R290 refrigerant offers good environmental protection and thermodynamic characteristics. The feasibility of R290 replacing R134a was summarized through theoretical analysis and experimental tests in this paper. A coiled ice storage experimental test platform was built, and the performance of R290 and R134a cool storage air conditioning systems was analyzed. The experimental analysis confirmed that the R290 system has a higher volumetric refrigerating capacity, and the system COP (coefficient of performance) is comparable to the R134a system. At the same evaporation temperature, the pressure ratio and exhaust temperature of the R290 system are lower than those of the R134a system. In addition, the charge amount of the refrigerant can have an impact on cold storage performance. It was found that the optimal charge range of R134a is 1300–1400 g, and that of R290 ranges from 500 to 600 g. The optimal charge amount for R290 is only 43–46% of R134a. A lower charge amount is beneficial to reduce the explosion risk of the R290 cool storage air conditioner. Under the optimal charge, the R290 system has a fast cooling rate and shorter cooling storage time, and the average specific refrigerating effect is increased by approximately 52% compared with R134a.

R290制冷剂具有良好的环保性和热力学特性。本文通过理论分析和实验测试总结了R290替代R134a的可行性。搭建了盘绕冰蓄冷实验测试平台，对R290和R134a蓄冷空调系统的性能进行了分析。实验分析证实，R290系统具有较高的容积制冷量，系统COP（性能系数）与 R134a 系统相当。在相同的蒸发温度下，R290系统的压比和排气温度均低于R134a系统。此外，制冷剂的填充量也会对冷藏性能产生影响。研究发现，R134a的最佳充电范围为1300~1400 g，R290的最佳充电范围为500~600 g。R290 的最佳充电量仅为 R134a 的 43-46%。较低的充电量有利于降低R290蓄冷空调的爆炸风险。在优化充注条件下，R290系统制冷速度快，蓄冷时间更短，平均比制冷效果比R134a提高约52%。