Compositions and methods for reducing fire hazard of flammable refrigerants
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to compositions comprising flammable refrigerant, fire hazard-reducing agent, and optionally a lubricant suitable for use in a refrigeration or air conditioning apparatus. Further, the present invention relates to compositions comprising lubricant and fire hazard-reducing agent and methods for reducing flammability of flammable refrigerant, for delivering a fire hazard-reducing agent to a refrigeration or air conditioning apparatus, and for replacing a non-flammable refrigerant with a flammable refrigerant.
1. A composition comprising:
(i) at least one flammable refrigerant; and
(ii) at least one fire hazard-reducing agent comprising an antimony oxide.
2. The composition of claim 1 wherein said flammable refrigerant is selected from the group consisting of hydrofluorocarbons, fluoroethers, hydrocarbon ethers, hydrocarbons, ammonia and mixtures thereof.
3. The composition of claim 1 wherein said flammable refrigerant is selected from hydrofluorocarbons, hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon ethers, and mixtures thereof.
4. The composition of claim 3 wherein said flammable refrigerant is selected from the group consisting of difluoromethane, fluoromethane, 1,1,1- trifluoroethane, 1,1-difluoroethane, fluoroethane, 1,1,1-trifluoropropane, propane, propylene, cyclopropane, n-butane, isobutane, n-pentane, dimethyl ether, and mixtures thereof.
5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said flammable refrigerant is a mixture, said mixture comprising at least one non-flammable refrigerant.
6. the composition of claim 5 , wherein said non-flammable refrigerant is selected from the group consisting of R134a, R23, R125, R236fa, R245fa, carbon dioxide, and mixtures thereof.
7. The composition of claim 1 further comprising at least one lubricant suitable for use with refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus.
8. The composition of claim 1 further comprising at least one additive selected from the group consisting of anticorrosion, anti-wear, stabilizer and lubricity additives.
9. The composition of claim 1 wherein the flammable refrigerant comprises R-32.
10. The composition of claim 1 wherein the flammable refrigerant comprises R-152a.
11. A method for reducing fire hazard in refrigeration apparatus or air conditioning apparatus, said method comprising introducing the composition of claim 1 into said refrigeration apparatus or air conditioning apparatus.
12. A composition comprising:
(i) a fire hazard-reducing agent suitable for use with a flammable refrigerant comprising at least one antimony oxide; (ii) a flammable refrigerant; and (iii) a lubricant suitable for use with refrigeration or air conditioning apparatus.
13. The composition of claim 1 or 12 wherein said fire hazard reducing agent is an oxide salt.
14. The composition of claim 1 or 12 wherein said fire hazard reducing agent is selected from the group consisting of antimony trioxide and antimony pentoxide.
15. The composition of claim 7 or 12 wherein said lubricant is selected from the group consisting of mineral oils, paraffins, naphthenes, synthetic paraffins, alkylbenzenes, poly-alpha-olefins, polyalkylene glycols, polyvinyl ethers, polyol esters and mixtures thereof.
16. A method of using a fire-hazard reducing agent comprising an antimony oxide, said method comprising combining a flammable refrigerant with said fire-hazard reducing agent in a refrigeration or air conditioning apparatus.