A refrigerant is a substance or mixture, usually a fluid, used in a heat pump and refrigeration cycle that can extract heat from another body or substance. Ice, cold water, cold air etc. can be treated as a refrigerants.
Desired Properties of a Refrigerant:
1. Vapor density:
To enable use of smaller compressors and other equipment the refrigerant should have smaller vapor density.
2. Enthalpy of vaporization:
To ensure maximum heat absorption during refrigeration, a refrigerant should have high enthalpy of vaporization.
3. Thermal Conductivity:
Thermal conductivity of the refrigerant should be high for faster heat transfer during condensation and evaporation.
4. Dielectric strength:
In hermetic arrangements, the motor windings are cooled by refrigerants vapor on its way to the suction valve of the compressor. Therefore, dielectric strength of refrigerant is important property in hermetically sealed compressor units.
5. Critical temperature:
In order to have large range of isothermal energy transfer, the refrigerant should have critical temperature above the condensing temperature.
6. Specific heat:
To have minimum change in entropy during the throttling process, the specific heat should be minimum. For this, liquid saturation line should be almost vertical.
7. Leak tendency:
The refrigerant may leak out of the system. The problems with leakage are wearing out of joint or the material used for the fabrication of the system. A denser refrigerant will have fewer tendencies to leak as compared to higher density refrigerant. The detection of leaks should be easy to loss of refrigerant. Leakage can be identified quickly if the refrigerant has distinct color or odour.
8. Toxicity:
The refrigerant used in air conditioning, food preservation etc. should not be toxic in nature as they will come into contact with human beings. refrigerants will affect human health if they are toxic.
9. Cost of refrigerants:
The quantity of refrigerant used in industries is very less. The cost of the refrigerants is generally high when compared to other chemicals in the industry. Very low industry professional will not take necessary action to control the leaks.
10. Availability:
Refrigerants should be available near the usage point. It must be sourced and procured within a short period to enable the user in case of leaks, maintenance schedules etc.