangers like solution heat exchanger
(SHE) and refrigerant heat exchanger (RHE) are introduced
into the system. Attempt to make a hybrid system by
connecting VAR with other refrigeration technologies is
also studied with the view of improving the overall system
performance. By introducing an ejector into the system,
better mixing of absorbent refrigerant pairs can be achieved,
which also an effort to improve overall system performance
(Wu and Eames 2000). Kim and Infante Ferreira (2008)
compared the compatibility of solar energy with various
refrigeration techniques and concluded that VAR holds
the first place in utilizing solar thermal energy. In the
VAR system, low-grade energy is enough to run the system
without a problem, utilizing solar thermal, waste heat
(largely available especially in industries) or even engine
exhaust (Mittal and Shukla 2015). This system produces
less carbon dioxide or at least it does not contribute its
own carbon dioxide by making waste into its source. IC
engines operate at only 53 to 40% efficiency. The remaining
energy is released in the form of waste heat. This exhaust
waste heat would be at 450–600 °C, which is more than
enough to drive a VAR.
The power factor is defined as the ratio of the active power
to the apparent power. Apparent power is the addition of ac-
tive power and reactive power. The power factor lies in the
range of − 1 to 1. Unity power factor means the system
operates in ideal condition. The power factor is determined
by the phase angle between the voltage and current. A capac-
itor or synchronous motor was used to compensate for the
inductive load. Reactive power will cause losses and will, in
turn, affect the overall efficiency of the device (Cividino
1992). Power quality still requires a lot of exploring to do as
it has a lot of misunderstanding.
34252
In India, there are several power problems like frequent
power cuts, regular breakdowns, load shedding, lack of ser-
vice and increased demand-supply graph. Poor power quality
is also because of the presence of 22% THD, which is due to
the increase in non-linear load. This THD could even cause
consumer equipment damage. Every 6th distribution trans-
former is damaged and requires repair or replacement every
year. Seventy per cent of India’s population lives in rural
areas. Due to long distribution lines and heavy loading, unin-
terrupted or even electricity itself is a dream for many rural
areas. Providing good quality power required a lot of effort
(Pabla 1999). Due to the changing nature of the load, power
quality has become a huge issue in New Zealand. To maintain
dairy farming, irrigating the grasses is a must. For this, vari-
able speed drive (VSD) fed submersible pumps are used. This
has resulted in increased harmonics in the rural network.
Because of this, a high level of fifth harmonics is recorded
especially during summer when the irrigation rarely stops and
the harmonics would be more. It is suggested to use DZn0
transformers to overcome this problem (Watson et al. 2010).
Even for long-distance transmission, especially for rural areas,
it has other problems like harmonic amplification (Chen et al.
2020).
With the increase in non-linear loads and electromagnetic
environment, it has become a necessity to answer power
quality-related problems. The common power quality issues
include voltage imbalance, voltage swell, voltage sag, flicker
and power factor harmonics. One of the major contributors for
this issue is the induction motor, which is an essential part of
vapour compression cycle. Power quality problems can be
identified by circuit breaker trips for no reason, the automated
system stops for no reason, electronic system fail etc.
Everything is highly dependent on electricity and even a small
interruption could affect industrial and economic activity and
a long interruption could cause more serious problems. IEEE
standard for each and every power quality issues was
discussed. Methods suggested to improve power quality in-
clude active, passive and hybrid harmonics filter, voltage
compensator and uninterrupted power supply (Dwivedi
2011). Álvarez et al. (2000) have discussed the solution to
improve power quality by power electronics. Upgrading
IGBT’s, thyristors and increasing the speed of electronic de-
vices could help overcome power quality problems. Their
common solutions are as follows. STATCOM can be used
for reactive power supply and active filtering. When the volt-
age is not in the specified range, then the dynamic voltage
restorers (DVR) would help compensate for it. Solid state
breaker (SSB) and solid state transfer switch (SSTW) are
sub-cycle breakers and low-level fault breakers. This will help
prevent faulty current to develop in the circuit. These technol-
ogies would become commercially possible in future only
with more development in this field. STATCOMS can pro-
vide solution for voltage sags and micro-interruptions. Energy
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258
stored in the form of electrical energy, magnetic energy or
even kinetic energy can be connected to the network through
DVR. STATCOM can also improve power factor and hence
increase the transmission transfer limit up to 50%. DVR and
STATCOM are available in the market for a wide operating
range.
The presence of power quality issues is a costly problem as
it could cause millions of dollar losses. The power quality
issues arising when the refrigerator, microwave oven, laptop,
personal computer (PC) and compact fluorescent lamp (CFL)
operates together were studied by the author (Farooq et al.
2011). An electrical transient analyzer program was used for
the study. When the current THD (total harmonic distortion)
increases, then Irms would be more, which would increase the
line losses. Harmonic distortion also leads to transformer
losses like copper loss and core loss. This study was conduct-
ed using a power analyzer. The current THD of a laptop is
194%. Power factors of PC, laptop, CFL, microwave oven
and refrigerator are 0.88, 0.21, 0.3, 0.86 and 0.86, respective-
ly. Based on the practical system in Eimanabad, Pakistan, a
simulation model was designed. Eighteen houses were select-
ed and their impact on the 100 kVA distribution system was
studied. About 10.88% of the total load was the non-linear
load. The presence of a non-linear load would distort the volt-
age. When the transformer distance increases, especially in
rural areas, then the harmonics distortion would also be in-
creasing. The presence of a non-linear load has obviously
increased the apparent power consumption. Both the current
THD and voltage THD were more than the standard value.
Commercial refrigerators, which are a non-linear load, have
recorded up to 11th harmonics with the power factor of 0.86
and current THD of 31.34.
A Norton equivalent model was used to design non-linear
load. Mathematical modelling for voltage THD and current
THD was done. Six most commonly used electrical equip-
ments were taken for study. Based on usage, loads were di-
vided for residential, office and commercial appliances and
studied. Using the Norton model, the commercial refrigerator
was found to have 15.53 current THD and 0.8 power factor,
air conditioner has recorded 23.96 current THD and 0.94 pow-
er factor, split air conditioner has recorded current THD of
22.54 and power factor of 0.87 and the freezer has recorded
9.69 current THD and 0.69 power factor. Split air conditioner,
commercial refrigerator and air conditioner contribution on
feeder THD in the presence of other loads are 22.6, 1.57 and
11.65, respectively. In the system studied, up to 20% loss in
power was recorded due to the presence of harmonic distor-
tion (Ghorbani et al. 2015).
In an average household, 12% of electricity was utilized for
space heating and 8% was for food storage. In this study, the
power quality of domestic appliances was studied and the re-
corded result has shown that it has a large number of third
harmonics and ninth harmonics. If the third harmonics was in
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258
Fig. 1 Vapour compression
refrigeration system
phase with the neutral conductor, then it would cause increased
losses in the distribution network. A neutral conductor might
result in overheating and burning due to overcharging. This
system has also recorded 80% current THD (Toader et al. 2014).
Using MATLAB simulation, a non-linear load of any
household like LCD TV, commercial refrigerator and adjust-
able speed drive (ASD) washer is studied and compared with
the experimental result. In that study, LCD TV has recorded a
current THD of 42.96 and power factor of 0.856. Commercial
refrigeration has shown that it has harmonics in mA level with
current harmonics of 7.17 and a power factor of 0.546. Even
though current harmonics are low, it is present due to third
harmonics in the device. In ASD washer also, the problem is
due to 3rd harmonics with a current THD of 41.14 and power
factor of 0.196. So, it is suggested to use a harmonic filter to
shape the waveform (Rawa et al. 2014). Harmonic distortion
can cause electromagnetic disturbances, which can affect
Fig. 2 Vapour absorption
refrigeration system
34253
electronic equipment with irreparable damages. This urges
the need to find a solution.
Common residential loads like the refrigerator, fluorescent
lamp and television were studied. They were studied by
connecting harmonic shunt filter. The refrigerator has record-
ed a 0.64 power factor. After designing and connecting a
20-μF capacitance filter, a 3.3 time reduction in 5th harmonics
was noticed. The shunt filter is more suitable for the current
source load type. But for other residential devices with voltage
source load types like TV, shunt filters cannot solve the prob-
lem. So, an active compensator would be selected in that case
(Pomilio and Deckmann 2007).
Singh et al. (2003) have studied the air conditioner with an
internal permanent magnet synchronous motor, where it was
fed through a power quality converter. This helps to get a pure
sinusoidal input without any distortion and also helps to
achieve a unity power factor. Singh and Bist, 2013, have
34254
Fig. 3 Power analysis of VAR system
introduced a brushless DC motor fed through a bridgeless Cuk
converter for air conditioning system. This has helped to im-
prove the power quality in a wide range of operating speeds.
Even THD was brought down to an acceptable range. Both the
design changes would help reduce energy consumption, but it
only comes at the expense of more investment costs.
Technology
The technology that is discussed in this paper includes VAR
and VCR systems.
The major components of the VCR system are evaporator,
condenser, compressor and expansion valve.
Figure 1 shows the vapour compression system.
Mechanical input was given at the compressor. Mechanical
Fig. 4 Power analysis of VCR
system
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258
energy is high-grade energy. The refrigerant would be com-
pressed in the compressor to produce high-pressure, high-
temperature liquid. This will then go through the condenser.
In the condenser, the heat is removed by water or air medium
to produce high-pressure liquid. Then in the expansion valve,
expansion of the refrigerant happens. As a result, there will be
pressure and temperature drop. Now, low-temperature low-
pressure liquid vapour mixture of refrigerant would enter the
evaporator. The evaporator is the region where the tempera-
ture has to be reduced to a temperature lower than the sur-
rounding. The refrigerant would absorb heat from the stored
material and would leave the evaporator. This cycle will re-
peatedly continue to bring down the temperature. In VCR,
compressor causes huge vibrations, which lead to huge noise
(Ozturk 2000). So, for large size design, it requires a strong
foundation, which raises the cost of the system.
In case of the VAR refrigeration system, the only differ-
ence is that the compressor is substituted by a generator and an
absorber.
Figure 2 shows the VAR system. Its main components in-
clude generator, condenser, evaporator, and absorber. As there is
no compressor, the absorber will help in the suction of refriger-
ant into the generator. In the absorber, the refrigerant will mix
with the absorbent to form a strong solution. The strong solution
would be forced to the generator using a small pump. Input in
the form of heat is given to the generator. Once the operating
temperature is reached, refrigerant would enter the rectifier and
the weak solution would return to the absorber. In case of
ammonia/water mixture, if water vapour enters the cycle then
the refrigeration effect would get affected. Analyzer is a simple
distillation column that would remove any extra water vapour
from the working fluid. Then, it will enter the condenser and
then to the expansion valve to produce low-temperature low-
pressure refrigerant. Finally, it will enter the evaporator (cooling
chamber) to reduce its temperature. This cycle will go on and on.
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258 34255

Fig. 5 Experimental set up for

evaporator temperature
measurement

Experimental setup
Figures 3 and 4 show the power quality measurement setup
for VAR and VCR systems. Yokogawa power analyzer was
used to measure the data. The performance of both the system
was studied with 1 l of water as load. Data were logged in the
power analyzer storage for every 1 min.
Figure 5 shows the experimental set up for temperature
measurement of both the VAR and VCR system. The evapo-
rator temperature of both the system was measured and logged
at the same time for every 1 min using a data logger. A K-type
thermocouple was used to measure the temperature.
Results and discussion
Figures 6 and 7 show the power graph of VAR and VCR. P, Q
and S stand for active, reactive and apparent power, respec-
tively. In Fig. 6, the presence of reactive power can be noticed.
This reactive power does not produce any useful output but
will only increase the apparent power consumption. The sud-
den drop in power to zero in the graph is because once the
optimal evaporator temperature is reached, the compressor
will turn off. It will be off until its temperature lies within
the optimal temperature range and will be turned on only
when the temperature rises above the optimum temperature
level. Figure 7 shows that the VAR system reactive power
curve is flat at zero value, and it does not require any reactive
power. So, apparent power is equal to the active power, and
that is why their curve looks superimposed in the graph. The
presence of reactive power plays a critical role in power qual-
ity analysis of the system.
Figures 8 and 9 give the current and voltage THD of VAR
and VCR. According to IEEE 519 guidelines, voltage THD
should be below 5%, and current THD should lie below 10%.
Both the systems have zero current THD. In case of voltage
THD, the VAR system lies within the desirable limit. But,
VCR lies above this range. Irrespective of the type of system,
it will affect devices.
Figure 10 shows the power factor of the VCR system. It
clearly shows that this system’s power factor lies within the
range of 0.8 to 0.6 in most of the time, and the system is non-
linear. It is evident that, in this system, the current is lagging
because the load does not completely utilize power. This is
due to the compressor and other electronic subsystems in the
VCR system. An induction motor electrically powers the

300.00 100.00
90.00
250.00 80.00
70.00
Power in watt

Power in watt

200.00
60.00
150.00 50.00
40.00
100.00 30.00
50.00 20.00
10.00
0.00 0.00
13:12:09
13:25:09
13:38:09
13:51:09
14:04:09
14:17:09
14:30:09
14:43:09
14:56:09
15:09:09
15:22:09
15:35:09
15:48:09
16:01:09
16:14:09
16:27:09
16:40:09
16:53:09

1:54:22

4:36:22

7:18:22
0:33:22

3:15:22

5:57:22

8:39:22
12:24:22

15:06:22

17:48:22

20:30:22

23:12:22

10:00:22
11:03:22

13:45:22

16:27:22

19:09:22

21:51:22

Time in minutes Time in minutes

Q S
P Q S P

Fig. 6 VCR system power vs time Fig. 7 VAR system power vs time
34256 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258

6.00 0.90
0.80
5.00 0.70

power factor
0.60
4.00
THD in % 0.50
3.00 0.40
0.30
2.00 0.20
0.10
1.00
0.00

13:12:09
13:23:09
13:34:09
13:45:09
13:56:09
14:07:09
14:18:09

14:40:09
14:51:09
15:02:09
15:13:09

15:35:09
15:46:09
15:57:09
16:08:09
16:19:09
16:30:09
16:41:09
16:52:09
14:29:09

15:24:09
0.00
13:12:09
13:24:09
13:36:09
13:48:09
14:00:09
14:12:09
14:24:09
14:36:09
14:48:09
15:00:09
15:12:09
15:24:09
15:36:09
15:48:09
16:00:09
16:12:09
16:24:09
16:36:09
16:48:09
Time in minutes
Time in minues
Fig. 10 VCR system power factor vs time
current THD voltage THD

Fig. 8 VCR THD vs time
compressor. A single-phase shaded pole type motor is the
most commonly used type, which is an inductive load. It re-
quires a magnetizing current to run this motor, which amounts
20 to 60% of the full load current. The presence of magnetiz-
ing current will result in more reactive power and it does not
contribute to the output, and at the same time, it cannot be
completely avoided. This becomes an additional load to the
system and front runners to the poor power quality of the
system. Magnetizing current will increase the hysteresis loss
in the stator and rotor, which will decrease the lifetime of the
system. This increase in the hysteresis loss will increase the
temperature of the stator and rotor, which will deteriorate the
winding and insulator. This increases maintenance costs. At
low load or no load condition, the result will be even worse.
Thus compressor is an inductive load that requires non-
working power. This will only increase the power consump-
tion and hence the operational cost of the entire system. This
increased power consumption also increases carbon emission.
For correcting the power factor, it requires a capacitor bank.
By considering the actual power 220 W, to achieve a 0.98
power factor, reactive power is calculated as 0.1861 kVAr.
The required capacitor value was calculated using the follow-
ing formula:
6.00
5.00
4.00
THD in %


C ¼ reactive power= 2* pi* f * V2
C ¼ 122:4μF
The standard range available is 150 μF, which can be used
in the compensation system.
Figure 11 shows the power factor of the VAR system. It
can be clearly observed that this system maintains a unity
power factor throughout the entire operation, which means
the current and voltage are in phase. The energy supplied by
the source is completely utilized by the load without any wast-
age, which is ideal for any system. This is because the VAR
system does not have any inductive load like the VCR system.
Since there is no compressor, there is no reactive power and
hence the power quality of this technology is much better than
the VCR system. Because of this, unlike VCR, in VAR com-
pensation system, requirement can be eliminated. This re-
duces system complexity. VAR is a linear system, making it
possible to be driven easily by DC-powered solar photovoltaic
energy.
Figures 12 and 13 show the evaporator (cold chamber)
temperature of the VAR and VCR system. They both were
at almost similar temperature while the operation starts. But
over time, VCR has reached much lower temperature than the
VAR effortlessly. VCR is maintained at a temperature range
of − 3 °C to 3 °C, while VAR is maintained in the temperature
range 8 °C to 16 °C under the same environmental conditions.
Even though VCR can reach lower evaporator temperature,
the ideal temperature for tropical agricultural produce storage
lies in the range of 10 to 15 °C. This makes VAR competitive

3.00 1.2
2.00 1
Power Factor

0.8
1.00
0.6
0.00 0.4
0.2
1:10:22
2:27:22
3:44:22
5:01:22
6:18:22
7:35:22
8:52:22
12:20:22
11:03:22

13:37:22
14:54:22
16:11:22
17:28:22
18:45:22
20:02:22
21:19:22
22:36:22
23:53:22

10:09:22

0
1:11:22
2:28:22
3:45:22
5:02:22
6:19:22
7:36:22
8:53:22
11:04:22
12:21:22
13:38:22
14:55:22
16:12:22
17:29:22
18:46:22
20:03:22
21:20:22
22:37:22
23:54:22

10:10:22

Time in minutes

voltage THD current THD Time in minutes

Fig. 9 VAR THD vs time Fig. 11 VAR system power factor vs time
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:34248–34258 34257

25 & Vapour absorption refrigeration could utilize low-grade

20 energy, so even waste heat can drive the VAR system.
Temperature in oC 15
Thus, the amount of indirect CO2 emission by this system
can also be reduced. Therefore, it reduces its TEWI and
10
makes it a green technology.
5

0 In many ways, it has been clearly proven that the VAR

9:55:00
2:35:00

1:14:00

2:34:00

1:13:00

2:22:00

1:03:00
8:36:00
11:29:00
19:02:00

10:08:00
17:41:00

11:26:00
19:01:00

10:07:00
17:40:00

11:16:00
18:49:00

17:30:00
-5 system is more environmentally friendly compared to VCR
as well as creating less distortion in the electrical network. It
Time in minute
would be a better choice to consider VAR as an alternative for
Fig. 12 Temperature of VCR vs time the VCR system along with all the possible improvements it
could possibly be adapted to like the integration of green
enough for agricultural cold storage. At the same time, if technology.
needed, the sub-zero temperature can be easily achieved with
Acknowledgements Authors acknowledged the support received from
possible design changes.
the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India.

Authors’ contributions All authors contributed to the study, conception

Conclusion
& Commonly used refrigerants of the commercial refrigera-
tion system are causing several environmental damages.
The suggested alternative refrigerants are commonly used
in VAR, which could be a better alternative to reduce the
environmental impact caused by CFC, HCFC and HFC,
and hence, it has the potential to replace the VCR system.
& VAR has proved to be a better option with the unity power
factor in terms of power quality as VCR has poor power
factor averaged between 0.8 and 0.6. Even though VCR
has a solution to overcome power quality issues, it only
comes at a cost.
& For rural areas, located in remote locations, where it is a
huge challenge to meet electricity demand, renewable en-
ergy is the only solution. VAR can easily adapt to such
renewable technologies like solar PV and solar thermal.
This allows the possibility for rural cold storage to reach
even the remote locations. The temperature ranging be-
tween 10 and 15 °C, which is enough to store tropical
agricultural products, can be achieved without any system
alterations. This opens a path to achieve food security
and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were per-
formed by Divya Arputham Selvaraj. The first draft of the manuscript was
written by Kirubakaran Victor and all authors commented on the previous
version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final
manuscript.
Funding The authors did not receive support from any organization for
the submitted work.
Data availability The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current
study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Compliance with ethical standards
Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing
interests.
Ethical approval This paper does not contain any studies with human
participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Consent to participate Not applicable.
Consent to publish Authors transfer to Springer the publication rights
and warrant that our contribution is original.

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