To reduce the direct emissions from the building sector caused by the utilization of fossil fuels, electrification of heating has been considered the main strategy for achieving net-zero emissions. Among many heat pump systems, VRF systems have been widely used in commercial buildings. However, VRF systems have a large amount of refrigerant inventory. Therefore, a non-hazardous and low-GWP refrigerant to replace R410A should be dropped in existing R410A-based VRF systems. For the drop-in, compatibility between a new refrigerant and existing oil is the key factor. In this study, R466A was dropped in the R410A compressor test loops to confirm the compatibility. As a result, compressor test loops operated for 500 hours without any problem.
Oh, B.S., Lee, G., Choi, B., Ra, H., Na, S., Shin, H., Kang, E., Lee, B., Cho, J., Lee, Y. and Cho, J. (2024). 'Oil compatibility study of R466A for replacing R410A by using compressor test loops'. SET Proceedings, 21(1), pp. 71-76. https://doi.org/10.65582/set.2024.009
