LPG AS A REFRIGERANT

LPG AS A REFRIGERANT

ABSTRACT:

Currently produced Indian refrigerators mainly use the conventional CFC’s, namely CFC-12 as refrigerant. However, the choice of alternative refrigerants is still being debated.There is a need to assess various refrigerant options considering the existing refrigerators in the field and for the future market.This paper addresses the issues related to the use of LPG as a refrigerant, in Indian refrigerators, including retrofitting performance, field usage and servicing.
CFC,s are principally destroyed by ultraviolet radiations in the stratosphere; the chlorine released in the high stratosphere catalyzes the decomposition of ozone to oxygen; and ultraviolet radiation penetrates to lower altitudes.Credible calculations of the magnitude of this effect (Hoffman 1987) and his team predicted 3% global ozone depletion for constant CFC emissions of 700 thousand tonnes /year after a hundred years. The ozone impact of car air conditioners also cannot be ignored. A car air conditioner may lose 400g/year of dichlorodifluoromethane (R12) through hoses, pipe joints and shaft seals. Considering future population, if R-12 were still used, cars would emit 800 thousand tonnes/year and fridges 20,000 tonnes/year. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC’s) can be thought of as a replacement, but unfortunately the radiation properties of HFC’s like R-134a make them powerful global warming agents. Thus, hydrocarbon refrigerants; particularly LPG serves as the best contender to replace CFC's from domestic refrigerators as well as car air conditioners.
LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) consists mainly of propane (R-290) and butane (R-600), and LPG is available as a side product in local refineries. In Cuba for already several decades LPG is used as a drop-in refrigerant. LPG mixtures have
composition of a commercial LPG mixture suitable as ‘drop-in’ replacement for R-12 was calculated crudely as 64% propane and 36% butane by mass.


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