I am a big fan of history and can never get enough of reading historical books or watching documentaries. If you don’t understand the past then how can you understand the present or even the future? While refrigerant history might not be as interesting as other historical topics it is still good to understand it. … Read more
As we all know, there is no perfect refrigerant. Each one has its own individual upsides and downsides. It could have a great efficiency but also end up being very flammable. Or, it could be non-flammable and non-toxic but have very high Global Warming Potential. The point I’m making here is that there isn’t a … Read more
R-744, or Carbon Dioxide, is quickly becoming one of the most popular refrigerants in the world. As the usage of this refrigerant grows I can’t help but laugh as we have now come full circle. You see, if you go back one-hundred years Carbon Dioxide was one of the main refrigerants used but its usage … Read more
R-744 Carbon Dioxide is one of the oldest refrigerants in the world. Its first usage can be traced all the way back to the nineteenth century. Before the popularity of CFC and HCFC refrigerants Carbon Dioxide was one of the most widely used refrigerants. Chances are if you went to a movie theater in the … Read more
Regardless of what system you are working on rather it is a home air conditioner, a vehicle’s air conditioner, a supermarket refrigeration system, or a large scale industrial application they all have one thing in common: Pressure. Yes, as we all know one of the very first steps when it comes to diagnosing a refrigeration … Read more
I’ll be the first to admit that I know very little when it comes to a transcritical system. I have seen it mentioned numerous times and have also seen that it is starting to become a trend in certain newer environmentally friendly applications. In an effort to educate myself I’m going to take a look … Read more
Well folks, as most of you know today is Earth Day. Personally, I don’t do anything to celebrate it besides walking around my property and enjoying the view. I just cleared an area by our pond this weekend and now I’ve got a nice quiet place to relax after a day’s work. As I was … Read more
Here in the United States most of our ice rinks rather they be hockey stadiums or a kids ice-skating park were and are mostly powered by the common HCFC R-22 refrigerant. As you all know R-22 was phased down back in 2010 and is in the process of being phased out entirely. The question on … Read more
While all of the other car manufacturers around the world are scurrying towards the latest and newest fad of HFO refrigerants Daimler is stepping away from the pack and creating their own alternative refrigerant method for automotive air conditioning. If we look at the automotive market today we can see one primary refrigerant known as … Read more
The grocery store chain Aldi has announced their intention to switch all of their stores in the United Kingdom to CO2 refrigerant. (Also known as R-744.) Their goal is by the end of the year 2018, just over twelve months from now, that one-hundred of their stores will be fully converted over to R-744. This is … Read more
Late last year the Obama administration announced that they were partnering with various companies across the country in transitioning away from HFC refrigerants and instead using new climate friendly alternatives. Now, this measure was voluntary. No one had to sign on, but I would assume the companies who did sign on did this for the … Read more
Well folks it looks like the automotive refrigerant market is going to be split into two. Today, most everybody is still using R-134a as the main refrigerant for automotive applications. If you have been working on newer cars you may have seen some vehicles with the HFO 1234YF systems. R-134a is being phased out across … Read more
Well ladies and gentlemen it seems that we have come full circle in the past hundred years on refrigerants. We started with CO2 and now we’re circling right back to it. Every time I’m writing one of these articles about phasing out refrigerants I can’t help but chuckle. It seems that whenever we get close … Read more