CECOS University of IT

&
Emerging Sciences

Mechanical Engineering
Refrigeration & Air Conditioning
BY
Engr.M Irfan Khan
Lecture # 4

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Lecture-4
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ME-2013
We will study today
Refrigerants
Types
Coding
Properties
etc 4
 What is Refrigerant ???
Refrigerants are well known as the uids
absorbing heat during evaporation
From Lecture 3
Arefrigerantis a substance or mixture, usually
auid, used in aheat pump and refrigeration
cycle. In most cycles it undergoesphase
transitionsfrom aliquidto agasand back again.
A refrigerant is a primary working uid used to
produce refrigeration in a refrigeration system. All
refrigerants extract heat at low temperature and
low pressure during evaporation and reject heat
at high temperature and pressure during
condensation.[Wang, S.K. and Lavan, Z. Air-
Conditioning and Refrigeration (CRC, 1999)]
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Let Us also understand two other terms
Cooling Media: A cooling medium is the working uid cooled
by the refrigerant to transport the cooling effect between a
central plant and remote cooling units and terminals.
In a large, centralized system, it is often more economical to
use a coolant medium (Secondary Refrigerant) that can be
pumped to remote locations where cooling is required.
Chilled water, brine, and glycol are used as cooling media in
many refrigeration systems. The cooling medium is often
called a secondary refrigerant, because it obviates extensive
circulation of the primary refrigerant.

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 Let Us also understand two other terms

Liquid Absorbents. A solution known as liquid

absorbent is often used to absorb the vaporized
refrigerant (water vapor) after its evaporation in
an absorption refrigeration system.
This solution, containing the absorbed vapor, is
then heated at high pressure. The refrigerant
vaporizes, and the solution is restored to its
original concentration for reuse.
Lithium bromide and ammonia, both in a water
solution, are the liquid absorbents used most
often in absorption refrigerating systems

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 Classication of Refrigerants

This section is focused only on the

primary refrigerants, which can be
classied into the following ve main
groups (Dincer, 2003)
Halocarbons,
Hydrocarbons (HCs),
Inorganic Compounds,
Azeotropic Mixtures, and
Nonazeotropic mixtures
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 Classication of Refrigerants (Halocarbons)

The halocarbons contain one or more of the three

halogens Chlorine, Fluorine, or Bromine.
These are more commonly known by their trade
names, such as Freon, Arcton, Genetron, Isotron and
Uron.
Numerical indication is preferable in practice.
In this group, the halocarbons, consisting of chlorine,
uorine, and carbon, were the most commonly used
refrigerants (so-called chlorouorocarbons, CFCs).
CFCs were commonly used as refrigerants, solvents,
and foam-blowing agents.
The most common CFCs have been CFC-11 or R-11,
CFC-12 or R-12, CFC-113 or R-113, CFC-114 or R-114,
and CFC-115 or R-115. 9
 You must HCs)
Classication of Refrigerants (Hydrocarbons, be
joking!!!!!!!
HCs are
HCs are the compounds that mainly
consist
highlyyyyyyyyy
of carbon and hydrogen. HCs include
methane, Ethane, Propane, Cyclopropane,
Butane, and Cyclopentane.
Though HCs are highly ammable,
They may offer advantages as alternative
refrigerants because
they are inexpensive to produce
Have Zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP),
Very Low Global Warming Potential (GWP),
and Low toxicity.
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Classication of Refrigerants (Hydrobromouorocarbons (HBFCs))

Hydrobromouorocarbons (HBFCs)
are the compounds that consist of
Hydrogen, Bromine, Fluorine and
Carbon.

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Classication of Refrigerants (Inorganic Compounds)

In spite of the early invention of many

inorganic compounds, today they are still
used in many refrigeration, air conditioning,
and heat pump applications as refrigerants.
Some examples are Ammonia (NH 3), Water
(H2O), air (0.21O2+0.78N2+0.01Ar),
Carbondioxide (CO2), and Sulfurdioxide (SO2).
Among these compounds, Ammonia has
received the greatest attention for practical
applications and, even today, is of interest

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 Classication of Refrigerants (Azeotropic Mixtures)

An azeotropic refrigerant mixture consists of two

substances having different properties but behaving as
a single substance.
The two substances cannot be separated by distillation.
The most common azeotropic refrigerant is R-502, which
contains 48.8% R-22 and 51.2% R-115.
Its COP is higher than that of R-22 and its lesser toxicity
provides an opportunity to use this refrigerant in
household refrigeration systems and the food
refrigeration industry.
Some other examples of azeotropic mixtures are
R-500 (73.8% R-12+ 26.2% R-152a),
R-503 (59.9% R-13+ 40.1% R-23),
and R-504 (48.2% R-32 + 51.8% R-115). 13
Classication of Refrigerants (Nonazeotropic )

Nonazeotropic mixture is a uid consisting of multiple

components of different volatiles that, when used in
refrigeration cycles, change composition during evaporation
(boiling) or condensation.
Recently, nonazeotropic mixtures have been called zeotropic
mixtures or blends.
They offered the following advantages:
Energy improvement and saving,
Capacity control,
Adaptation of hardware components regarding
capacity and applications limits.
Examples (R-12+ R-114), (R-22+ R-114), and (R-13B1+ R-152
It is clear that the heat-transfer phenomena during the phase
change of nonazeotropic mixtures are more complicated than
with single-component refrigerants.
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Summarizing the Classication of Refrigerants

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 CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS
(CFCS)
CFCs refers to family of refrigerants containing Chlorine,
Fluorine, and Carbon
A thing to remember about CFCs
Since they contain NO hydrogen, CFCs are chemically very
stable, even when released into the atmosphere, these are
found to be long-lived in the atmosphere.
Because of this tendency
In the lower atmosphere, the CFC molecules absorb
infrared radiation and contribute to atmospheric warming.
Once in the upper atmosphere, the CFC molecule breaks
down to release chlorine that destroys ozone and
consequently damages the atmospheric ozone layer.

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 WHAT IS OZONE???
Ozone found high up in the
atmosphere, called stratospheric
ozone; 15-40 km above earth
surface, helps lter out damaging
ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
The ozone layer acts like a giant
sunshade that shields the earth from
the sun's harmful ultraviolet
radiation.
 CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS
(CFCS)
Prior to the environmental issues of ozone
layer depletion, the most widely used CFC
refrigerants were: R11, R12, R113, R114,
R115.
Of these, R11 was primarily used with
centrifugal compressors in air conditioning
applications and R12 was used primarily in
small capacity refrigeration and cold
storage applications.
The manufacture of CFC refrigerants was
discontinued after December 31, 1995.
 HYDROCHLORO-
FLUOROCARBONS (HCFCS)
Researchers found that by modifying
the chemical compound of CFCs by
substituting a Hydrogen atom for one
or more of the Chlorine or Fluorine
atoms resulted in a signicant
reduction in the life of the molecule
and, thus, reduced the negative
environmental impact it may have.

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HYDROCHLORO-FLUOROCARBONS
(HCFCS) CONT
These refrigerants decompose when released in the
lower atmosphere so very little ever reaches the ozone
layer.
HCFCs, therefore, have a lower ozone-depletion
potential.
The most widely used HCFC refrigerants are: R22 and
R 123.
R-22 nds its use in most residential and small
commercial air conditioning systems whereas R 123
has wide applications in low pressure centrifugal
chillers.
HCFC production for use in new equipment in
developed countries is mandated to cease in year
2020 with total halt to manufacturing and importing
mandated by year 2030.
 HYDROFLUOROCARBON (HFC)

HFC refrigerants contain NO chlorine. Although

these refrigerants have an ozone-depletion
potential of zero, they probably still contribute
to the global warming problem.
Two HFC's that are replacing CFC12 and
HCFC22 are HFC134a (Tetrauoroethane
CF3CH2F) and HFC410A (HFC32 & HFC125).
Hydro uorocarbons (HFCs), are not regulated
by international treaty and are considered, at
least for the interim, to be the most
environmentally benign compounds in HVAC
refrigeration systems
 Point to be noted

Note that it is the chlorine that makes a

substance ozone-depleting; CFCs and HCFCs
(partly) are a threat to the ozone layer but HFCs
are not.
Generally all halogenated refrigerants used in
refrigeration, cold storage and air conditioning
applications are non-toxic and non-ammable
Naming Conventions for CFCs, HCFCs
& Halons
All the refrigerants are designated by R
followed by a unique number.
These refrigerants are designated by R XYZ,
(R ijk)
where:
i+1 indicates the number of Carbon (C) atoms
j-1 indicates number of Hydrogen (H) atoms,
and
k indicates number of Fluorine (F) atoms
Cl = 2(C+1) H F
Only 2 digits indicates that the value of i is
zero.
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Naming Conventions for CFCs, HCFCs
& Halons
Examples

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Naming Conventions for CFCs, HCFCs
& Halons
(Class Assignment)

Expl 1: R 22
Expl 2: R12
You have to nd the molecular
formula

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Naming Conventions for CFCs, HCFCs
& Halons
Examples

R 134 a
What is the meaning of a ???
(letter a stands for isomer, e.g.
molecules having same chemical
composition but different atomic
arrangement, e.g. R134 and R134a)

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Naming Conventions for CFCs, HCFCs
& Halons
Examples

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Naming Conventions for Inorganic
Refrigerants

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Naming Conventions for Mixtures

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Naming Conventions for Mixtures

http://www.swep.net/refrigerant-handbook/5.-
refrigerants/sd6/

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Naming Conventions for HCs

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Application of Refrigerants

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Application of Refrigerants

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Application of Refrigerants

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Color Codes for Refrigerants

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 Color Codes for Refrigerants
You have only 5 Seconds to search R-12 Cylinder

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Ok Jiiii !!! Till now we have Done the
following
Dened Refrigerant, Cooling
Media, Absorbing media.
We have discussed the
Classication of the Refrigerants.
We have learnt how to decode the
Refrigerant name.
We have discussed the uses of
main refrigerants and their
possible replacements
We had a look at the cylinder color
pattern scheme
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 Refrigerant selection criteria:

Selection of refrigerant for a

particular application is based on the
following requirements:
1. Thermodynamic and thermo-
physical properties
2. Environmental and safety
properties,
3. Economics

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 Refrigerant selection criteria:
Thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties:

a) Suction pressure: At a given evaporator

temperature, the saturation pressure should be
above atmospheric for prevention of air or
moisture ingress into the system and ease of
leak detection. Higher suction pressure is better
as it leads to smaller compressor displacement
b) Discharge pressure: At a given condenser
temperature, the discharge pressure should be
as small as possible to allow light-weight
construction of compressor, condenser etc

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 Refrigerant selection criteria:
Thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties:

c) Pressure ratio: Should be as small as

possible for high volumetric
efficiency and low power
consumption
d) Latent heat of vaporization: Should be
as large as possible so that the
required mass ow rate per unit
cooling capacity will be small
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 Refrigerant selection criteria:
Thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties:

e) Isentropic index of compression: Should be as

small as possible so that the temperature rise
during compression will be small.
f) Thermal conductivity: Thermal conductivity in
both liquid as well as vapour phase should be
high for higher heat transfer coefficients
g) Viscosity: Viscosity should be small in both
liquid and vapour phases for smaller frictional
pressure drop
You can search for other Thermodynamic and
thermo-physical properties
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 Refrigerant selection criteria:
Environmental and safety properties:

a)Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP): According to

the Montreal protocol, the ODP of refrigerants
should be zero, i.e., they should be non-ozone
depleting substances.
Refrigerants having non-zero ODP have either
already been phased-out (e.g. R 11, R 12) or will
be phased-out in near-future(e.g. R22).
Since ODP depends mainly on the presence of
chlorine or bromine in the molecules, refrigerants
having either chlorine (i.e., CFCs and HCFCs) or
bromine cannot be used under the new
regulations

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 Refrigerant selection criteria:
Environmental and safety properties:

b) Global Warming Potential (GWP): Refrigerants

should have as low a GWP value as possible to
minimize the problem of global warming.
Refrigerants with zero ODP but a high value of
GWP (e.g. R134a) are likely to be regulated in
future.
c) Flammability: The refrigerants should
preferably be non-ammable and non
explosive. For ammable refrigerants special
precautions should be taken to avoid
accidents.
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 Refrigerant selection criteria:
Environmental and safety properties:

Chemical stability:
Toxicity:
Total Equivalent
Warming Index
(TEWI):
Dilelectric strength:
Study by your self.

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 Refrigerant selection criteria:
Economic properties:

The refrigerant used should

preferably be inexpensive and easily
available.

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The
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