Refrigerants A refrigerant is any body or substance, which act as a cooling agent by absorbing heat from another body or substance.

With regard to the vapor compression cycle, the refrigerants is the working fluid of the cycle which vaporize and condense as it absorb and gives off heat Characteristics of ammonia water refrigerant Ammonia and water are the inorganic refrigerants having designation R 717 (ammonia) R718 (water). Some characteristics of Ammonia Water refrigerant are as follows Ammonia Ammonia is one of the oldest and most widely used of all refrigerants. It is extensively used in large refrigeration plant such as ice plant, breweries and industrial processing plants. Ammonia gives a large amount of refrigeration /cubic meter of compressor displacement, which result in low compressor cost Ammonia system is the most economical system available for large size refrigeration system. The freezing point of ammonia -600C, is low enough so that there will be no problem with ordinary refrigeration temperatures Water The principle advantage of water as a refrigerant is it has no cost. Water has very high latent heat of vaporization. Another advantage of water is that it is non-toxic and non- flammable Ammonia water refrigerants have following main characteristics They have high critical temperature and pressure They have a high latent heat of vaporization They have low volume/kg in gaseous states They are economically favorable having low cost Following figure compares the ammonia water refrigerant with other refrigerants