• A hybrid evaporative-vapor compression refrigeration (EVCR) system was experimentally evaluated. • Evaporative pre-cooling reduced compressor power by up to 20.5% under hot and dry climatic conditions. • COP improvement ranged from 14.5% to 33.9% depending on ambient temperature and humidity. • A novel condensate reuse strategy was integrated to enhance water efficiency in the evaporative system. • The proposed system is highly effective for improving energy efficiency in arid and semi-arid environments. This study investigates the efficiency enhancement of a vapor compression refrigeration (VCR) system by adding evaporative cooling to develop a Hybrid Evaporative-Vapor Compression Refrigeration (EVCR) system. The primary objective is to investigate the influence of pre-cooling the condenser air on energy consumption, pressure ratio, heat transfer rate, and coefficient of performance (COP). An innovative, experimental technique involved a specially designed evaporative cooling system positioned in front of the condenser of a split air conditioner. Experimental tests were performed under four representative Iraqi summer weather conditions ranging from (45 °C/18% relative humidity) to (29 °C/30% relative humidity). The findings revealed that incorporating evaporative pre-cooling in the VCR system resulted in a substantial reduction in compressor power by up to 20.5%, along with increases of 9.0% in condenser heat rejection and 11.0% in evaporator heat absorption. The system’s COP was also boosted by 14.5–33.9% in all cases. These findings confirm that incorporating evaporative cooling into the vapor-compression cycle significantly increases the efficiency of refrigeration systems in hot, dry climates. This study provides valuable insights into optimizing refrigeration and air conditioning systems to improve energy efficiency and promote environmental sustainability.
Ashour et al. (2026) studied this question.