Commonly used refrigerants

Air Ammonia Carbon di oxide Methyl chloride Sulphur di oxide water

 it is non-toxic and non-flammable. dense air cycle was used so that the density of air was

high and size of compressor and expander small and manageable.

it is available at free of cost. it was earlier

remained

used in marine refrigeration and is still used in aircraft refrigeration systems.

 It is the oldest and widely used refrigerant used in large industrial

applications. It has a high critical temperature. Its toxicity and irritability are its adverse properties. It is relatively cheap. It attacks cuprous and zinc alloys in presence of water. It is a strong irritant and 16-25% by volume in air is sufficient to cause burns on the skin. It is used in super markets indirectly with brine in water chillers for centralised air conditioning, cold storages, ice manufacturing and skating rinks.

 It is colourless and odourless gas which is heavier than air. It is non toxic and inflammable. It is heavier than air , hence if it leaks it will settle down and may

cause suffocation. It was used in marine refrigeration for sometime and was also used in theatre air-conditioning, hotel and institutional refrigeration instead of ammonia. Operating cost is high comparing to other refrigerants. It is one of the main substance causing global warming It is corrosive if both water and oxygen are present simultaneously.

 It is a colourless liquid with faint sweet, non irritating odour. It is both toxic and flammable to some extent. It was used in household refrigerators with rotary and reciprocating

compressors. It reacts vigorously with aluminium.

 It is colourless, non-explosive and non-flammable gas. It is extremely toxic and irritating. In 1920s it was used in household refrigerators with rotary and

reciprocating compressors. It has extremely noxious odour so much so that even animals cannot withstand. It causes stinging eyes and coughing. People tend to run away in case of leakage. It absorbs moisture and forms sulphurous acid that is very corrosive and seizes the compressor. It has bleaching effect on plants, flowers and furs.

 It is the cheapest and safest refrigerant. It is non-toxic, non-flammable and non-explosive. The high freezing temperature(0 deg c) restricts its use to high

temperature refrigeration. Hence it is used for comfort a/c or brewage, milk or liquid chilling.

Refrigerant may leak from the evaporator if the evaporator gauge pressure is positive, that is above atmospheric . Hence the system must be air tight. If the evaporator pressure is below the atmospheric air then air and water vapour may leak into the system. The water vapour may remain as free water if it is not dissolved by the refrigerant.
This free water will freeze in the expansion valve when the temp.

may be less than 0deg. This will choke the flow in the system. The air that leaks into the system will not freeze the room temp. but will occupy a precious heat transfer area in the condenser.
This decreases

the volumetric efficiency and mass flow rate of refrigerant and the refrigeration capacity, apart from compressing air without getting any cooling from it.

 This leads to low-weight equipment and piping. CO2 has the highest condenser pressure. This leads to more power

consumption.
Refrigerants with low normal boiling points have a high condenser

pressure and high vapour density.

Refrigerants with low condenser pressure have a high normal boiling

points and low vapour density.

 As the condenser pressure approaches the critical pressure, the

zone of condensation decreases and the heat rejection occurs mostly in the superheated vapour region.
Since

the zone of isothermal heat transfer decreases, the irreversibility increases. This involves a large temperature difference between the refrigerant and the surroundings leading to large irreversibility.
Power requirement also goes up since the area of superheated zone

is large. The refrigerant should be such that the critical temperature is large compared to normal condenser temperature.

 The refrigerant with high vapour density require small compressors,

velocities can be kept small, pressure drops will be small, and tubes of smaller diameter can be used.

The refrigerant should not freeze during the normal course of

operation. Hence its freezing temperature should be small.

Eg. Water cannot be used below 0 deg. C

 It is immaterial sometimes, as the required quantity is very less. If the cost is low, then the people may not take sufficient safeguards

to prevent leakages. Eg. Ammonia

The prices of the refrigerants with high ozone depletion potential are

hiked to discourage their use.

 This results

in lower mass flow rate. If the vapour density is also high, then it will require a smaller compressor.

It is difficult to control small mass flow rates and this may become a

disadvantage.
Eg. Ammonia cannot be used in small refrigeration systems

(latent heat is the heat released or absorbed by a body during a change of state without change of temperature)

 The refrigerant should not react with materials used in the

refrigeration system, that is , tubes, gaskets, compressor parts,

It should be non corrosive in presence of water. It should be stable, i.e. its composition should not change during its

use.
Ammonia reacts with copper and cuprous alloys while CH3Cl reacts

with aluminium. Most of the refrigerants form acids and bases in presence of water and some may react in presence of lubricating oil.
CH3Cl and CCl2F2 can form HCl that can dissolve copper from

copper tubes and deposit it in piston.

 It

is required for use of refrigerants in hermetically sealed compressors where the refrigerant vapour comes into direct contact with the motor windings and may cause short circuits.

The refrigerant should not irritate eyes, nose and lungs. NH3 irritates all mucous membranes. SO2 also irritates the lungs.

 The heat transfer coefficient depends on density, specific heat,

thermal conductivity, viscosity, surface tension and latent heat for boiling and condensation.
Low liquid and vapour viscosity is desirable since it leads to higher

heat transfer coefficients.

A higher heat transfer coefficient leads to the requirement of smaller

area and results in lower pressure drop, both of which are economical and the equipment also becomes compact.

 The lubricating oils come into direct contact with refrigerant in

reciprocating compressors.
3 possible reactions may take place. Some oil may get dissolved in refrigerant. This will change the

pressure-temperature characteristics of the refrigerant. Some refrigerant may get dissolved in oil. This will change the lubricating properties in the oil. Some oil is physically picked up by high velocity refrigerant vapour. This results in a mechanical mixture that may accumulate in some component if it cannot be physically carried by the refrigerant.

 Reduces

the heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator and condenser.

The boiling point and condensation temperature of the refrigerant

change, resulting in lower Coefficient of performance.

Compressor lubrication may be affected due to change in viscosity

or reduction in quality of lubricating oil.

 All refrigerants form acids or bases in the presence of water. These

cause corrosion .
The water which does not go into solution with refrigerant, remains

as free water. This free water freezes below 0 deg C and may choke the flow. If this happens in expansion valve, the tubes may burst.

 The refrigerant should not support combustion in air or lubricating oil. Freons, SO2, CO2 are non-flammable. All chlorofluorocarbons with larger no. of

hydrogen atoms are

flammable.
Ammonia with 16-25% air makes an explosive mixture.

 NH3 and SO2 can be detected by their odour. NH3 have pungent odour in strong concentrations. SO2 causes sneezing. A

strong smelling chemical like Acrolein can be added to the refrigerant to detect the leak. Freons can be detected by halide torch. The alcohol lamp in it gives blue flame and turn into green in presence of Freons.
SO2 can be

detected with NH3-H2O as it makes white fumes of ammonia sulphide. Electronic devices can also be used.

 The refrigerant should not cause global warming or ozone depletion. All chlorine containing refrigerants have a high ozone depletion

potential.
The CFCs are very stable and inert compounds. Once they leak into

atmosphere they remain in atmosphere for all times. They also lead to global climate changes.

 In air conditioning the multistorey buildings where the central

refrigerant plant is at one location, it is not economical to circulate the refrigerant to all the floors or spaces for cooling purposes. It will require long refrigerant lines leading to large pressure drops and large compressor power. It will also require large quantity of refrigerant. In such cases it is economical to circulate secondary refrigerants. They cannot produce cooling effect by evaporation. They only transport the refrigeration effect produced by the primary refrigerant. Some of the secondary refrigerants are: Water Brine solution Glycol solution

Water
It is used upto 4C since it freezes at 0C

Brine
The solution of salts in water is called brine. Some other chemicals can

also be added to it. Sodium chloride brine is used upto -15C and calcium chloride brine is use upto -50C.

Disadvantages
Brine solutions are very corrosive to copper, brass, aluminium, etc.

Mild steel pipes and sheets with anti-corrosive treatment are used with

brines.

 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) when derived from methane and ethane Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) when derived from methane and

ethane Bromochlorofluorocarbons and bromofluorocarbons Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC's) when derived from methane, ethane, propane, and butane COMMERCIAL NAMES Freon , Algofrene, Daiflon, Eskimo, Forane, Fridohna, Genetron, Isceon, Kaltron, Khladon, Ucon.

Arcton, FCC, Frigen, Isotron, Ledon,

Asahiflon, Flon, Flugene, Frigedohn, Kaiser, Racon, and