Refrigerant is the working fluid in air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment. It circulates in the air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment system. It continuously exchanges energy with the outside through the cyclical changes of its own thermal state to achieve the purpose of refrigeration. It is customarily called refrigerant as the refrigeration working medium. Or referred to as working fluid. Only substances that can vaporize and condense in the operating temperature range can be used as refrigerants.

What is the history of the development of refrigerants?

In 1834, ether was the first refrigerant to be used. The disadvantage was that it was flammable and explosive, and the evaporation pressure was lower than atmospheric pressure when the low temperature was extracted.

In 1866, Widhausen proposed the use of carbon dioxide as a refrigerant.

In 1870, Karl Linde used ammonia as a refrigerant.

In 1874, Raoult used sulfur dioxide as a refrigerant.

Sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide have been relatively important refrigerants in history, but sulfur dioxide has a high toxicity and has been an important refrigerant for 60 years. The pressure of carbon dioxide is extremely high in the operating temperature range, which makes the refrigeration compressor structural design extremely cumbersome. But it is non-toxic and safe to use. It has been used as a refrigerant in marine refrigeration equipment for 50 years before being replaced by Freon in 1955. In recent years, carbon dioxide has received new attention from the people because of its good thermal performance and environmental protection characteristics.

In the 1950s, azeotropic refrigerants began to be used.

In the 1960s, non-azeotropic refrigerants were used.

In the 1980s, scientists confirmed that CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) are harmful substances that cause ozone layer destruction and the greenhouse effect, and began the work of restricting and replacing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons). At present, the most promising alternative to refrigerants are HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) in Freon.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the hazards of global warming became the focus, and HFCs, which were listed as one of the six sources of greenhouse gases by the "Kyoto Protocol," have gradually become the target of public criticism. With the elimination of HCFCs, the consumption of HFCs has increased sharply, and its harm to global warming has attracted great attention from all over the world. The fourth-generation refrigerant HFOs has zero ODP (ozone depletion potential) and extremely low GWP (global warming potential), and is considered to be one of the new generation refrigerants that can replace HFCs in the future. At present, the refrigerants on the market are mainly developed by Honeywell and DuPont, and are vigorously promoted and used in the European and American markets. Chinese companies have independently developed fourth-generation refrigerants, but they have not yet achieved large-scale production, which is worth looking forward to.

In general, the development of refrigerants has gone through the following four stages:

The first stage (1830-1930):

Mainly use ammonia, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, water, etc. as refrigerants. Some of them are toxic, some are combustible, and some are low in efficiency. It took about 100 years.

The second stage (1930-1990):

It mainly uses CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) refrigerants, which have been used for about 60 years.

The third stage (1990 to present):

It has entered a period dominated by HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons).

The fourth stage (early 21st century to present)

Gradually enter a period dominated by HFOs (hydrofluoroolefins).

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