Comparative analysis of hydraulic refrigeration and mechanical vapour compression water cooling technologies in designing a technical system for oysters conservation.

Abstract

The phenomenon of summer mortality in Pacific oysters cultures also occurs in Brazilian crops, with predominance in the adult phase, generating significant losses for local producers. In the search for a technological solution to mitigate its effects, the mechanical vapour compression and hydraulic refrigeration concepts are evaluated as two proposed cooling technologies. The comparative analysis carried out with numeric simulations indicated that the hydraulic cooling system presents disadvantages regarding both the size of the compression column and the energy efficiency, compared to the mechanical vapour compression cycle. By computing only the compression power, a COP value of 6.9 results for the MVCS at T_COND = 29.5 ^oC and T_EVAP = 7.2 ^oC, while for HRS the COP value is around 3.1 for identical conditions. Results from the analysis contradict former publications, but are consistent with recent findings reported in literature.

Key words
cooling technologies; oyster conservation; system efficiency; hydraulic refrigeration system