Refrigerant Flammability: A New Application of the Opposed-Flow Burner.
Refrigerant Flammability: A New Application of the
Opposed-Flow Burner.
(123 K)
Womeldorf, C. A.
NISTIR 5904; October 1996.
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Annual
Conference on Fire Research: Book of Abstracts.
October 28-31, 1996, Gaithersburg, MD, 145-146 pp, 1996.
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
Order number: PB97-153514
Keywords:
fire research; fire science; refrigerants; flammability;
burners
Abstract:
Due to concerns about the impact of cholorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) on the earth's 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 requirement of
non-flammable refrigerants, optimized mixtures which
maximize efficiency while minimizing risk are desired.
Current methods of measuring of flammability for 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 operator interpretation.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899