White Paper: Revisiting Flammable Refrigerants
Introduction
Since the 1989 Montreal Protocol and its successor agreements, the world of
refrigerants has been marked by change. In the search for more environmentally-
preferable refrigerants, technology has moved from chlorofluorocarbons
to a host of alternative substances. Many of these substances are serving as
interim measures, until the phase-out of ozone-depleting and global-warming
refrigerants meets the targets set by the U.S. Clean Air Act. The journey toward
compliance has caused the HVAC equipment and appliance industries to revisit the
potential use of substances that have good environmental and thermodynamic
properties as refrigerants, but which are also, unfortunately, flammable.
Introduction
Since the 1989 Montreal Protocol and its successor agreements, the world of refrigerants has been marked by change. In the search for more environmentally-preferable refrigerants, technology has moved from chlorofluorocarbons to a host of alternative substances. Many of these substances are serving as interim measures, until the phase-out of ozone-depleting and global-warming refrigerants meets the targets set by the U.S. Clean Air Act. The journey toward compliance has caused the HVAC equipment and appliance industries to revisit the potential use of substances that have good environmental and thermodynamic properties as refrigerants, but which are also, unfortunately, flammable.