Refrigerants

Saddam Hossain
Diploma in Engineering, Dep. of Refrigeration & Air – conditioning from Dhaka Polytechnic Institute.
B. Sc in Engineering, Dep of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Hamdard University Bangladesh.

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 REFRIGERANT

 The refrigerant is a heat carrying medium which during their cycle (i.e. compression,
condensation, expansion and evaporation) in the refrigeration system absorb heat from a low
temperature system and discard the heat so absorbed to a higher temperature system.

Refrigerant is a one kind of fluid which heat rejects in condenser and heat absorbed in
evaporator.

 The natural ice and a mixture of ice and salt were the first refrigerants. In 1834, ether,
ammonia, sulphur dioxide, methyl chloride and carbon dioxide came into use as refrigerants in
compression cycle refrigeration machines.

 Ether is the first refrigerant used to Perkins vapour compression unit.

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 HISTORY OF REFRIGERANTS

Natural Refrigerants:
1. Ice Blocks
2. Using nocturnal cooling
3. Use of evaporation

Artificial Refrigerants:
1. In 1835, Jakob Perkins use ethyl ether as the refrigerant (b. p. = 30℃) (if air mixed forms an
explosive gas).
2. In 1874, Raowl Piolet designs the first sulphur dioxide based system. (forms 𝑯𝟐 𝑺𝑶𝟒 when gets
moisture).
3. In 1885, Franuz Windhausen builds the first to use 𝑪𝑶𝟐 in Germany. (high operating temperature).
4. In 1920, iso – butane based domestic refrigerator (highly flammable), General Electric first
introduce “Kelvinator” refrigerator.
5. In 1930, Introduction of CFCs.
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 MOLECULES OF REFRIGERANT

 Most refrigerants are made from two molecules, methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6). These two
molecules simply contain hydrogen (H) and carbon (C) are referred to as pure hydrocarbons
(HCs).

 Some of refrigerant that is not methane or ethane based is ammonia (NH3). Ammonia contains
only nitrogen (N) and hydrogen (H).

 Any time some of the hydrogen atoms are removed from either the methane or ethane
molecule and replaced with either chlorine or fluorine, the new molecule is said to be either
chlorinated, fluorinated or both.

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 STRUCTURE OF MOLECULES

H H H

H C H H C C H H N H

H H H H

𝑪𝑯𝟒 𝑪𝟐 𝑯𝟔 𝑵𝑯𝟑
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 MOLECULES OF REFRIGERANT

1H

1.00 hydrogen

6C 7N 8O 9F

12.00 Carbon 14.00 nitrogen 16.00 oxygen 19.00 fluorine

16 S 17 Cl

32.05 sulfur 35.44 chlorine

35 Br

79.90 bromine
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 PROPERTIES OF REFRIGERANT: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

 Non corrosive to metal

 Low viscosity

 High thermal conductivity

 Low leakage tendency

 Dielectric strength

 Low cost & availability

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 PROPERTIES OF REFRIGERANT: CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

 Non-flammable & non-explosive

 Non toxic

 Non soluble with water

 Mixes well with oil

 Does not reaction with oil

 Chemical Stability and inertness

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 PROPERTIES OF REFRIGERANT: THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES

 Low boiling and freezing point

 Low condensing pressure

 Low specific volume

 High latent heat

 High critical pressure and temperature

 Evaporator & condenser pressure should be higher atmospheric pressure

 Thermal Conductivity

 Co – efficient of performance
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 CLASSIFICATION OF REFRIGERANTS

The refrigerant may, broadly, be classified into following two groups :

1. Primary Refrigerants and

2. Secondary Refrigerants

Primary Refrigerants: The refrigerants which directly take part in the refrigeration system are
called primary refrigerants. Example: R-22, R-134a, R-600a.

Secondary Refrigerants: Where as the refrigerants which are first cooled by primary refrigerants
and then used for cooling purpose are known as secondary refrigerants. Example : Water, Air,
Brain.
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 CLASSIFICATION OF REFRIGERANTS

Refrigerants

Pure Fluids Mixture

Natural
Synthetic 1. Organic (HC) 1. Azeotropic
1. CFCs 2. Inorganic
2. HCFCs a) NH3 2. Zeotropic
3. HFCs b) CO2
c) H2 O 11
 CLASSIFICATION OF REFRIGERANTS

The primary refrigerants are further classified into the following four groups
:

Halo-carbon refrigerants,

Azeotrope refrigerants,

Inorganic refrigerants and

Hydro-carbon refrigerants.
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 PRIMARY REFRIGERANTS: HALO-CARBON REFRIGERANTS

 The halo-carbon compounds are all synthetically produced and were developed as Freon family
of refrigerants. Freon is a registered trade mark of E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Co., America.
Most of the halo-carbon refrigerants, are now available from other manufacturers under various
trade names such as Genetron, Isotron etc. The first of the halo-carbon refrigerant i.e. R-12
was developed in 1930 by Thomas Midgley.

 The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHARAE)

identifies 42 halo-carbon compounds as refrigerants, but only a few of them are commonly
used. R – 11, R – 12, R – 13, R – 14, R – 21, R – 22, R – 30, R – 40, R – 100, R – 113, R – 114, R
– 115

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 PRIMARY REFRIGERANTS: AZEOTROPE REFRIGERANTS

 The term 'azeotrope' refers to a stable mixture of refrigerants whose vapor and liquid phases
retain identical compositions over a wide range of temperatures. However, these mixtures,
usually, have properties that differ from either of their components. Some of the azeotropes
are given in the following table:
 R-500 7.38% R-12 and 26.2% R152
 2 2 3 2 CCl F /CH CHF
 R-502 48.8% R-22 and 51.2% R115
 2 2 2 3 CHClF /CClF CCIF CF
 R-503 40.1% R-23 and 59.9% R-13 33 CHF /CCIF
 R-504 48.2% R-32 and 51.8% R115
 2223
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 PRIMARY REFRIGERANTS: INORGANIC REFRIGERANTS

 The inorganic refrigerants were exclusively used before the introduction of halocarbon
refrigerants. These refrigerants are still in use due to their inherent thermodynamic and
physical properties. The various inorganic refrigerants are given in the following table:

 Refrigerant number Chemical name Chemical formula

 R-717 Ammonia NH3

 R-729 Air _

 R-744 Carbon dioxide CO2

 R-764 Sulphur dioxide SO2

 R-118 Water H2O

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 PRIMARY REFRIGERANTS: HYDRO-CARBON REFRIGERANTS

 Most of the hydro-carbon refrigerants are successfully used in industrial and commercial
installations. They possess satisfactory thermodynamic properties but are highly flammable and
explosive. The various hydro-carbon refrigerants are given in the following table:

 Table 3.4. Hydro-carbon refrigerants.

 Refrigerant number Chemical name Chemical formula

 R-170 Ethane 26 CH

 R-290 Propane 33 CH

 R-600 Butane 4 10 CH

 R-600a Isobutene 4 10 CH

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 PRIMARY REFRIGERANT

The primary refrigerants are further classified into the following four groups
:

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)

Hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs)

Hydrocarbons (HCs)
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