R290 (Propane), What you need to know w/ Embraco
HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs
Bryan Orr
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2019
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we speak with Embraco about R290 (Propane) refrigerant, hydrocarbons, and what you need to know about them. Embraco is primarily focused on compressors and is involved in the residential and light commercial market.
The greater demand for natural refrigerants or hydrocarbons has made R290 popular. Hydrocarbons have hydrogen and carbon chains; although these refrigerants are very similar to grill propane, they are much drier and purer. R170 is another hydrocarbon for very low-temperature refrigeration. In some European countries, R290 and CO2 are becoming much more prevalent than synthetic solutions. China has invested a lot in hydrocarbon technology, and the United States has shown interest in using hydrocarbons for auto coolers and natural refrigerants for grocery refrigeration.
R290 is flammable, but most techs' aversion to working on those systems likely stems from a fear of the unknown. These systems have several safety controls that prevent gas leakage from getting in contact with sparks. So, these systems rarely ever catch fire. Embraco also has a commitment to putting safety first when they design compressors.
You can also vent R290 to the environment, which you can't do with many other refrigerants. Unlike other refrigerants, R290 has a very low global warming potential. R290 and CO2 are not perfect, but they will be the future as we move away from ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.
R290 is also making its way into the residential sector. You can find it in smaller applications, such as mini-fridges and even some other domestic refrigerators.
We also discuss:
- Overloads and why systems aren't as flammable as they seem
- Terminal venting
- Embraco's design goals and philosophy
- Contamination and evacuation
Links:
http://naturalrefrigerants.info/
http://embraco.com/Default.aspx?tabid=40
Learn more about Refrigeration Technologies HERE.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And the This episode of the HVAC School Podcast is made possible by our great sponsors, carrier |
| 0:21.3 | and carrier.com. |
| 0:23.0 | Speed Clean at speed clean.com. |
| 0:25.0 | They make all kinds of really nice cleaning equipment and solutions really. |
| 0:29.0 | It's a full solutions and one product that I really like that they make is called |
| 0:32.6 | coil jet. It's for cases where it may be tricky for you to get water or water at |
| 0:37.5 | the pressure you're looking for to the location where you need it. Really good |
| 0:42.1 | on remote condenser,ers if you have split |
| 0:44.4 | air conditioners or split condensers on refrigeration systems. |
| 0:48.3 | The coil jet is made in two different models. There's a battery powered model and |
| 0:51.8 | then there's a plug-in model that has also a hose |
| 0:54.0 | connection for filling or for use directly on a hose. So there's some interesting products |
| 0:57.5 | that they make in that line and then they also make the Duckless Bibb cleaning kit that we use at Kalo. It's very nice kind of bucket kit. |
| 1:03.7 | Everything all comes in one kit and you've got what you need to clean a duckless system in place. |
| 1:08.0 | And then I always have to mention refrigeration technologies. They are just a great company. John and Mike Pasterello run that company out of |
| 1:15.0 | California. They've been on the podcast many times and they make the big blue soap bubbles, leak |
| 1:20.4 | reactant, whatever you choose there there and then they also make the |
| 1:23.6 | Nylog product which we use on all of our flares and all of our threaded |
| 1:26.9 | fittings in the refrigerant circuit it's not going to cause problems later on if you've got |
| 1:30.8 | to pull the fittings apart it doesn't get hard and it does a |
| 1:33.5 | really nice job of sealing up without contaminating the system because it's |
| 1:36.4 | actually made from refrigeration oil. You can find out more about them about |
... |
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