The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the selection of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Technology Institute (AHRTI), the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute’s (AHRI) research arm for a $2 million funding award to conduct essential research on low-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. The program will develop an essential low-GWP refrigerant database in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It will provide U.S. manufacturers with accurate refrigerant data to design, manufacture, and commercialize efficient and reliable HVACR products using environmentally friendly refrigerants.

As part of the program, ORNL will develop heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for new refrigerants, which will be used to design and optimize heat exchangers. For its part, NIST will measure property data of low-GWP refrigerant blends and implement them into the NIST Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database (REFPROP). The more accurate data will improve confidence in the selection and optimization of blends for particular applications. AHRTI will establish a database for the thermal and chemical stability of low-GWP refrigerants, including lubricants and the long-term compatibility with materials commonly used in air-conditioning and refrigeration systems.