Abstract: Domestic refrigerators are among the most widely used household appliances and a great portion of energy is used by these systems. Reduction of temperature fluctuation and enhancement of system performance is the main reason of using phase change materials (PCMs) in refrigeration systems. The aim of this work is to improve the thermal performance of refrigerator using phase change materials (PCMs) under door openings and electrical power failure. The PCM is located around the evaporator tube coil in order to improve its efficiency and to provide a storage capacity allowing several hours of refrigeration without power supply. The system has been tested with water and with a eutectic mixture. The analysis of the results shows a significant improvement of the performance compared to a conventional system.

Keywords: COP, Evaporator, Phase Change Material, Refrigerator.