The most common type of refrigerants used today across the world are
The most common refrigerants used in air conditioners include hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These refrigerants have different impacts on the environment due to their global warming potential (GWP) and ozone depletion potential (ODP).
Besides fluorocarbons, other refrigerant gases include ammonia, carbon dioxide, and propane.
Gas, or refrigerant, is a substance that absorbs heat and transfers it to another substance. It's used in a variety of appliances, including refrigerators. There are many different types of gases used in refrigeration systems today, but the most commonly used are R-134a and R-438A.
The vapour compression cycle is the most common method of refrigeration. It is used in almost all refrigeration applications and accounts for almost 90 per cent of all refrigeration systems.
R-134a refrigerant, also known as Tetrafluoroethane, is a popular choice for commercial refrigeration systems due to its low toxicity and non-flammability. It is commonly used in medium- and high-temperature applications, such as refrigerators, air conditioning units, and chillers.
Many modern refrigerants are human-made halogenated gases, especially fluorinated gases and chlorinated gases, that are frequently referred to as Freon (a registered trademark of Chemours).
Liquid ammonia is a widely used refrigerant. This is because it can easily undergo liquefaction at room temperature under pressure.
Modern refrigerators usually use a refrigerant called HFC-134a (1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane), which, unlike CFCs, does not deplete the ozone layer, although it still is a quite potent greenhouse gas. HFC-134a is becoming much rarer in Europe, where newer refrigerants are being used instead.
While R-12 was once the go-to choice for residential/domestic refrigeration systems, Freon™ R-134a refrigerant is now most commonly used. Its versatility allows it to work in home systems ranging from small under-the-counter refrigerators to family-sized refrigeration/freezer systems with multiple cooling compartments.
R-32 is the most balanced refrigerant in terms of environmental impact, energy efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Refrigerant is a medium for conveying heat. Air conditioners transfer heat while circulating refrigerant between the indoor and outdoor units.
The Phaseout of R22 Refrigerant
By January 1, 2030, the government will ban all production and import of HCFCs, including R-22.
NITROGEN is used as a refrigerant. Nitrogen is a liquid at temperatures below −196.50C and is used as a refrigerant for such things as preservation of blood and cooling of large computer systems, as well as some industrial uses.
As Freon was phased out, new HVAC systems began using a refrigerant known as Puron® or R-410A, an HFC. More efficient and less harmful to the environment, R-410A has been in use since its introduction in 1996 and is found in most of today's modern HVAC systems.
Refrigerators from the late 1800s until 1929 used the toxic gases, ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as refrigerants. Several fatal accidents occurred in the 1920s because of methyl chloride leakage from refrigerators. People started leaving their refrigerators in their backyards.
The most common refrigerant used in household refrigerators today is hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases such as R-134a, R-600a (Isobutene), and R-32.
The most common types of refrigerant fluids on the market are R-22, R-410A, and R-134a.
A common natural refrigerant utilized in significant cold chain industries is ammonia (NH3).
Domestic refrigerators generally run on the vapor compression cycle. In this cycle, a circulating refrigerant such as R134a enters a compressor as low-pressure vapour at or slightly below the temperature of the refrigerator space.
R-134a is one of the world's most used refrigerants, widely embedded in automotive, commercial and residential air conditioning systems, across the world. R-32 is another commonly used, as an attractive lower GWP solution for air conditioning.
Puron, also known as R-410A; Suva; Forane; and EcoFluor, was approved by the EPA as a substitute for Freon. It's much easier on the ozone than Freon. Additionally, Puron systems operate under higher pressure and use less energy overall than Freon systems, further increasing their environmental friendliness.
Water is highly suitable for this purpose, as it is one of nature's most powerful refrigerants, with an exceptionally high latent heat of vaporisation (2501 kJ/kg at 0 °C). As such, evaporating water at a rate of 1 L/h generates as much as 695 W of cooling power.
Both NH3 and CF2Cl2 are used as refrigerant.
First things first, propane is a natural refrigerant that has very low global warming potential (GWP). Most of the heat pumps manufactured today contain synthetic refrigerants that are made up of problematic F-gases.