Development History Of Refrigerants

In 1805, O. Evans originally proposed the idea of using volatile fluids in a closed cycle to freeze water into ice. He described this system, which evaporates ether under vacuum and pumps steam to a water-cooled heat exchanger, condenses it, and then uses it again. In 1834, Perkins first developed the steam compression refrigeration cycle and obtained a patent. In the steam compression refrigeration equipment he designed, diethyl ether (ethyl ether) was used as the refrigerant.
Early refrigerants were mostly flammable, toxic, or both, and some had strong corrosion and instability, or some had high pressure, which often led to accidents.
In the mid-19th century, mechanical refrigeration emerged. Jacob Perkins built the first practical machine in 1834. It uses ether as a refrigerant and is a vapor compression system. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and ammonia (NH3) were first used as refrigerants in 1866 and 1873, respectively. Other chemicals include chemical cyanide (petroleum ether and naphtha), sulfur dioxide (R-764), and methyl ether, which have been used as refrigerants for vapor compression. Its application is limited to industrial processes. Most food is still preserved using ice cubes collected in winter or prepared industrially.
At the beginning of the 20th century, refrigeration systems began to serve as a means of air conditioning for large buildings. The Melan Building located in San Antonio, Texas is the first fully air-conditioned high-rise office building
In 1926, Thomas Middley developed the first CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) machine using R-12 CFC family (chlorofluorocarbons) are non flammable, non-toxic (compared to sulfur dioxide), and have high energy efficiency. The machine began commercial production in 1931 and quickly entered household use. Willis Carrier developed the first commercial centrifugal refrigerator, ushering in an era of refrigeration and air conditioning.
In the 1930s, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrogen containing chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) refrigerants emerged.
In 1930, Mejere and his assistants finally selected chlorofluorocarbons 12 (CFC12, R12, CF2CI2) at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Atlanta, and commercialized them in 1931. In 1932, chlorofluorocarbons 11 (CFC11, R11, CFCI3) were also commercialized. Subsequently, a series of CFCs and HCFCs were developed and eventually mass-produced at DuPont in the United States, becoming the main snow species of the 20th century.
In the 1930s, a series of halogenated hydrocarbon refrigerants emerged one after another, and DuPont named them Freon. These substances have excellent performance, are non-toxic, non flammable, and can adapt to different temperature regions, significantly improving the performance of refrigerators. Several refrigerants have become common in air conditioning, including CFC-11. CFC-12 CFC-113CFC-114 and HCFC-22.2 began using azeotropic refrigerants in the 1950s.