A refrigerant plays a vital role in a variety of refrigeration – but what is a refrigerant and what does it do?
- A refrigerant is used in a variety of cooling systems from walk-in freezers, air conditioning units to fridges, and it comes in a chemical form.
- Refrigeration units rely on chemical reactions of a variety of refrigeration gases to decrease heat in a concentrated locale.
- Modern gases and refrigerants have come a long way and have replaced gases that were unsafe in the past.
- Perhaps the best way to monitor refrigerants is by using a refrigerant monitor – the monitors use stable and highly photo-acoustic infrared technology (PIR) to detect refrigerant gases.
- The monitors feature high immunity to interfering conditions and substances commonly found in traditional electromechanical detectors, such as turbulence, humidity, cleaning agents and solvents.
- While traditional non-disruptive infrared units have inherent zero drift, which leads to erroneous gas readings – the instruments of today have a more solid zero reading resulting in precise results.
- Refrigerants were developed in the 19th century.
- Thaddeus Lowe from America created complex systems using chemicals to draw heat from enclosed areas, creating a refrigerated area.
- A refrigeration system is totally dependent on storing refrigerant gas or gases creating reactions in a controlled environment.
- In the past gases such as ammonia and methyl chloride were most commonly used in refrigeration, but these were highly toxic, often causing accidents; refrigerants are much safer today and are not as harmful to the environment.
- Refrigeration is much advanced in today’s modern world and uses a fraction of the chemicals that were used in the past.
- There are stringent restrictions in place regarding the disposal of refrigerants in order to protect the environment.
MACS Cool is one of the forerunners of refrigerants in Southern Africa boasting a long-standing track record, implementing rigid regulations regarding all refrigerants and gases. Random checks are carried out on all gas to ensure optimum safety and impurity.
