Refrigerant

 
Defini-on:  
 
“Any   body   or   substance   that   acts   as   a   cooling  
medium  by  extrac-ng  heat  from  another  body  or  
substance   (Heat   source)   and   Reject   it   to   another  
body  or  Substance  (Heat  Sink)”  OR  
“   A   working   fluid   that   acts   as   a   medium   of   Heat  
transfer  and  that  undergoes  a  cyclic  change”  
 
A   refrigerant   is   a   substance   or   mixture,  
usually   a   fluid,   used   in   a   heat   pump   and  
refrigera-on   cycle.   In   most   cycles   it  
undergoes  phase  transi-ons  from  a  liquid  to  a  
gas  and  back  again.  Many  working  fluids  have  
been  used  for  such  purposes.  Fluorocarbons,  
especially   chlorofluorocarbons,   became  
commonplace   in   the   20th   century,   but   they  
are  being  phased  out  because  of  their  ozone  
deple-on  effects.  
Desirable  Proper-es  of  Refrigerant  
The  ideal  working  fluid  or  oTen  called  refrigerant  would  have  
favorable   thermodynamic   proper-es,   be   noncorrosive   to  
mechanical  components,  and  be  safe,  including  freedom  from  
toxicity  and  flammability.  It  would  not  cause  ozone  deple-on  
or   climate   change.   Since   different   fluids   have   the   desired  
traits  in  different  degree,  choice  is  a  maUer  of  trade-­‐offs.  
 
The   desired   thermodynamic   proper-es   are   a   boiling   point  
somewhat   below   the   target   temperature,   a   high   heat   of  
vaporiza-on,   a   moderate   density   in   liquid   form,   a   rela-vely  
high   density   in   gaseous   form,   and   a   high   cri-cal   temperature.  
Since   boiling   point   and   gas   density   are   affected   by   pressure,  
refrigerants   may   be   made   more   suitable   for   a   par-cular  
applica-on  by  appropriate  choice  of  opera-ng  pressures.  
Further  details  about  Refrigerants  

hUps://www.ashrae.org/technical-­‐
resources/standards-­‐and-­‐guidelines/
ashrae-­‐refrigerant-­‐designa-ons    
 Problem  of  Early  Refrigerant  
Examples:  
Ethyl  Ether,  Carbon  dioxide,  Ammonia,  Sulphur  dioxide  
and  Hydrocarbons  
Problems:  
1.  Toxicity  (Ethyl  Ether,  ammonia)  
2.  Flammability  (Hydrocarbons,  Ethyl  Ether)  
3.  Material  Compa-bility    
(Ammonia  is  not  compa-ble  with  Copper  because  SO2  by  
conver-ng  to  SO4  has  corrosive  proper-es)  
4.  Chemical  Stability  (Sulpher  dioxide)  
5.  Opera-ng  Pressure  (Carbon  dioxide,  Ethyl  Ether)  
 Chloro-­‐Fluoru  Carbon  (CFCs)  Based  
Refrigerant  
• Earlier,  refrigerant  suffered  from  one  problem  or  other.  
• Midgley  and  his  associates  in  1928  took  the  task  of  finding  the  new  
refrigerant  which  is  free  from  the  problem.  
• They  studied  the  periodic  table  and  eliminated  all  those  elements  
which  were  toxic,  flammable  and  non  vola-le.    
• They  finally  leT  with  eight  elements  
hydrogen,  carbon,  nitrogen,  oxygen,  sulphur,  fluorine,  chlorine  and  
bromine  
 
•  In  these  elements  they  found  these  characteris-cs    
i. Flammability  decreases  from  leT  to  right  for  the  eight  elements  
ii. Toxicity  generally  decreases  from  the  heavy  elements  at  the  
boUom  to  the  lighter  elements  at  the  top  
iii.  Every  known  refrigerant  at  that  -me  was  made  from  the  
combina-on  of  those  eight  “Midgley”  elements.  
 
• They  developed  a  range  of  new  refrigerants,  which  are  
obtained  by  par-al  replacement  of  hydrogen  atoms  in  
hydrocarbons  by  fluorine  and  chlorine  
 
• Examples  

They  studied  the  effect  of    fluorina-on  and  chlorina-on  

of  hydrocarbons  on  their  boiling  points  (vola-lity)  and  
also  on  proper-es  such  as  toxicity,  flammability,  and  
shows  that  it  is  influenced  by  the  composi-on  
 
 CFCs  Comparison  with  Early  
Refrigerants  
• CFCs  were  
1. Non  toxic  
2. Inflammable  
3. Chemically  stable  
4. Compa-ble  with  Material    
5. Wide  range  of    refrigera-on  temperature  
applica-ons  
 Ozone  Layer  Deple-on  
•
 
Rowland  and  Molina  in  1974  developed  a  
theory  of  Ozone  layer  deple-on  due  to  CFCs  
Explana-on    
 
• Several  countries  have  agreed  to  ban  the  
harmful  Ozone  Deple-ng  Substances,  (CFCs  
and  others)  under  the  Montreal  Protocol  
 
 CFCs  contribu-on  to  Global  Warming  
 
CFCs  also  contribute  to  Global  Warming    
Explana-on  
Ø CFCs  Global  Warming  Poten-al  (GWP)  are  
thousand  -mes  greater  than  carbon  dioxide  
Ø Refrigerant  can  contribute  to  global  warming  
directly  due  to  direct  and  indirect  emission  to  
surrounding    
 Effect  of  Global  Warming  
• Due  to  Global  warming,  the  following  changes  
occur  
Change  in  weather  paUerns,  rise  in  sea  level,  
Redistribu-on  of  crops  and  animals  
 Replacement  of  CFCs  with  safe  
refrigerant  
• Safe  refrigerant  for  humans  and  environment  
are  required  for  refrigera-on  
• This  lead  to  development  of  refrigerant  which  
are    
1. non-­‐Ozone  Deple-ng  Substance  (non-­‐ODS)  
 
2.  Have  low  Global  Warming  Poten-al  (GWP)  
Ø This  lead  to  development  of  HFCs  and  their  
mixtures  
 Primary  and  Secondary  refrigerants  
 
• Primary  refrigerants  
Those  fluids,  which  are  used  directly  as  working  fluids  to  
absorb  heat  from  condi-on  space  
 
• Secondary  refrigerants  
Those  fluids,  which  are  used  for  transpor-ng  thermal  
energy  from  one  loca-on  to  other    
Ø The  Primary  refrigerant  produces  refrigera-ng  effect  
and  secondary  refrigerant  is  used  for  u-lizing  that  
refrigerant  effect  to  absorb  heat  from  condi-oned  
space  
 
  
Refrigerant  selec-on  criteria  
 
i. Thermodynamic  and  thermo-­‐physical  
proper-es    

ii.  Environmental  and  safety  proper-es  

iii.  Economics  
 
  
1.  Thermodynamic  and  thermo-­‐
physical  proper5es  
a) Suc-on  pressure    
b) Discharge  pressure  
c) Pressure  ra-o  
d) Latent  heat  of  vaporiza-on  
e) Isentropic  index  of  compression  
f) Liquid  specific  heat  
g) Vapour  specific  heat  
h) Thermal  conduc-vity  
i) Viscosity  
 
 
 
  
2.  Environmental  and  safety  
proper5es  
a)   (ODP)  
Ozone  Deple-on  Poten-al  
b) Global  Warming  Poten-al  (GWP)  
c) Total  Equivalent  Warming  Index  (TEWI)  
d) Toxicity  
e) Flammability  
 
 
 
 
 
  
3.  Economic  proper5es  
 
a) Inexpensive  

b) Easily  available  
 
Classifica-on  of  Refrigerants