R404A is widely used in light commercial equipment. However

the Kigali Amendment currently specifies the refrigerant replacement process. R454C and R290

owing to their low global warming potential values

have become promising refrigerants for use in commercial refrigerators. To compare the performances of these three refrigerants in commercial refrigerators

this study uses a climatic chamber to test four commercial refrigerators of different sizes. Four key parameters

namely the refrigerant charge

energy consumption

material cost

and carbon emissions

of the R404A

R454C

and R290 systems were compared. The results indicated that replacing R404A with R454C resulted in energy savings of approximately 5% and a reduction of approximately 15% in carbon emissions. When using R290

the charge was only 20.6%-34.3% of that of R404A

remaining within a safe range. Additionally

the charging cost was only half that of R404A. Furthermore

the system satisfied the performance requirements with this charge amount

leading to a reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions within the ranges of 15%-35% and 25.3%-43.7%

respectively.