scholarly journals Hydrocarbons as Refrigerants―A Review

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. KOH ◽  
Z. ZAKARIA

Refrigerants used in air conditioning and refrigeration (AC&R) indusries have come full circle since the beginning of the industrialrevolution. With concern on issues relating to the environment such as the global warming and climate change issues, we should finda better alternative than to continue using these refrigerants that cause global warming and ozone depletion. AC&R industryplayers have blended in by introducing some new equipment and components that are specificallydesigned for hydrocarbon (HC) use. Mostnew refrigerators sold in Malaysia are already equipped with isobutane [a hydrocarbon designated as R-600a by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards]as refrigerants. Malaysia has ratifiedthe Montreal Protocol and targetted a 10% reduction in hydrochlorofluorocarbon(HCFC) consumption, beginning 2016 with the banning of 2.5 horsepower (hp) and below in air-conditioning (AC) equipment to be used. Instead,hydrofluorocarbon(HFC) R-410a was introduced as a replacement for HCFC- 22, whereas in other countries this HFC has been phased down. This article was initiated  because of the difficultin findinga replacement for HCFC. Also, the possibilities of using HC as an alternative to replace HCFC insteadof using HFC as a transitional refrigerant in place of HCFC is reviewed in this article. The performance of HC is very similar to HCFC and flmmability issues could be easily overcome with the use of an effectivedesign. Their use could be facilitated with the adaptation of specific standards and properly enacted legislatio

2000 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 1412-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Hartmann ◽  
J. M. Wallace ◽  
V. Limpasuvan ◽  
D. W. J. Thompson ◽  
J. R. Holton

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Ford

Air conditioning is now recognized as a significant factor in global warming and climate change. In the search for alternatives, passive downdraught evaporative cooling (PDEC) is proving to be both technically and economically viable in different parts of the world. Brian Ford describes the principles and current practice of this innovative approach to cooling in the hot dry regions of the world.


Author(s):  
Keegan Cothern ◽  
Junichi Hasegawa

Climate research has been presented as a largely Anglophone and European affair, while other regional contributions and concerns have been left largely unexamined. An investigation of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s ‘Abnormal Weather Reports’ and related literature instead reveals the concerns of an island nation anxious about immediate weather abnormalities, causes of climate variability, and predicting the consequences of global warming within a geographically vulnerable Japan. Researchers initially focused on the topic of global cooling in the 1970s, sparking fears about Japan’s self-sustainability in the event of a long-term decline in temperatures. By the 1980s, though cooling fears persisted, focus also turned to how El Niño cycles provoked climatic variability, even as initial concern with global warming resulting from human activities, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and ozone depletion grew. Following the Kyoto Protocol’s recognition of anthropogenic climate change and creation of a global cooperative framework, research has begun to focus on the consequences of global warming in exacerbating Japan’s meteorological risks and on mitigating further anthropogenic temperature increases.


Author(s):  
Ann Bostrom

Mental models are the sets of causal beliefs we “run” in our minds to infer what will happen in a given event or situation. Mental models, like other models, are useful simplifications most of the time. They can, however, lead to mistaken or misleading inferences, for example, if the analogies that inform them are misleading in some regard. The coherence and consistency of mental models a person employs to solve a given problem are a function of that person’s expertise. The less familiar and central a problem is, the less coherent and consistent the mental models brought to bear on that problem are likely to be. For problems such as those posed by anthropogenic climate change, most people are likely to recruit multiple mental models to make judgments and decisions. Common types of mental models of climate change and global warming include: (a) a carbon emissions model, in which global warming is a result of burning fossil fuels thereby emitting CO2, and of deforestation, which both releases sequestered CO2 and decreases the possible sinks that might take CO2 out of the atmosphere; (b) a stratospheric ozone depletion mental model, which conflates stratospheric ozone depletion with global warming; (c) an air pollution mental model, in which global warming is viewed as air pollution; and (d) a weather change model, in which weather and climate are conflated. As social discourse around global warming and climate change has increased, mental models of climate change have become more complex, although not always more coherent. One such complexity is the belief that climate changes according to natural cycles and due to factors beyond human control, in addition to changes resulting from human activities such as burning fossil fuels and releasing other greenhouse gases. As our inference engines, mental models play a central role in problem solving and subjective projections and are hence at the heart of risk perceptions and risk decision-making. However, both perceiving and making decisions about climate change and the risks thereof are affective and social processes foremost.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2042 (1) ◽  
pp. 012182
Author(s):  
B Marshall ◽  
J Felkner ◽  
Z Nagy

Abstract This research project compared a standard vapor compression system and a standard desiccant dehumidification system with heat wheel to determine if there was some potential energy savings for “shoulder season” hours in Austin Texas. “Shoulder season” hours as defined in the paper are hours during which the dry bulb temperature falls within the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) comfort bound but the humidity is above the comfortable humidity point. These hours are normally addressed with vapor compression systems which dehumidify by cooling the air under the comfort setpoint to dehumidify, which is wasteful of energy. The study found that for these shoulder season hours a desiccant dehumidification system was around 4.5 times more energy efficient at reaching comfort setpoints if free heating was used for drying the desiccant.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
Magaille Hodambia ◽  
Sindi Dandala

This article aims to explain the impact of global warming on public health. The mechanism that occurs is that climate change affects environmental factors such as changes in environmental quality such as water quality, air and soil, depletion of the ozone layer, decreases in the quality and quantity of water resources, loss of ecosystem function and land degradation which in the end these factors will affect human health. . Global warming has shortened the mating cycle and growth of mosquitoes from eggs to larvae and adult mosquitoes, so that the population size will increase rapidly. The impact of global warming also affects ozone depletion, among others, the increasing intensity of ultraviolet rays reaching the earth's surface causing health problems, such as skin cancer, cataracts, decreased endurance, and the growth of genetic mutations. . It is also associated with high air temperature with decreased heart rate. A low heart rate can increase the risk of a heart attack.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Jan-Erik Lane

Now that the measure of CO2 emissions has broken through 410 on the standard Keeling curve (Earth CO2 website), one may start drawing a scenario for climate change repercussions, here for the Asian continent. It pollutes most of all continents in terms of both greenhouse gases and many other pollutants. The threats to mankind comes in the form of sea level rise, fresh water shortage, less of potable water, shrinking of lakes and rivers, deoxygenation of oceans, less fish food and agriculture produce, energy shortages, omnipresent air conditioning, urban smog, water and sea pollution due to sewage and failures with landfills. Asia, hosting more than half of mankind, will suffer massively from global warming with millions of ecological refugees. The UN’s program, the COP21 by the UNFCCC, cannot stop Asia from reaching Hawking irreversibility, because it entails too weak global governance that is cheatable. The promise of complete decarbonisation is an illusion.


This paper is focused on the relationship between ozone depletion and environmental climate change. Ozone (O3) depletion and global warming are not directly related to each other but have a common reason as pollutants released into the atmosphere by human activities which alter both phenomenal change. Global warming is incident of accumulation of higher level of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when hydrocarbons are used to generate electricity to run vehicles. Carbon dioxide spreads around the earth like a cover which is mainly responsible for the absorption of infrared radiation as a heat. Ozone depletion occurs when chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halon (halogen) gases are observed in aerosol. Practically, spray cans and refrigerants are the sources of CFCs. Ozone is available in the stratosphere and absorbs ultraviolet radiaton, which is very harmful to humans, animals and plants. By photochemical reaction ozone molecules are broken down by CFCs and halons, which are the primary substances in the chemical reactions, reducing ozone’s ultraviolet radiation-absorbing capacity.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document