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Hydrocarbon refrigerants through the ages.

Number: 0250

Author(s) : COLBOURNE D.

Summary

Refrigeration history is interspersed with the use of flammable refrigerants, particularly, hydrocarbons (HCs). During the last 19th and early 20th century, many early inventions employed HCs. Until the time when CFCs became commercialised in the 1930s, a small portion of smaller systems used HCs, primarily isobutane (R600a). Most systems then became substituted with CFCs, primarily due to mitigation of toxicity hazards associated with the variety of available refrigerants, rather than ignition risks. As the Montreal Protocol came into force there were numerous studies assessing alternatives, including HCs. Initially, the domestic appliance sector opted for R134a, but following the Greenpeace “Greenfreeze” campaign, virtually all European manufacturers adopted R600a, before global adoption. From the early 1990s, HCs became used more widely in small commercial and intermittently in other subsectors. In parallel, refrigeration safety standards were revised and amended to reflect the use of this technology. This paper traces the use of HC refrigerants through textbooks, technical articles and patents, from the emergence of refrigeration technology to the present day.

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Pages: 23 p.

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Details

  • Original title: Hydrocarbon refrigerants through the ages.
  • Record ID : 30029809
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: General information
  • Source: 15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen Conference on Natural Refrigerants (GL2022). Proceedings. Trondheim, Norway, June 13-15th 2022.
  • Publication date: 2022/06/13
  • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18462/iir.gl2022.0250
  • Document available for consultation in the library of the IIR headquarters only.

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