Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula C3H8. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is often a constituent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is commonly used as a fuel in domestic and industrial applications and in low-emissions public transportation; other constituents of LPG may include propylene, butane, butylene, butadiene, and isobutylene. Discovered in 1857 by the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, it became commercially available in the US by 1911. Propane has lower volumetric energy density than gasoline or coal, but has higher gravimetric energy density than them and burns more cleanly.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are fully or partly halogenated hydrocarbons that contain carbon (C), hydrogen (H), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F), produced as volatile derivatives of methane, ethane, and propane.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. "Refrigeration" is sometimes added to the field's abbreviation as HVAC&R or HVACR, or "ventilation" is dropped, as in HACR.
Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas, is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, n-butane and isobutane. It can sometimes contain some propylene, butylene, and isobutene.
A refrigerant is a working fluid used in cooling, heating or reverse cooling and heating of air conditioning systems and heat pumps where they undergo a repeated phase transition from a liquid to a gas and back again. Refrigerants are heavily regulated because of their toxicity and flammability and the contribution of CFC and HCFC refrigerants to ozone depletion and that of HFC refrigerants to climate change.
Chlorodifluoromethane or difluoromonochloromethane is a hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC). This colorless gas is better known as HCFC-22, or R-22, or CHClF
2. It was commonly used as a propellant and refrigerant. These applications were phased out under the Montreal Protocol in developed countries in 2020 due to the compound's ozone depletion potential (ODP) and high global warming potential (GWP), and in developing countries this process will be completed by 2030. R-22 is a versatile intermediate in industrial organofluorine chemistry, e.g. as a precursor to tetrafluoroethylene.
R-410A is a refrigerant used in air conditioning and heat pump applications. It is a zeotropic but near-azeotropic mixture of difluoromethane (CH2F2, called R-32) and pentafluoroethane (CHF2CF3, called R-125). R-410A is sold under the trademarked names AZ-20, EcoFluor R410, Forane 410A, Genetron R410A, Puron, and Suva 410A.
An icemaker, ice generator, or ice machine may refer to either a consumer device for making ice, found inside a home freezer; a stand-alone appliance for making ice, or an industrial machine for making ice on a large scale. The term "ice machine" usually refers to the stand-alone appliance.
Vapour-compression refrigeration or vapor-compression refrigeration system (VCRS), in which the refrigerant undergoes phase changes, is one of the many refrigeration cycles and is the most widely used method for air conditioning of buildings and automobiles. It is also used in domestic and commercial refrigerators, large-scale warehouses for chilled or frozen storage of foods and meats, refrigerated trucks and railroad cars, and a host of other commercial and industrial services. Oil refineries, petrochemical and chemical processing plants, and natural gas processing plants are among the many types of industrial plants that often utilize large vapor-compression refrigeration systems. Cascade refrigeration systems may also be implemented using two compressors.
An air source heat pump (ASHP) is a heat pump that can absorb heat from air outside a building and release it inside; it uses the same vapor-compression refrigeration process and much the same equipment as an air conditioner, but in the opposite direction. ASHPs are the most common type of heat pump and, usually being smaller, tend to be used to heat individual houses or flats rather than blocks, districts or industrial processes.
Natural refrigerants are considered substances that serve as refrigerants in refrigeration systems. They are alternatives to synthetic refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) based refrigerants. Unlike other refrigerants, natural refrigerants can be found in nature and are commercially available thanks to physical industrial processes like fractional distillation, chemical reactions such as Haber process and spin-off gases. The most prominent of these include various natural hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and water. Natural refrigerants are preferred actually in new equipment to their synthetic counterparts for their presumption of higher degrees of sustainability. With the current technologies available, almost 75 percent of the refrigeration and air conditioning sector has the potential to be converted to natural refrigerants.
HC-12a, also called ES-12a, OZ-12a, DURACOOL 12a and Hydrocarbon Blend B, is marketed as a "drop-in" replacement refrigerant for R-12 and other refrigerants. HC-12a is a mixture of hydrocarbons, specifically propane (R-290) and isobutane (R-600a), and is therefore considered nearly non-ozone-depleting. The hydrocarbon blend is compatible with hoses and oils used in R-12 systems.
Refrigerant reclamation is the act of processing used refrigerant gas which has previously been used in some type of refrigeration loop such that it meets specifications for new refrigerant gas. In the United States, the Section 608 of the Clean Air Act of 1990 requires that used refrigerant be processed by a certified reclaimer, which must be licensed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the material must be recovered and delivered to the reclaimer by EPA-certified technicians.
Section 608 of the Clean Air Act serves as the main form of occupational licensure for technicians in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) industry in the United States. The law requires that all persons who maintain, service, repair or dispose of appliances that contain regulated refrigerants be certified in proper refrigerant handling techniques. The regulatory program helps to minimize the release of refrigerants, and in particular ozone depleting refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons, as well as other regulated refrigerants as determined by Section 612. The licensure program complies with the requirements under the Montreal Protocol. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published implementing regulations at 40 CFR Part 82.
Automotive air conditioning systems use air conditioning to cool the air in a vehicle.
Internally grooved copper tubes, also known as "microfin tubes", are a small diameter coil technology for modern air conditioning and refrigeration systems. Grooved coils facilitate more efficient heat transfer than smooth coils. Small diameter coils have better rates of heat transfer than conventionally-sized condenser and evaporator coils with round copper tubes and aluminum or copper fin that have been the standard in the HVAC industry for many years. Small diameter coils can withstand the higher pressures required by the new generation of environmentally friendlier refrigerants. They have lower material costs because they require less refrigerant, fin, and coil materials. They enable the design of smaller and lighter high-efficiency air conditioners and refrigerators because the evaporator and condenser coils are smaller and lighter.
Fluorinated gases (F-gases) are a group of gases containing fluorine. They are divided into several types, the main of those are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). They are used in refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps, fire suppression, electronics, aerospace, magnesium industry, foam and high voltage switchgear. As they are greenhouse gases with a strong global warming potential, their use is regulated.
R-454B, also known by the trademarked names Opteon XL41, Solstice 454B, and Puron Advance, is a zeotropic blend of 68.9 percent difluoromethane (R-32), a hydrofluorocarbon, and 31.1 percent 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (R-1234yf), a hydrofluoroolefin. Because of its reduced global warming potential (GWP), R-454B is intended to be an alternative to refrigerant R-410A in new equipment. R-454B has a GWP of 466, which is 78 percent lower than R-410A's GWP of 2088.
Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP) is an evolving method to evaluate the carbon footprint and global warming impact of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (AC), refrigeration systems, and potentially other applications such as thermal insulating foam. It is calculated as the sum of direct, indirect, and embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated over the lifetime of the system “from cradle to grave,” i.e. from manufacture to disposal. Direct emissions include all climate forcing effects from the release of refrigerants into the atmosphere, including annual leakage and losses during service and disposal of the unit. Indirect emissions include the climate forcing effects of GHG emissions from the electricity powering the equipment. The embodied emissions include the climate forcing effects of the manufacturing processes, transport, and installation for the refrigerant, materials, and equipment, and for recycle or other disposal of the product at end of its useful life.
The Significant New Alternatives Policy is a program of the EPA to determine acceptable chemical substitutes, and establish which are prohibited or regulated by the EPA. It also establishes a program by which new alternatives may be accepted, and promulgates timelines to the industry regarding phase-outs of substitutes.
