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Refrigerant Properties: Their Environmental Impact

By Daniel Stouffer

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 28May2010 Word count: 480 Viewed: 897 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

The primary refrigerant properties are efficient at cooling equipment but they are also effective at destabilizing the environment. The definition of refrigerant properties is the combination of substances necessary in the refrigeration or cooling process. Besides refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, there are more than 100 types of refrigerants, including water, that are used in various applications within numerous industries.

There are four refrigerant properties that are considered in the design of a refrigeration, cooling, or air conditioning system. Cost effectiveness and operational efficiency are high on the list, along with low toxicity and flammability. There are industry standards and tests to document efficiency and safety levels for these factors.

Refrigerant properties are of particular concern to environmental government agencies worldwide because some of the chemical substances used in certain types of refrigerants lead to ozone depletion or have a high global warming potential. The U.S. Clean Air Act, the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Treaty are the major global treaties regulating emissions from systems that use refrigerant gases.

Current refrigerant properties contain hydrochlorofluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons, which have been found to cause severe environmental damage. The gases remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, thus depleting the ozone layer that protects the earth from the sun's harmful rays. The greenhouse gases are also contributing to global warming, which will cause an adverse climate change if no action is taken.

Refrigerant properties are classified into different classes. Class A are refrigerants with no toxicity levels below or equal to 400ppm by volume, while Class B are those with toxicity below 400ppm. In addition, numerical designations, ranging from Class 1 to Class 3, indicate flame propagation, with Class 3 being refrigerants that are highly flammable.

Among the refrigerant properties being considered to replace chemicals that are harmful to the environment include ammonia, carbon dioxide, propane and HFC32. However, these alternatives bring additional concerns. Ammonia is considered the preferred refrigerant because there are no global warming concerns. Since it is toxic and combustible, its use is best for certain controlled applications, such as commercial or large facility use.

While carbon dioxide has no safety concerns, the need to use more electricity would negate any global warming reduction. Propane, under consideration as an alternative in refrigerators, is risky because it is very combustible. HFC32 is a hydrochlorofluorocarbon that is efficient and has no global warming impact. However, it could be combustible under certain conditions, so additional safety measures are needed.

Tracking and reporting of refrigerant properties are required under global government treaties to gain a better understanding of how extensive the use of harmful refrigerants are and to measure the amount of dangerous substances released into the air during a refrigerant leak. This will enable scientists to better formulate the extent and impact of global warming and ozone depletion in coming years and devise additional prevention methods.

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