Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications.

Advantages, draw-backs and black holes.

Gert Nielsen

Multiconsult
Div. Industry, Oil and Gas
Nesttunbrekka 99, N-5221 Nesttun, Norway

gert.nielsen@multiconsult.no

Abstract
The use of comfort cooling and heat pumps in office buildings is rapidly increasing. Energy consumption in
these applications is often neglected. A good choice of refrigerant and plant design is more often than not
discarded in favour of short term investment considerations. This is not helped by an overall lack of compe-
tence in the HVAC societies with regard to the actual running and design of a refrigeration plant.

1. Introduction
Due to numerous poorly designed and operated comfort cooling plants installed all over Norway, we in
Multiconsult have devised a set of guidelines that have to be followed, when designing comfort cooling
systemes. The main issue is that “The natural choice is natural refrigerants”, which in most cases will be
ammonia.

Of course this does not happen overnight or without conflicts, especially with the engineers who believe
they know how to design a plant, but as it often turns out their competence in the field is below par.

Therefore we have been working continuously to raise the awareness of our colleagues of the inherent
benefits by using natural working fluids in heat pumps and comfort cooling. Industrial cooling is as such
today dominated by ammonia refrigeration systems.

2. Mythbusting
Myth Ammonia is explosive.

Fact This is so wrong that it is NONSENSE. Ammonia is flammable, not explosive. The LFL / UFL of am-
monia is 15%vol/29%vol. In order to achieve ignition, the ignition source has to have a temperature above
629°C. The energy developed in an ammonia fire is so low that the fire is not able to sustain itself. Fire can
ONLY occur in a confined space.

3. Ideal thermodynamic properties for refrigerants

1. High heat of evaporation.
2. High vapour density in order to minimize compressor swept volume.
3. Low vapour density in order to achieve the best possible compression process.
Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

4. Low liquid heat capacity relative to heat of evaporation in order to minimize flashing
5. High vapour heat capacity in order to minimize compressor exit temperature.
6. High critical pressure
7. High critical temperature
8. Chemical stability at high temperatures
9. Good thermal conductivity both in liquid- and vapour phase

As it can be seen, some of these desired properties are mutually exclusive.

In the following we will compare two natural refrigerants, ammonia (R717) and propane (R290), one single
component artificial refrigerant, R134a, and two zeotropic blends, R407C and R410A.

3.1 High heat of evaporation and high density

In Figure 2 we see that the specific heat of evaporation for the substances mentioned above.

Figure 2 shows the heat of evaporation in relation to evapora- Figure 2 shows the volumetric heat of evaporation in relation
tion temperature to evaporation temperature

As it is quite clear, the ammonia heat of evaporation is much higher than the other substances. On average
a factor 3 – 4 on propane and a factor 6 - 8 on the artificial substances. However, when we look at the heat
of evaporation in relation to the specific volume, we see why low specific volume, or high density, is desira-
ble, as it reduces the necessary volumetric flow to be handled by the compressor and the plant as such.

3.2 Low liquid heat capacity relative to heat of evaporation

The production of flashgas when going from one pressure level to another was characterized by the late
Gustav Lorentzen of NTNU as “the internal haemor-
rhage in refrigeration”. As it can be seen in Figure 3,
flashing seriously affects the performance of the
refrigeration circuit, because the compressor has to
handle not only the evaporated gas, but also the
flashgas

The generation of flashgas is determined by the in-

cline of the saturated liquid line in relation to the
heat of evaporation, the incline expressing the liquid Figure 3 shows a theoretical refrigeration process with
isentropic compression
heat capacity. The more shallow the line, the higher
the heat capacity

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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

When we examine this closer, we find that in relation to the heat of evaporation, ammonia is the substance

Figure 4 shows liquid heat capacity relative to heat of evap- Figure 5 shows compressor capacity loss due to flashing.
oration Evaporation temperature 0°C

being less affected than the others. The remainder are quite similar over a normal field of operation.

In order to compare the decrease in heat of evapora-

tion of the different refrigerants, we change the
pressure to relative pressure. Doing so shows quite
clearly a pattern as to what max. pressure a normal
evaporation/condensation process should be de-
signed. It turns out to be approx. half the critical
pressure that should be the upper limit. For R410A
the result is slightly different, reaching a maximum at
ca. 2/3 of the critical pressure.
Figure 6 shows the decrease in heat of evaporation relative to
Comparing this with the saturation curves, shown in critical pressure
Figure 7, we reach the maximum advisable conden-
sation temperatures

Table 1 shows maximum condensation pressure and tempera-

ture

Refrigerant Max rel. Max cond. Max cond.

pressure pressure temp1. [°C]
[Bar]
R717 0.50 56.5 95
R290 0.50 21.2 59
R134a 0.50 20.3 68 Figure 7 shows saturation curves for the different refrigerants
R410A 0.67 33.2 55
R407C 0.45 20.8 52

This also explains why a high critical temperature and pressure is desirable, as it gives a larger field of rea-
sonable operation.

1
As R410A and R407C are having glide, we use the dewpoint as our working point.
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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

3.3 Process efficiency

The process efficiency is described in the one figure of COP. When we compare the ideal and the real COPs
for the chosen refrigerants we find that the difference from the ideal to real process is quite big.

Figure 8 shows the ideal and the real process COPs. Evaporation at 0°C, no superheating, no subcooling.

This has to do with the properties of the different refrigerants, especially the molar mass. The lighter the
substance, the smaller the internal losses due to the compression will be. To popularize it: “The less the
mass, the easier it is to get out of the way”.

Table 2 shows the molar mass of the refrigerants

Refrigerant R717 R290 R134a R407C R410A

Molecular weight 17.03 44.1 102 86.2 72.6

Judging by Table 2, we would expect both R407C and R410A to perform better than R134a. Keeping mind
that both refrigerants are blends, we have to look into the substances that go into the blendS. R407C is a
blend of R32 (23%), R125 (25%) and R134a (52%), and R410A is made up of R32 (50%) and R125 (50%). The
molecular weight of these constituents range from 52 (R32) to 120 (R125), and in a refrigeration cycle, and
especially during compression, they don’t act as one substance, but as a blend, which means that the R125
part of the blend seriously affects the total result.

The conclusion this far, is that ammonia is thermodynamically the best refrigerant in the field of operation
for comfort cooling and heat pumps.

4. Practical design considerations

4.1 Materials
Ammonia is highly corrosive towards copper and copper alloys. Therefore ammonia systems are usually
built from steel. This means that ammonia systems will use welded pipe connections, where the other re-
frigerants normally will be soldered copper piping. This alone gives the ammonia systems a rugged, robust
design that usually outlives the copper systems by a factor 1.5 to 2.

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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

4.2 Compression process and the influence on evaporator choice

In comparison to the exit temperatures of the other refrigerants, we see that ammonia tends to become
very hot. This is due to the fact that the volumetric flow is quite high, compared to the mass flow. When
considering what happens when superheating the vapour in the evaporator with regard to COP, it is obvi-
ous that using superheating in the evaporator should be avoided in ammonia systems, whereas it seem to

Figure 8 shows compressor exit temperatures relative to Figure 9 shows the isentropic COP with regard to evaporator
condensation temperature superheat

be beneficial in systems using the other refrigerant. As for the R4XX media, superheat is a necessity, in or-
der to ensure that all fractions of the blend are fully evaporated.

4.3 Evaporator choice

This indicates a design in ammonia systems that
will differ from the main design of the other
refrigerants, not only with respect to choice of
material. As we can see from Figure 8 and 9, it
will be beneficial to have the suction gas being
as close to saturated vapour as possible. There-
fore the ammonia systems typically will be uti-
lizing flooded evaporators with a liquid separa-
tor, ensuring that no liquid enters the compres-
sor, and at the same time ensuring that the
vapour is not superheated but mainly saturated.

This makes the ammonia systems seem big and Figure 10 shows a classic ammonia design
bulky compared to direct expansions (DX) sys-
tems, where the refrigerant is superheated in the evaporator. This reduces the efficiency of the evaporator,
as the heat transfer in the superheat area is via gas and not liquid.

The flooded evaporator systems are virtually immune to leakages of refrigerant, whereas the performance
and efficiency of DX systems are very susceptible to leakages. In copper systems an annual leakage of app.
5% of the charge is normal.

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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

4.4 Expansion valves

DX systems utilize expansion valves to handle the transferring of liquid from the high to the low pressure
side. The task of the expansion valve is twofold; it has to ensure drainage of the condenser and sufficient
liquid feed to the evaporator. It regulates by measuring a temperature difference between the liquid short-
ly after the pressure drop and on the piping out of the evaporator. Its task is to maintain a given superheat,
thereby providing sufficient cooling, and delivery of gas to the compressor.

These expansion valves are produced in two main designs, an electronic expansion valve, and a thermostat-
ic expansion valve. The thermostatic expansion valve has very poor ability to control a system at off design,
especially with varying condenser pressure. This leads to unnecessary high condenser pressures, often un-
necessary low evaporation temperatures at off-design.

The electronic expansion valve is able to control the entire system and gives a good and reliable control
over a large range of operating conditions.

For both valve types the control of the plant is a combination of control by valve and compressor. This can
often result in hunting, where the two components can’t find a balanced mode of operation.

Flooded evaporator systems don’t use expansion valves as it is normally understood. They apply float
valves that control liquid levels, either a high pressure float valve that will keep the condenser drained or
low pressure float valve that control the liquid level in the liquid separator. This means that the control of
the plant is solely at the compressor, thereby eliminating a source of error.

4.5 Oil
As Dr. Andy Pearson of Star Refrigeration often has said “The day we can eliminate oil in refrigeration sys-
tems, life will be a lot easier”. Alas, we are not there yet. So oil systems is a part of what we have to consid-
er. The first part of handling oil, is to have a good oil separator on the pressure line from the compressor,
minimizing oil carryover. The oil that is being carried over, we still have to handle.

Again we see a difference between the ammonia systems and the others. In non-ammonia systems usually
oil that is miscible with the refrigerant is used, and to ensure that the oil is carried from the evaporator to
the compressor the velocity of the refrigerant vapour has to be high enough to ensure that the oil is
dragged along. In ammonia systems the oil is normally not miscible with ammonia, so the oil will settle in
the liquid separator. As the oil is heavier than the liquid ammonia, it will run to the lowest point in the sep-
arator, from where it is returned to the suction line of the compressor, typically by the use of an ejector
using hot gas as diving fluid.

4.6 Refrigerant charge

As we saw in Figure 1, the specific heat of evaporation of ammonia is much higher than any of the others.
This translates to a generally lower ammonia charge, even when using flooded evaporators. A valid rule of
thumb for ammonia systems is app. 100 g/kW, whereas non-ammonia systems typically has a charge of 300
g/kW.

4.7 Compressors
Systems with non-ammonia compressors can use hermetic and semi hermetic compressors, as well as open
compressors, whereas the ammonia compressors usually will not be able to use anything but open com-
pressors. Semi hermetic and hermetic compressors use the incoming suction vapour to cool the compres-

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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

sor motor, by leading the gas over the motor before reaching the suction gate of the compressor. As we
saw above, this would in affect the efficiency of the cycle negatively. An effect of this way of motor cooling
is that the volumetric efficiency of the compressor is compromised, because the vapour expands when
heated, so this extra heating before the suction gate, means that the mass flow through the compressor is
reduced, and thus the capacity.

4.7.1 Twin screw / Reciprocating

Screw and scroll compressors are fixed geometry
COP comparison recip/twinscrew.
compressors, meaning that their pressure ratio is 0°C/45°C. Supcooling 5°C. No superheating
built in. In case of the screws, capacity and volume
ratio slides help to adjust the running of the com-
pressor, but the scroll compressors are fixed. On the
other hand, recips adjust by themselves to the sur-
rounding pressure levels, thereby giving a much

COP cold
higher degree of flexibility.

Today the use of VSD (Variable Speed Drive) has giv-

en the refrigeration industry a much more precise
and adaptable control regime. As we see from Figure
11, the reciprocating compressor will actually be-
come more efficient at part load when controlled by Load
VSD. Piston SMC104E Piston SMC104E VSD control
Screw SAB 120 L Screw SAB 120L VSD control

When comparing systems of similar cooling capacity

Figure 11 shows a comparison of COP between twinscrew and
we will often find, that the ammonia systems can use reciprocating compressors
a reciprocating compressor, where the R134a and
the R407C will have to use a screw compressor, as the volumetric flow rates through a screw compressor
generally is much higher than a reciprocating, and therefore is better suited to meet the higher flow rate
demands when using these refrigerant. This again leads to a further decrease in system efficiency.

5. Environment
Fluorinated gasses are very efficient greenhouse gasses, as Table 3 shows

Table 3 shows the Global Warming Potensial of the refrigerant treated here

R717 R290 R134a R407C R410A

GWP – 100 yr 0 3.3 1 430 1 774 2 088

This means that 1 kg of R410A has an impact on the greenhouse effect that matches 2 088 kg of CO2. In the
EU the present F-Gas proposal means that a refrigeration plant can not contain more than the equivalent to
5 000 kg of CO2 from 2020. This gives the following constraints

Table 4 shows maximum charge from revised F-Gas directive

R717 R290 R134a R407C R410A

Max charge [kg] Not relevant Not relevant 3,5 2,8 2,4
100 g/kW 35,0 kW 28,0 kW 24 kW
300 g/kW 11,7 kW 9,3 kW 8 kW

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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

6. Economy
When suggesting that the best solution would be an ammonia plant, we are often faced with a remark go-
ing something like “Are you mad! That is much too expensive!”

Our answer to this goes basically as follows

1. The ammonia plant will have a service life that is broadly twice that of the other refrigerants.
2. If we are to reach a similar build quality on a R134a plant, it would cost approx. 180% of what the
ammonia plant would cost. A major foul-up some years ago taught us that.
3. When the actual offer is just 65% - 70% of the ammonia price, then some compromise on quality
has been made.
4. What do you mean “expensive”?
a. To buy?
b. To own?

Table 5 shows the annual costs of ownership for five different plants, having the same cooling capacity

Cooling demand 1 250 000 kWh

"Peak load shaving by indirect evaporative cooling (IEC), Thermal
Energy Storage (TES) and a combination of both"
Production capacity 685 kW

R717 R290 R410A R134a R407C

Investment [Euro] 300 000 212 500 181 250 193 750 168 750
Service life [years] 25 15 15 15 15
Calculation interest 8 % p.a.

Annual capital cost [euro] 28 104 24 826 21 175 22 636 19 715

Average COP 4.54 3.54 3.255 3.36 2.895

Power consumption 275 330 353 107 384 025 372 024 431 779

Electricity cost [euro/kWh] 0.1

Annual energy costs [euro] 27 533 35 311 38 402 37 202 43 178

Annual maintenance cost [euro] 9 000 8 500 7 250 7 750 6 750

Total annual cost [euro] 64 637 68 637 66 828 67 588 69 643

As we see from Table 5, even though the investment in an ammonia plant is quite high compared to the
others (140% - 175%), the cost of ownerships is actually lower than any of the others. This is partly due to
the longer service life and partly to the better energy efficiency.

This will make budget work easier, as a larger proportion of the cost are banking costs and not free floating
energy cost.

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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

7. Health and Safety

A major issue regarding the use of ammonia in populated areas is the toxicity of ammonia and the panic
effect the pungent smell of ammonia can cause.

When assessing this, we have to look into the risks involved, combined with the common human responses

Table 6 show the human response to ammonia. Adapted from the late Anders Lindborg, Ammonia Partnership

Gas concentration [ppm] Influence on unprotect- Human reaction Time of exposure

ed person
5 Threshold for detection
20 Most people will notice
50 Very strong smell. Per-
sons not used to the
smell of ammonia will
leave the area
100 Strong smell that might
cause panic in persons
not used to ammonia
300 Experienced personnel
will leave the area
400 – 700 Immediate irritation in
eyes and respiratory
organs.
1 700 Periodical blindness
3 000 Serious damage to skin,
eyes and respiratory
system
7 000 - 10 000 Lethal within minutes
Warning. No danger
Warning. No danger
No danger
No danger, but highly
uncomfortable
Unlimited in most coun-
tries
Max 8 hour work period
is permitted in most
countries
Do not stay unprotected
longer than you have to
Under normal circum-
stances there will be not
damage when subjected
to this concentration for
less than 30 minutes.

An example: A chiller with a cooling capacity of 1 000 kW, has a charge of 100 kg. Most of this, approx. 90%
is in liquid form in the liquid separator or evaporator. The evaporator has a temperature of 4°C, which is
the state in the liquid separator. All of a sudden, this liquid is on the floor, the temperature will drop to -
33% and ca. 15% of the liquid will flash of as vapour. The amount of vapour will therefore be 13,5 kg. This
will become app 20 m3 when flashed of. According to Norwegian rules the machinery room has to have a
minimum ventilation rate of 1 100 m3/h or 18 m3/minute. This means that within 2 – 3 minutes the ammo-
nia vapour has been removed from the room and vented out above the roof.

This seems an easy fix. But ammonia as a substance is toxic and not to be treated complacently. Treat it
with respect and not with fear.

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Use of ammonia in comfort cooling and heat pump applications. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

8. Advantages, draw-backs and black holes

Advantages

• The most efficient refrigerant

• No greenhouse effect
• Yields long service life.

Draw-backs

• Separate oil return system is needed

• Toxic

Black holes

So far I haven’t touched the black holes. In my mind the black holes when it comes to working with ammo-
nia as a refrigerant is not in the technology. There are no problems regarding ammonia systems that cannot
be circumvented by good engineering and careful maintenance.

The biggest problem is in our heads, in our fear of what we do not know.

I hope this has given you inspiration to work with ammonia in the future.

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