Safety aspects for the R290 (propane) as working medium in small air conditioning installations

Abstract

Following the entry into force of the Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases and repealing Regulation (EC) No 842/2006, the scope of refrigerants, which have so far been commonly used is very limited. All preferred refrigerants are mostly flammable and explosive, and they include R32, R1234yf, R1234ze, R290 (propane), R600a (isobutane), R717 (ammonia). However, it should be noted that refrigerants such as R32, R1234yf, R1234ze are classified as mildly flammable and has been created for them, in accordance with ISO 817 standard, special group called A2L. It is also worth noting that the new classification moved ammonia to the group B2L - that means is toxic and mildly flammable. The article focuses on defining the conditions in which there is possible to build safely split installation in which the propane is a refrigerant. It turns out that small splits are devices which can be used safely with R290 in most cases.