In this paper, the performance of vapour compression refrigeration with R22/R124/R152a as the refrigerant is presented. A mathematical model of the system characteristics is developed and the simulated results agreed quite well with those of the experiments. The model was also used to analyse the most suitable composition of the refrigerant. It was found that the required composition was obtained when the mass fraction of R22 was in the range 0.2-0.4. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.