Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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What is the refrigerant R11?
The refrigerant R11 is used often as a refrigerant and offers many benefits but is now banned worldwide due to the negative impact on the ozone layer and global warming. The benefits of R11 are amongst others:
- Low pressures;
- Non-toxic or inflammable;
- High critical temperature;
- High return;
- High capacity.
The disadvantages to R11 are mainly in the field of environment. This explains the popularity of the refrigerant at the time that the problems with the ozone layer and global warming were not known.
What is the refrigerant R22?
The refrigerant R22 is almost identical in its features to R12, but contains only about 5% of the chlorine amount to a similar CFC. Due to the smaller chlorine amount R22, an HCFC, is less damaging tot the ozone layer. The use of the refrigerant R22 in new machines is prohibited in the EU. However, in the US the use of R22 is still allowed. The refrigerant is often used in the US in air conditioners, chillers and heat pumps.
What is the refrigerant R134?
The refrigerant R134a is the replacement for R12 and R22 blends and is one of the most widely used "environmentally friendly" refrigerant. The applications of R134a in stead of R12 or R22 comes with a number of disadvantages. In order to achieve the same amount of power with R134a a larger system is needed. With a constant cooling system the cooling capacity of R134a will be about 60% of the cooling capacity of R12. This means that to get the same cooling capacity more heat bankers and compressors are needed, thus the initial cost of the cooling equipment will increase. The advantages of R134a are, amongst others, a high C.O.P. value and low operational pressures. The refrigerant R134a is used in air conditioners, chillers and heat pumps with evaporator temperatures down to -10°C.
Although R134a doesn't affect the ozone layer, the influence on global warming, of the refrigerant with a GWP value of 1300, is still high. The emission of one kilogram of R134a is comparable to the CO2-emission of a car on the distance of 10,000 km.
What is the safest refrigerant?
Refrigerants can be grouped in various ways, by the composition, the cooling method and the safety risk. Below is a qualification of refrigerants into 3 groups according to the security risk they cause:
- Safest refrigerants such as R12, R22 and R502;
- Toxic and highly combustible refrigerants such as R40 and R764;
- Flammable refrigerants such as R170 and R290.
What are the dangers of refrigerants?
Working with refrigerants comes with a number of risks. Depending on the refrigerant, the following hazards can occur:
- Corrosion; the refrigerant may have a corrosive effect on the on the pipes or other materials. Making it wear out faster, which can lead to dangerous situations. The choice of materials should therefore be tailored to the used refrigerant;
- Chemically unstable, the refrigerant may be chemically unstable causing it to react with other substances;
- Explosive; the refrigerant can be explosive, with leaks or malfunctions explosions can occur;
- Flammable; the refrigerant can be flammable, with leaks or malfunctions fire hazardous situations may occur;
- Toxic: the refrigerant can be toxic, with leaks, maintenance or disassembly injuries can occur.