New Research from NIST Identifies Research Needs for Alternative Refrigerants
Researchers must look beyond nonflammable chemicals
Results from a new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) funded study in the journal, Nature Communications, suggest that further research and development of alternative air conditioning refrigerants is needed to meet international safety standards. With the international community focused on a planned phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) resulting from the recent Kigali Accord, this research is needed more than ever to determine the safest and most efficient refrigerants. Hydrofluorocarbons are greenhouse gas refrigerants that are more harmful than alternative refrigerant options.
Research funded by BTO at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and The Catholic University of America used an exhaustive, multistaged screening process to identify the safest, greenest, and most effective refrigerants “allowed by chemistry,” ultimately concluding that of the 184,000 thermodynamically appropriate chemicals they identified, none currently meet the flammability standards under U.S. ANSI/ASHRAE 15-2013 Safety Standard for Refrigeration Systems.