ODP, GWP, safety classification of common refrigerants

The main indicators of the impact of refrigerants on the global environment are ozone depletion potential (ODP) and global warming potential (GWP); in addition to the impact on the environment, refrigerants should also have acceptable safety to protect people's lives and property.

ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential, ozone depletion potential)

ODP represents the ratio of the ability of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere to destroy the ozone layer to the ability of R11 to destroy the ozone layer, and the ODP of R11 = 1.0. The smaller the ODP value, the better the environmental characteristics of the refrigerant. According to current levels, refrigerants with an ODP value less than or equal to 0.05 are considered acceptable.

GWP (Global Warming Potential, global warming potential)

GWP is an indicator of the climate impact caused by greenhouse gas emissions, which means that within a certain period of time (20 years, 100 years, 500 years), the greenhouse effect of a certain greenhouse gas corresponds to the quality of CO2 with the same effect, and the GWP of CO2 = 1.0 . GWP is usually calculated based on 100 years and is recorded as GWP100. Both the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol use GWP100.

Safety classification of refrigerants

Refrigerants should have acceptable safety. Safety mainly includes toxicity and flammability. The national standard "Refrigerant Numbering Method and Safety Classification" GB/T 7778-2017 classifies the toxicity of refrigerants into Class A (low chronic toxicity). ), Class B (high chronic toxicity), the flammability is divided into Class 1 (no flame propagation), Class 2L (weakly flammable), Class 2 (flammable), and Class 3 (flammable and explosive). According to GB/T 7778-2017, the safety of refrigerants is subdivided into 8 categories, namely: A1, A2L, A2, A3, B1, B2L, B2, and B3. Among them, A1 is the safest and B3 is the most dangerous.