New Mobile Air Conditioning Fluid HFO-1234YF – In Car Performance

Abstract

The dominant mobile air conditioning refrigerant has come under scrutiny recently due to its high global warming potential. Legislated regulations have dictated that an alternative must be found at least for the European automotive market. Leading contenders in the synthetic sphere appear to be the drop-in replacements R152a and the more recently developed HFO-1234yf. Both of these potential R134a replacements have some flammability concerns but cause no ozone depletion (neither does R134a) and a significantly reduced global warming potential in comparison to R134a. This paper examines the in-vehicle testing of the refrigerants as confirmation for the extensive laboratory testing of the cooling performance and the coefficient of performance.