Ammonia usage in vapor compression for refrigeration and air-conditioning in the United States
The impending phaseout of CFCs and HCFCs has led to a worldwide search for refrigerants that can provide equivalent performance while not damaging the environment. Long used as a working fluid in industrial and large-scale refrigeration, ammonia provides high efficiency, low initial cost, and no detrimental impact to the environment. However, its toxicity and flammability, along with technical considerations and increased operating costs, deter its use in many refrigeration and cooling applications. Utilization of ammonia in applications where its safety considerations and technical concerns can be addressed provides the best growth opportunity for adoption as a replacement refrigerant. Applications such as district or large-scale cooling, thermal storage, packaged systems, and combined systems hold promise for increased usage of ammonia. Ongoing research and development are providing solutions to technical considerations, and innovations in safety and containment of ammonia are addressing those particular concerns, but code restrictions and regulations present the greatest barrier to wider adoption of ammonia as an alternate refrigerant in the US To encourage wider use, future efforts will need to continue on improved safety and more efficient design, along with an increased emphasis on educating and informing industry and the public about the advantages ammonia and the factors restricting its use.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 208395
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9510325-1; ON: DE96005477
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 22. International Energy Agency (IEA) annex workshop on compression systems with natural working fluids applications, Trondheim (Norway), 16-17 Oct 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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