Refractive Indices of Fluids Related to Alternative Refrigerants

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Development of alternative refrigerants is crucial for environmental protection.
• Accurate chemical analysis methods are needed for characterizing these new compounds.
• Existing data for physical properties of alternative refrigerants are often incomplete.

Purpose of the Study:

• To contribute to the development of chemical analysis methods for alternative refrigerants.
• To measure and provide refractive index data for alternative refrigerant fluids.
• To expand the available database of physical properties for compound identification.

Main Methods:

• Compilation of a database including spectral, chromatographic, and physical property data.
• Measurement of refractive indices for selected alternative refrigerant fluids.
• Utilized a digital Abbe refractometer modified for low-temperature measurements (0 °C to 20 °C).

Main Results:

• Successfully measured refractive indices for several alternative refrigerant fluids.
• Generated new physical property data for compounds lacking prior information.
• The measured data can aid in the identification and characterization of these fluids.

Conclusions:

• The measured refractive indices provide valuable data for the chemical analysis of alternative refrigerants.
• This work supports the broader effort to establish comprehensive analytical methods.
• The data will assist in the identification and quality control of alternative refrigerant products.