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;
(ii) a fire hazard-reducing agent comprising iron (II) carbonate; and
(iii) at least one lubricant suitable for use with refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus.
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 a mixture, said mixture comprising at least one non-flammable refrigerant.
4. The composition of claim 1 further comprising at least one additive selected from the group consisting of anticorrosion, anti-wear, stabilizer and lubricity additives.
5. The composition of claim 1 , 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.
6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the flammable refrigerant comprises R-32.
7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the flammable refrigerant comprises R-152a.
8. A method for reducing fire hazard in or in the vicinity of a refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus, said method comprising:
(i) combining a fire-hazard reducing agent comprising iron (II) carbonate with a flammable refrigerant; and
(ii) introducing the combination into the refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus containing at least one lubricant suitable for use with refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus.
9. A method for reducing fire hazard in or in the vicinity of a refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus, said method comprising:
(i) combining a fire-hazard reducing agent comprising iron (II) carbonate with at least one lubricant suitable for use with refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus; and
(ii) introducing the combination into the refrigeration or air-conditioning apparatus containing a flammable refrigerant.