Drop-in and retrofit refrigerants as replacement possibilities of R134a in domestic/commercial refrigeration and automobile air conditioner applications

Abstract

According to the EU F-gas Regulation, the phase-out of the high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants (with higher than 150 GWP value) had been established. The most currently existing household and commercial refrigerators and automobile air conditioners applications based on single-stage vapour compression systems operate with R134a as working fluid. The present paper aims, to review and evaluate the performance of a set of eco-friendly alternatives refrigerants to replace R134a, without change or with minor modifications in refrigeration equipment. The theoretical and experimental studies performed in this field of research were reviewed for this objective. These alternative refrigerants are some of HFCs, HFOs and HCs and their mixtures, which are expected to be an excellent candidates in many refrigeration applications. There are Many replacement possibilities had been proposed viz. drop-in replacement, retrofit refrigerant, and new systems. The results exhibited that the most suitable refrigerants as R134a drop-in substitutes are R1234yf, R152a, R450A, and R513A. The pure R1234ze and its mixtures are not suitable drop-in replacements of R134a but can be a good alternative to R134a only in new refrigeration systems. In terms of hydrocarbon refrigerants R290, R600, and R600a could replace R134a with some modifications to existing refrigeration systems to overcome the flammability issue. We should be using certain HFC and HC mixtures with the lowest TEWI index.

Keywords

• R134a
• HFOs
• HCs
• Drop-in
• Retrofit Refrigerants

References

1. The article references can be accessed from the .pdf file.