CPD CE001 –

Professional Certificate in AC
HKCE
Note 5
 Refrigerant

• Refrigerant is a compound typically found in either a fluid or gaseous

state. It readily absorbs heat from the environment and can provide
refrigeration or air conditioning when combined with other
components such as compressors and evaporators. If you’ve heard
about the R22 refrigerant phase out in favor of R410A refrigerant, you
might be especially interested to know more about how refrigerant
works and what part it plays in cooling your home.

Selection of refrigerant in HVAC & R industrial :

• Operating pressures, toxicity & flammability

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Phase out
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), including R12. This is known to
contribute to the greenhouse gas effect. Production of new stocks
ceased in 1994.
• Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), including R22. Slightly less
damaging to the ozone than R12, but the EPA has still mandated a
phase out as a result of the Clean Air Act of 2010. R22 will phase out
completely by 2020.
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), including R410A and R134A. With no
chlorine in the mix, this is safer for the environment and is now being
used in place of R22. Air conditioners that run on R410A are more
efficient, offer better air quality, increase comfort and improve
reliability.
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Development of refrigerants
• Among the AC in HK, most adopt such refrigerants as
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which are neither flammable nor ozone
depleting and are compliant with the existing relevant safety and
environmental statutory requirements. However, HFCs have high
global warming potential (GWP).
• In view of this, an agreement was reached by different countries in
October 2016 to phase out high GWP gases (including the existing
HFC refrigerants). Given the above development, there has been an
increasingly widespread use of some low GWP and mildly flammable
refrigerants in air-conditioning and refrigeration systems. If domestic
air-conditioners using mildly flammable refrigerants are to be
installed, the international safety standards on room specifications
and refrigerant capacity restriction must be observed. 4
Best Selection for Environment
1. Low ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential)
2. Low GWP (Global Warming Potential)
3. High Operating Efficiency
4. Short Atmospheric Life
5. Low Leakage Rates

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Best Selection for Environment
Refrigerant GWP ODP Atmospheric Life
R11 (Low Pressure) 4750 1 45 years
R12 (Medium Pressure) 10900 1 100 years
R22 (High Pressure) 1810 0.05 12 years
R410A (High Pressure) 2088 0 17 years
R404A (High Pressure) 3922 0 40 years
R407C (High Pressure) 1774 0 16 years
R134a (Medium Pressure) 1430 0 13 years
R32 (High Pressure) 675 0 5 years
R1234yf (Medium Pressure) 4 0 11 days
R1233zd (Low Pressure) 4.5 0 26 days

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Refrigerant Leakage Rate
Refrigerant High Side Leakage Time Offline Chiller Leakage Time Low Side Leakage Time
Pressure (minutes) (psig) (minutes) Pressure (minutes)
(psig) (psig)
R11 9 22 -1 Never -8 Never
R12 117 4 73 9 35 11
R134a 124 5 74 7 33 13
R22 196 3 126 4 66 8
R410A 317 2 207 3 114 5

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R32 Refrigerant
• the mildly flammable refrigerant that may be used in domestic air-
conditioners is difluoromethane (R32).

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R32 Refrigerant
• R32 refrigerant is one of the 18 HFCs which is subject to control based
on its GWP as specified at the Montreal Protocol Amendment
Meeting, and it will ultimately be phased out. However, as the GWP
of R32 refrigerant stands at 675, which is lower than that of the HFC
refrigerants widely adopted nowadays (for example, the GWP of
R134a and R410A refrigerants is 1 430 and 2 088 respectively), some
manufacturers of air-conditioners have switched to R32 refrigerant
from HFC refrigerants that have higher GWP in recent years, with a
view to addressing the global warming problem.

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Refrigerant Oil
Refrigerant oil is used in refrigeration system to lubricate the
compressor and keep the refrigerant unit running smoothly. The oil
reduces friction on metal parts, reducing wear on the compressor and
prolongs the life of the system.

The oil with too heavy will not flow smoothly to all working parts. The
oil with too light will not adhere properly, causing inadequate
lubrication.

Therefore, the oil type shall match with refrigerant type.

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Cooling Load Calculations

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Cooling Load Calculations
• To determine volume flow rate of air system
• To size the coil and HVAC&R equipment
• To provide information for energy calculations/analysis

Two categories:
• External loads
• Internal loads

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Cooling Load Calculations
Defined names for calculation areas:
• Space – a volume w/o a partition, or a partitioned room, or group of
rooms
• Room – an enclosed space (a single load)
• Zone – a space, or several rooms, or units of space having some sort
of coincident loads or similar operating characteristics
• Thermal zoning

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• Measure the building layout
• Floor area, roof , etc
• External wall, glass, etc

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any easy cooling load calculation ?

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Software
• ie , E20

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• The End

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