The use of ammonia as a refrigerant has been around for approximately 160 years, dating back to its first use in France in the 1850s. It first appeared in the United States in the 1860s when it was used for artificial ice production. Its latest uses are a testament to the growing popularity of ammonia refrigerants.

In the move to new refrigerants, while the seals, compression ratios, efficiency ratings, and other considerations were painstakingly engineered, other system components were taken for granted. So the refrigerants changed, but what about the standards governing products that transport and contain those refrigerants?

The ongoing approval process to bring online an innovative approach to dealing with refrigerants that have reached the end of their useful life has taken another step forward.

As the world of refrigeration moves away from traditional CFCs and HCFCs toward more environmentally friendly alternatives, the use of ammonia refrigerants has been gaining in popularity and trending upwards.

Have you worked with R-407A in refrigeration jobs? The mechanical design company Henderson Engineers Inc. (HEI) of Kansas City has in such a project where it was given the task by a major retailer to improve the carbon footprint of a supermarket refrigeration system.

While the word “refrigerant” isn’t normally the first thing one thinks of when Thailand is mentioned (can you say “Pad Thai” or “Tom Yum soup”?), interestingly the two intersected at an event.

When mechanical refrigeration came along, refrigerants such as sulfur dioxide and ammonia and the fluorocarbons were introduced. The latter two — ammonia and f-gases — are still being used. Of the fluorocarbons, the choices were pretty simple: CFCs -11, -12, and -502. It is not so simple these days.

As the HVACR industry continues to move away from HCFC-22 due to regulatory pressures, one of the new retrofit options for such systems is HFC-427A.

The patent-pending VaporVue is a visible vapor charging device that absorbs heat naturally and flashes the liquid refrigerant from the cylinder and charges into the system as a vapor.

Warren Heeley, president of Refrigerant Management Canada (RMC), announced the implementation of a disposal fee for CFC-11 refrigerant entering the extended producer responsibility (EPR) program.