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Refrigerant Compatibility with Elastomers

The document discusses material compatibility issues when converting refrigeration systems from R22 to alternative refrigerants. It notes that while metals generally show similar compatibility to R22, alternative refrigerants and oils can dissolve materials from elastomers and plastics, compromising seals and leaving deposits. A table shows compatibility of common elastomers and plastics with different refrigerants and oils, and it is recommended to replace all elastomer and plastic components when converting to a new refrigerant.

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Rob Bossie
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26 views1 page

Refrigerant Compatibility with Elastomers

The document discusses material compatibility issues when converting refrigeration systems from R22 to alternative refrigerants. It notes that while metals generally show similar compatibility to R22, alternative refrigerants and oils can dissolve materials from elastomers and plastics, compromising seals and leaving deposits. A table shows compatibility of common elastomers and plastics with different refrigerants and oils, and it is recommended to replace all elastomer and plastic components when converting to a new refrigerant.

Uploaded by

Rob Bossie
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

O RING Material properties

Problems with metallic materials are rather seldom when converting to a R22 substitute. Examples that can be stated in this context are the change to NH3 in R22 plants used to work with Cu materials. Hydrocarbons as well as HFCs show the same compatibility towards metallic materials as R22. Copper plating can occur, if acids develop in the refrigeration cycle due to insufficient evacuation and/or residues of chloric refrigerants or rinsing substances respectively. The material behaviour towards plastics and elastomers is different. Refrigerants and oil are able to dissolve filler materials and plasticisers from elastomer materials making them unusable for their use in refrigeration cycles. Consequences are component failure (e.g. shaft sealing ring) and deposits of dissolved materials from the elastomer material in the refrigeration cycle. R22 refrigeration oil systems show different dissolving characteristics towards these materials than substitutes. Therefore, all elastomers and plastics in contact with refrigerants / refrigeration oil should commonly be exchanged with the conversion to a new refrigerant in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions for the component. Table 4 provides a summary of elastomers and plastics used: Material NR BR EPDM CR NBR HNBR FKM PBT PA Refrigerant R22 o + + o - - + + R134a + + + + + + - + + Propane6 + + + + R407C + + + + + + - + + R417A + + + + + o - + + R422A-D + + + + + + - + + R427A + + + + + + - + + R428A o o + + o o - + R507 + + + + + + - + + Ammonia3 + + + - o o Propylene - - + + Refrigeration oils Mineral oil o - - + + + + Alkylbenzene o--++++ Polyolester o o + o + + Table 4: Compatibility with elastomers and plastics

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