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Potential Refrigerants and Their Effect on the Environment—A Review

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Current Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Refrigerants are fluids that are used for heat transfer applications. The development of several man-made refrigerants and their higher thermal efficiency led to the popularity and increase in the use of man-made refrigerants to achieve better performance. But, the use of synthetic refrigerants affects the environment by causing global warming and depleting the ozone layer. HFCs are being used currently as an alternative for CFCs but are expected to be phased out by the year 2030 due to their high global warming potential. Natural refrigerants are eco-friendly and are currently gaining momentum for several applications. This paper presents an overview of different potential refrigerants that can be used for different applications. The choice of refrigerant depends on the suitability of refrigerant for a particular refrigeration system. The adverse environmental effects have compelled the researchers to choose refrigerants with the key consideration of the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion potential of the refrigerants. With a detailed discussion about natural refrigerants, along with their environmental impacts and performance in comparison with other popular HCFC and CFC refrigerants, it is revealed that natural refrigerants are the most appropriate to replace the synthetic refrigerants in various field of refrigeration.

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Correspondence to Amit Kumar Prusty .

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Mohapatra, A., Prusty, A.K., Nanda, J., Das, S.N., Pandey, H. (2021). Potential Refrigerants and Their Effect on the Environment—A Review. In: Acharya, S.K., Mishra, D.P. (eds) Current Advances in Mechanical Engineering . Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4795-3_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4795-3_23

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-33-4794-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-33-4795-3

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