ASHRAE Journal - March 2021 - 30

ROUNDTABLE

Charles Allgood, Ph.D.,
Refrigerant Technology
Leader, Chemours, Newark,
Del.

Philip Johnston, P.Eng.,
Member ASHRAE, Product
General Manager, Daikin
Applied Americas, Maple
Grove, Minn.

Sarah Kim, Ph.D., Member
ASHRAE, Research Scientist,
Arkema, King of Prussia, Pa.,
vice chair of SSPC 34.

Steve Kujak, Member
ASHRAE, Director of Next
Generation Refrigerant
Research, Trane
Technologies, LaCrosse,
Wis., chair of SSPC 34.

Samuel Yana Motta, Ph.D.,
Member ASHRAE, Research
Fellow (Heat Transfer,
Refrigeration and AC),
Honeywell, Charlotte, N.C.

A Conversation on
Refrigerants
ASHRAE Journal conducted a roundtable with refrigerants experts to discuss the future of refrigerants.
What are potential alternatives for R-123, and what attributes
make these good low global warming potential (GWP) alternatives for R-123?
Steve Kujak: Refrigerant technology has matured sufﬁciently in the last decade to offer a number of good
replacements for R-123 and R-134a in large water-cooled
centrifugal chiller products. All these options are new
oleﬁn (HFO) refrigerants. which are nonﬂammable
(ASHRAE Standard 34-2019 Class 1) and which allows
them to be readily adopted using existing product standards and building codes.
A near design-compatible option for R-123 designs is
R-514A (ASHRAE Class B1). R-514A is an azeotropic blend
of ultralow GWP (< 10) refrigerants R-1336mzz(Z) and
R-1130(E), with nearly the same capacity and efﬁciency
as R-123 and is in wide adoption at this time as a replacement for R-123.
Another option available is R-1233zd(E) for use in centrifugal chillers. R-1233zd(E) is a ASHRAE Class A1 refrigerant with about a 40% higher capacity than R-123 with
similar efﬁciency, but requires a new chiller design.
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ASHRAE JOURNAL

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MARCH 2021

A lesser-known emerging option is R-1224yd(Z) with a
capacity about 60% higher than R-123 with similar efﬁciency. R-1224yd(Z) has similar capacity to R-245fa and
would be considered a design-compatible replacement for
HVAC&R equipment using R-245fa. Many organic Rankine
cycle (ORC) are using R-245fa, and R-1224yd(Z) is under
consideration as a replacement for these applications.
Philip Johnston: The new refrigerants currently available for low pressure water cooled centrifugal chillers
are R-1233zd(E) and R-514A, with a third refrigerant,
R-1224yd(Z) showing potential as an emerging solution.
R-1233zd(E) has key attributes we look for in a new
refrigerant solution. It is classiﬁed as an " A1 " (lower toxicity, with no ﬂame propagation) by Standard 34-2019.
It is a single working ﬂuid, making it easier to reclaim
and has high efﬁciency. It will also be used in other sectors beside large chillers (including foams and solvents),
driving global demand and large-scale production. This
suggests competitive pricing and widespread availability
going forward. Working pressures are slightly higher
than R-11 and R-123, meaning heat exchangers will be

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ASHRAE Journal - March 2021

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