Lubricant Development to Meet
Lower GWP Refrigerant
Challenges
2014 Purdue Conference
Refrigerant & Lubricant
Design & Analysis I
Joe Karnaz
Global Technology Leader
July 17th, 2014
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What are the Challenges?
Miscibility Primary focus for
this discussion.
HFC - 32
Secondary focus
HFO Blends
for this discussion.
Solubility
HFO-1234ze(E)
HC (R-290)
Stability
HFO-1234yf
Maintaining Performance and Reliability
All new refrigerants
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Why are We Facing Challenges
• Refrigerants with High Global Warming Potential (GWP) Values
• Additional Concerns with:
• High Pressure
• Flammability
• Maintaining or Improving Performance
Refrigerant GWP Safety and Other Considerations Misc.
Rating of slightly flammable. Considered to be an R-134a
HFO- Class of compounds that has an replacement but potentially not a
1 unsaturated bond. drop-in. Currently used as a low
1234ze(E)
GWP foam blowing agent.
Rating of slightly flammable. Currently used in R-410A refrigerant
HFC-32 675 as a blend component at 50%.
Non-toxic and could be slightly Alternatives for HFC-404A; HFC-
flammable to non-flammable. 410A; HFC-134a and HCFC-22.
HFO Blends Various GWP values from 100 to 1000. Mainly blended with other HFC
refrigerants.
3
Industry Interaction
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Lubricant and Refrigerant Interaction Properties
Why are they important?
• Initial investigation for what combination will work best.
• Preliminary investigation into system optimization.
• Cost effective analysis.
• Able to evaluate in a timely manner.
Important Interactions
• Miscibility
• Solubility / Working Viscosity
• Stability
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Miscibility
Lower Critical
IMMISCIBLE Solution
Temperature
(CST)
TEMPERATURE
MISCIBLE
Upper Critical
Solution
Temperature
IMMISCIBLE (CST)
CONCENTRATION
6
Solubility
7
Pressure-Viscosity-Temperature (PVT)
400
200
1.5 bar
100
50
30
20
2 bar
10
7
Kinematic Viscosity, cSt
5
2.5 bar
3 bar
0% neat lube
3
4 bar
5 bar
2 5%
6 bar
8 bar
10%
10 bar
12.5bar
15 bar
1
0.75 20%
0.5 5.5339822
30%
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
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8
Stability
• Quick way to evaluate a
refrigeration system
• Test compatibility of materials
• Evaluate system reliability
New Oil 8 Weeks 9
Lubricant Optimization
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HFC -32 – Miscibility
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HFC -32 – Working Viscosity
Maintaining Miscibility but what is sacrificed?
Miscibility, Working Viscosity at Max
POE Viscosity Refrigerant
10% Load Condition
VG 32 (Current) HFC-410A -35°C 7.2 cSt
VG 32 (New) HFC-32 -35°C 5.5 cSt
VG68 (Current) HFC-410A -15°C 12.0 cSt
VG68 (New) HFC-32 -15°C 9.0 cSt
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HFC -32 – Working Viscosity
Making changes to improve viscosity.
Miscibility, Working Viscosity at Max
POE Viscosity Refrigerant
10% Load Conditions
VG 32 (Current) HFC-410A -35°C 7.2 cSt
VG 32 (New) HFC-32 -35°C 5.5 cSt
VG32 (Current) HFC-32 10°C 6.0 cSt
Viscosity
HFC-32 5°C 6.9 cSt
Change
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Solubility – HFO-1234ze(E)
R-134a and HFO-1234ze(E) Comparison
600C and 7.5 bar; Viscosity at 400C
% Dilution and Dilution
POE Lubricant and
R-134a 15% 22 cSt
POE Lubricant and
HFO-1234ze(E) 25% 7 cSt
14
Working Viscosity – HFO1234ze(E)
120
100
Working Viscosity
Viscosity vs. Temperature
80 3 Bar
cSt
R-134a
60
Viscosity Change
HFO-1234ze(E)
40
20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0C
15
Working Viscosity – HFO1234ze(E)
14
12 Working Viscosity
Viscosity vs. Temperature
10
10 Bar
8
cSt
R-134a
Viscosity Change
6
HFO-1234ze(E)
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0C
16
Working Viscosity – HFO1234ze(E)
25
Working Viscosity
20 Viscosity vs. Temperature
10 Bar
15
cSt
R-134a
Chemistry Change
10 HFO-1234ze(E)
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0C
17
Miscibility – HFO/HFC Blends
ISO ISO ISO
32 32 68 First Look!
10% -15 -25 0
POE Lubricants
• HFO refrigerants blended with
HFC refrigerants can have
20% -10 -20 5 similar properties to some HFC
refrigerants.
• Whether HFO-1234yf or HFO-
ISO ISO ISO 1234ze(E) is used could dictate
if slight changes are required to
32 32 68
maintain miscibility properties.
• Overall POE lubricants can be
10% -30 -25 -20
used with both HFO and
HFO/HFC blends of
20% -20 -20 -15 refrigerants.
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Conclusions
• Challenges exist when changes are made.
• Some lower GWP refrigerants could require investigation
for optimization with lubricants.
• HFC-32 and HFO-1234ze(E) appear to behave different
than some traditional refrigerants regarding miscibility,
solubility and working viscosity.
These properties will need to be measured and not
estimated or modeled for accurate evaluation.
• Lubricants like POE typically used with HFC refrigerants
are good options for HFO/HFC refrigerant blends.
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Thank You
© 2014 CPI. All rights reserved.
