Section: 6 | Properties of Refrigerants |

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PROPERTIES OF REFRIGERANTS

This table gives physical properties and safe exposure limits for compounds that have been used as working fluids in traditional refrigeration systems or are under consideration as replacements in newer systems. Some are also used as solvents and blowing agents. Many of the compounds listed are believed to be less harmful to the environment than the traditional halocarbon refrigerants.

Column definitions for the table are as follows.

Column heading	Definition
Name	Chemical name of refrigerant; listed alphabetically by name
ASHRAE code	ASHRAE standard refrigerant designation (Ref. 1); see text for discussion
Mol. form.	Molecular formula for refrigerant
CAS Reg. No.	Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number
t_m	Normal melting point, in °C ("tp" indicates a triple point)
t_b	Normal boiling point, in °C at 101.325 kPa or 760 mmHg ("sp" indicates a sublimation point)
t_c	Critical temperature, in °C
*p_c*	Critical pressure, in MPa
TWA	Threshold limit value, expressed as the time-weighted average over an 8-hr workday and 40-hr workweek, for safe exposure to the vapor; in units of parts per million (ppm) by volume
STEL	Short-term exposure limit, which should not be exceeded for more than 15 min, in units of parts per million (ppm)

The ASHRAE codes are often prefixed by symbols such as CFC- (for chlorofluorocarbon), HCFC- (for hydrochlorofluorocarbon), or simply R- (for refrigerant). The “R” number assigned to refrigerants is specified by ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34. This system is most useful for the hydrocarbons and halocarbons with one to three carbons; for such molecules the chemical composition can be determined from the number and vice versa. The first digit on the far right is the number of fluorine atoms in the compound. The second digit from the right is one more than the number of hydrogen atoms. The third digit from the right is one less than the number of carbon atoms; for single-carbon compounds, this digit is omitted. The fourth digit from the right is equal to the number of unsaturated carbon–carbon bonds; for saturated compounds, this digit is omitted. The number of bromine and iodine atoms is indicated, if needed, by appending “Bn” or “In” to the digits specified by the above rules, where “n” is the number of bromine or iodine atoms. All atoms not specified by the above are assumed to be chlorine. Appended lowercase letter(s) designate different isomers. Additional rules are used to specify cyclic compounds, ethers, inorganic fluids (R700- and R7000-series), miscellaneous organic compounds (R600-series), and blends (R400- and R500-series).

Further references and additional data on the critical properties may be found in the tables “Critical Constants of Organic Compounds” and “Critical Constants of Inorganic Compounds” in this section. Details on threshold limits are given in Section 16.

References

ASHRAE (2007). ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34-2007 Designation and Safety Classification of Refrigerants, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA.
ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook 2001, Chapter 19, Refrigerants, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA, 2001.
Platzer, B., Polt, A., and Mauer, G., Thermophysical Properties of Refrigerants, Springer, Berlin, 1990. [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02608-3]
Sako, T., Sato, M., Nakazawa, N., Oowa, M., Yasumoto, M., Ito, H., and Yamashita, S., J. Chem. Eng. Data 41, 802, 1996. [https://doi.org/10.1021/je950327t]
Schmidt, J. W., Carrillo-Nava, E., and Moldover, M. R., Fluid Phase Equilib. 122, 187, 1996. [https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-3812(96)03044-0]
Salvi-Narkhede, M., Wang, B-H., Adcock, J. L., and Van Hook, W. A., J. Chem. Thermodyn. 24, 1065, 1992. [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9614(05)80017-5]
Fialho, P. S., and Nieto de Castro, C. A., Int. J. Thermophys. 21, 385, 2000. [https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006631512597]
Daubert, T. E., Danner, R. P., Sibul, H. M., and Stebbins, C. C., Physical and Thermodynamic Properties of Pure Compounds: Data Compilation, extant 2002 (core with supplements), Taylor & Francis, Bristol, PA.
McLinden, M.O., Lemmon, E.W., and Huber, M.L., The REFPROP Database for the Thermophysical Properties of Refrigerants, 21st International Congress of Refrigeration, International Institute of Refrigeration, Paper ICR0443, Washington, DC, 2003.
Lemmon, E.W., Huber, M.L., and McLinden, M.O., NIST Standard Reference Database 23: Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties - REFPROP, Version 9.0, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Standard Reference Data Program, Gaithersburg, MD, 2010, <http://www.nist.gov/srd/nist23.cfm>.

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Properties of Refrigerants

Name	ASHRAE code	Synonym	Mol. form.	Formula	CAS Reg. No.	Mol. wt.	t_m/ºC	t_b/ºC	t_c/ºC	p_c/MPa	TWA/ppm	STEL/ppm
Continued on next page...
Ammonia	717	R-717	H₃N	NH₃	7664-41-7	17.031	-77.65	-33.33	132.41	11.357	25	35
Bis(difluoromethyl) ether	E134	HFE-134	C₂H₂F₄O	(CF₂H)₂O	1691-17-4	118.030		5.5	147.1	4.16
Bromochlorodifluoromethane	12B1	Halon-1211	CBrClF₂	CF₂BrCl	353-59-3	165.365	-159.5	-3.9	155	4.31
Bromodifluoromethane	22B1	Halon 1201	CHBrF₂		1511-62-2	130.920	-145	-15.6	138.9	5.2
Bromotrifluoromethane	13B1	Halon-1301	CBrF₃	CF₃Br	75-63-8	148.910	-174.4	-57.8	66.91	3.96	1000
Butane	600		C₄H₁₀	C₄H₁₀	106-97-8	58.122	-138.2	-0.5	152.1	3.79		1000
Carbon dioxide	744	Carbonic anhydride	CO₂	CO₂	124-38-9	44.010	-56.561 tp	-78.464 sp	30.98	7.375	5000	30000
1-Chloro-1,1-difluoroethane	142b	HCFC-142b	C₂H₃ClF₂	CH₃CClF₂	75-68-3	100.495	-130.43	-9.12	137.16	4.06
1-Chloro-2,2-difluoroethane	142		C₂H₃ClF₂		338-65-8	100.495		35
Chlorodifluoromethane	22	HCFC-22	CHClF₂	CHClF₂	75-45-6	86.469	-157.41	-40.8	96.15	4.98	1000
Chloroethane	160	Ethyl chloride	C₂H₅Cl	C₂H₅Cl	75-00-3	64.514	-138.4	12.3	187.2	5.24	100
Chloroethene	1140	Vinyl chloride	C₂H₃Cl	CH₂=CHCl	75-01-4	62.498	-153.84	-13.8	152	5.60	1
1-Chloro-1-fluoroethane	151a		C₂H₄ClF	CH₃CHClF	1615-75-4	82.504		16
1-Chloro-2-fluoroethane	151		C₂H₄ClF		762-50-5	82.504		53.1
Chlorofluoromethane	31	HCFC-31	CH₂ClF	CH₂ClF	593-70-4	68.478	-135.1	-9.1	154
1-Chloro-1,2,2,3,3,4,4-heptafluorocyclobutane	C317	Refrigerant C317	C₄ClF₇		377-41-3	216.485	-39.1	25
Chloromethane	40	Methyl chloride	CH₃Cl	CH₃Cl	74-87-3	50.488	-97.6	-24.1	143.09	6.72	50	100
Chloropentafluoroethane	115	CFC-115	C₂ClF₅	CF₃CF₂Cl	76-15-3	154.466	-99.4	-39.2	79.9	3.141	1000
1-Chloro-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethane	124a		C₂HClF₄		354-25-6	136.476	-117	-13	126.8

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