Natural refrigerant

Natural refrigerants are considered substances that serve as refrigerants in refrigeration systems (including refrigerators, HVAC, and air conditioning). They are alternatives to synthetic refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) based refrigerants. Unlike other refrigerants, natural refrigerants can be found in nature and are commercially available thanks to physical industrial processes like fractional distillation, chemical reactions such as Haber process and spin-off gases. The most prominent of these include various natural hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and water. Natural refrigerants are preferred actually in new equipment to their synthetic counterparts for their presumption of higher degrees of sustainability. With the current technologies available, almost 75 percent of the refrigeration and air conditioning sector has the potential to be converted to natural refrigerants. Synthetic refrigerants have been used in refrigeration systems since the creation of CFCs and HCFCs in 1929. When these refrigerants leak out of systems and into the atmosphere they can have adverse results on the ozone layer and global warming. CFC refrigerants contain carbon, fluorine, and chlorine and become a significant source of inorganic chlorine in the stratosphere after their photolytic decomposition by UV radiation. Released chlorine also becomes active in destroying the ozone layer. HCFCs have shorter atmospheric lifetimes than CFCs due to their addition of hydrogen, but still have adverse effects on the environment from their chlorine elements. HFCs do not contain chlorine and have short atmospheric lives, but still absorb infrared radiation to contribute to the greenhouse effect from their fluorine elements. In 1987 the Montreal Protocol first acknowledged these dangers and banned the use of CFCs by 2010. A 1990 amendment included agreements to phase out the use of HCFCs by 2020 with production and import being eliminated by 2030.