The concurrent 21st International Compressor Engineering Conference, 14th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, and 2nd International High Performance Buildings Conference showed how dramatically the issue of global warming is impacting the refrigerant aspect of the HVACR industry and how complex the issue is.
The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) recently released the 2011 update on the Canadian CFC chiller stock study. This update estimates that approximately the same number of conversions/replacements were completed in 2011 as in 2010.
When talk first surfaced a number of years ago about using R-744 (CO2) in commercial refrigeration, there were two challenges — making the refrigerant work as a stand-alone in transcritical applications as well as in cascade systems and developing the components to make such approaches possible. Where does the refrigerant stand currently?
A joint conference focused on refrigerants and hosted by ASHRAE and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been announced for October 2012.
Mueller Streamline Co. has been working with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to conduct a series of performance tests regarding its copper tube and fittings and some of the newer higher pressure refrigerants. As a result, the company’s Streamline® copper tube and fittings are UL recognized to 700-psi operating pressures.
Vehicle thermal management software aids in a/c system design and predicting performance. It allows engineers to access the required tools and libraries to build simulation models, run simulations, and display results graphically.