- Author
-
Womeldorf, C. A.
|
Grosshandler, W. L.
|
King, M. D.
- Title
- Refrigerant Flammability: A New Application of the Opposed-Flow Burner.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Combustion Institute/Eastern States Section. Chemical and Physical Processes in Combustion. Proceedings. Fall Technical Meeting. December 9-11, 1996,
Hilton Head, SC,
Westmoreland, P. R.; Smooke, M. D., Editors,
257-260 p.,
1996
- Keywords
-
refrigerants
|
combustion
|
counter flow burner
|
difluoromethane
|
flammability limits
|
flammability tests
|
reaction kinetics
- Abstract
- Due to concerns about the impact of cholorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on stratospheric ozone, new refrigerants are being evaluated by the air-conditioning and refrigerant industry to identify environmentally friendly replacements. These alternative refrigerants are primarily hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs); some of which, because of the additional hydrogen atoms, are flammable. In order to maintain the current building code requirement of non-flammable refrigerants, optimized mixtures which maximize efficiency while minimizing risk are desired. Current methods of measuring flammability of weakly flammable refrigerants have a large uncertainty and produce results which require operator interpretation. This work presents an alternative approach with reduced uncertainty and less subjectivity.