12a – Highly Efficient Hydrocarbon Refrigerant

Hydrocarbon refrigerants are considered around the World to be superb professional refrigeration products and are widely used outside of North America in a full range of applications and systems. RED TEK 12a is a highly refined Hydrocarbon product formulated and blended to replace R12 and R134a refrigerants in existing installations with few, if any, modifications to an existing system.

RED TEK 12a, a proprietary blended, highly efficient Hydrocarbon refrigerant, is designed as a direct replacement and retrofit refrigerant option for replacing R134a and R12 substitutes in automotive air conditioning and refrigeration systems. 12a operates at lower head pressures and offers improved cooling properties and performance versus R134a and R12.

Health & Safety

RED TEK 12a does not become caustic when contaminated with moisture or oxygen. Non-toxic, non-carcinogen, autoignition temperature about 1385F. No long term health risks have been attributed to RED TEK 12a refrigeration. Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are available and provided on all Red Tek refrigerants.

• HC’s are considered flammable gases in concentrations of 1.9% and 8.5% of the total amount of air volume contained in a sealed or enclosed space.

Due to the smaller amounts of Alkane refrigerants required in an air conditioning system, this is not a relevant issue and has been addressed through several extensive liability risk assessments carried out on these products. It is essential to know that outside of the North American marketplace, Hydrocarbon refrigerants make up approximately 50% of the refrigerant used throughout the World.

• Contact with liquid refrigerant will cause freeze burn (like frostbite), which should be treated by washing the area with cold or tepid water. Medical attention may be necessary.
• RED TEK 12a is heavier than air and will, therefore, tend to collect in pits, trenches, basements, and well-type display cases/chest freezers. Such areas should be ventilated to disperse vapor.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Alkane / Hydrocarbon refrigerants are extraordinarily efficient and effective. RED TEK 12a has been formulated and blended to give similar capacities as R12 and R134a, making it simple to use in existing R12 and R134a systems.

RED TEK 12a has been designed, formulated, and blended to operate with similar system pressures as R12.

At evaporating conditions in the system, the pressure of RED TEK 12a will be slightly higher than either R12 or R134a, and in condensing conditions, the pressure of RED TEK 12a will be lower. RED TEK 12a will, therefore, operate with a lower compression ratio, thus improving the operational characteristics of the compressor by significantly lowering high side compressor pressures.

The discharge temperature of RED TEK 12a is similar to R12 and R134a at the same evaporating and condensing temperatures.

As with zeotropic formulations, RED TEK 12a has a temperature glide. When reviewing the RED TEK pressure/temperature charts, you will see the two temperatures (the bubble temperature and dew temperature) correspond to each pressure. The bubble temperature is the saturated liquid temperature (the temperature of the refrigerant when it is pure liquid, but not subcooled), and the dew temperature is the saturated vapor temperature (the temperature of the coolant when it is pure vapor, but not superheated).

When a refrigerant boils, the composition of the vapor may not be the same as the liquid; the vapor could be more abundant in the component with the lower boiling temperature.

At the inlet of the evaporator, the temperature of the refrigerant will be higher than the bubble point because some of the refrigerants will already have flashed off during expansion.

As the refrigerant flows through the evaporator, its boiling point rises as the composition of the liquid phase changes. The evaporating temperature will, therefore, increase as the refrigerant flows through the evaporator, and more of the refrigerant evaporates.

This is known as the temperature glide. In practice, it will not be as much as indicated by the difference in the bubble and dew temperatures on the charts and is in line with other refrigerant blends currently available throughout the Industry.

The same effect occurs in the condenser. In this case, the condensing temperature will decrease through the condenser. There are other effects regarding temperature glide which apply to all zeotropic blends.

• Build upon evaporator may be uneven due to the change in evaporating temperature through the evaporator.
• Where a thermostatic expansion valve is used, slight adjustments will ensure the refrigerant is superheated vapor when it leaves the evaporator.
• The composition of the blend may be different in the vapor state. The refrigerant should, therefore, always be charged as a liquid through the low side service fitting.

RED TEK 12a has a lower density (but higher latent heat per unit weight and better thermal conductivity) than R12. In practice, this means the charge required, in weight terms, is lower than for R12 and R134a to give the same volumetric flow rate and the same capacity.

The charge for RED TEK 12a is 35% of that required for R12 by weight, and 40% of that needed for R134a by weight. Significantly less product is used to complete the same function.

Does RED TEK 12a™ need EPA approval?

RED TEK 12a™ is a second-generation, non-ozone depleting replacement for R-134a and all other non-ozone depleting R-12 substitutes. The EPA’s Final Rule, issued April 1, 1994, states: “In this final rule, the Agency has determined that second-generation replacements if they are non-ozone depleting and are replacing non-ozone depleting first-generation alternatives, are exempt from reporting requirements under Section 612”.