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Modified thermal balance method for estimating minimum inerting concentraion of flammable refrigerant mixtures

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Abstract

R1234yf is considered as a better alternative for R134a (the conventional refrigerant) due to its low global warming potential value, while its usage is limited because of its flammability. The flammability of any flammable refrigerant can be reduced by adding dilutants that are inert. Two methods (group contribution method and thermal balance method) were used to estimate the minimum inerting concentration (which decides the flammability zone) of the binary mixtures (refrigerant + dilutant). It was observed that the group contribution method and the thermal balance method predicted minimum inerting concentration of the refrigerant mixture (refrigerant + dilutant) with an absolute error of more than 50% and 8%, respectively. Therefore, a modified thermal balance method is proposed in this study to estimate the minimum inerting concentration and found that the proposed method predicts the values with reasonable accuracy when compared with the available experimental data. Further, the minimum inerting concentration for the dilutants R125 and R245fa (that are not experimentally known) with R1234yf is estimated. The results indicated that R227ea has better inert effect with R1234yf when compared to other dilutants (R125, R134a and R245fa) considered in this study. It was also found that the critical inerting concentration for R1234yf is 36.5%.

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Abbreviations

A & B:

Constants depends upon refrigerant and dilutant respectively

CFC:

Chlorofluorocarbon

CIC:

Critical inerting concentration

C st :

Stoichiometric concentration of refrigerant (%)

C in :

Inerting concentration of nonflammable refrigerant (%)

C O :

The oxygen coefficient in a reaction (dimensionless)

CAFT:

Critical adiabatic flame temperature (K)

GWP:

Global warming potential

GCM:

Group contribution method

HCs:

Hydrocarbons

HFCs:

Hydrofluorocarbons

HQR:

Heating/quenching ratio

HFOs:

Hydrofluoroolefins

HCFC:

Hydrochlorfluorocarbon

H o :

Heating potential of oxygen based on air

H F :

Heating potential of refrigerant

LFL:

Lower flammability limit (%)

MIC:

Minimum inerting concentration (%)

MSDS:

Material safety data sheet

ODP:

Ozone depletion potential

PAG:

Polyalkylene glycol

Q d :

Quenching potential of dilutants

Q F :

Quenching potential of refrigerant

T a :

Ambient temperature (°C)

TBM:

Thermal balance method

UFL:

Upper flammability limit

V O :

Flame propagation velocity of flammable refrigerants (cm/s)

V U :

Flame propagation velocity of mixture in (m/s)

X D :

Dilutant concentration (%)

X L :

Lower flammability limit (volume ratio) (% or dimensionless)

X st :

Stoichiometric refrigerant/air volume concentration (% or dimensionless)

X u :

Upper flammability limit (volume ratio) (% or dimensionless)

Φ :

Inhibition coefficient

a:

Ambient

d:

Dilutant

i:

Component of a mixture

m:

Sum of a mixture

st:

Stoichiometric

AF:

Adiabatic flame

L:

Lower flammable limit (%)

U:

Upper flammable limit (%)

D:

Dilutant-based potential to air potential

F:

Refrigerant -based potential to air potential

O:

Oxygen-based potential to air potential

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India

    Nagarjuna Kumma, Adhil Moideen, P. Kaushik & S. S. Harish Kruthiventi

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  1. Nagarjuna Kumma
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  2. Adhil Moideen
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  4. S. S. Harish Kruthiventi
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Kumma, N., Moideen, A., Kaushik, P. et al. Modified thermal balance method for estimating minimum inerting concentraion of flammable refrigerant mixtures. J Therm Anal Calorim 141, 2201–2210 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09657-0

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