Analyzing the Potential Hazards and Flammability of R-600a Refrigerant in Samsung Fridges

Recently I found shocking information about cooling agents that are starting to be used in new cars - it's about R-1234yf - take a look here: http://autokult.pl/11721,nowy-czynnik-do-klimatyzacji-cichy-zabojca

In short, in the event of a fire there is a dangerous hydrofluoric acid, which not only enters the body through the respiratory tract but even through the skin and kills. What's worse, it is so strong that it even dissolves glass. I also found somewhere that in the event of an average car fire, the entire underground parking lot of an average shopping mall is covered with this highly poisonous substance.

I began to wonder if similar sins also found their way to other places. I think about the popular and extremely flammable R-600a used in refrigerators. In my samsung it is 0.061 kg. I don't know if it's a lot or a little and if the refrigerator catches fire, what could be the consequences (and as you know, in the kitchen we often deal with fire, especially if we use gas). Has anyone been able to find reliable information about how big of a threat this R-600a is and is it also poisonous if it evaporates or if it additionally ignites? Somehow Google didn't throw away too much information.

And finally, was the freon also flammable? Because I found conflicting information.

R-600a is isobutane, which is the same as lighter gas.

Cool. How much gas in grams does an average size lighter have?

ken-wawa wrote:

... how much gas in grams does an average size lighter have?

- about 3g, which is 20 times less than in your car (if 0.061kg is true).
Weigh the "full" lighter and the "empty", you will know.

Not a car, but a refrigerator. By the way, if this factor disappeared from my refrigerator or in some way ignited (e.g. internal sparking), I would have a good fire.

Is freon also flammable? I found out from the net that it was neither toxic nor flammable. So I wonder why R-600a started to be used in home refrigerators. I can understand that due to the gingerbread effect in some large industrial installations it should be phased out, but on average I like having a "bomb" in my home kitchen.

Equally flammable and explosive is propane-butane, 11-kilogram cylinders of which are found in hundreds of thousands of kitchens in Poland.
And gas is refueled for cars.

The thread is suitable for Hydepark!

Turn off the gas, turn off the electricity, turn off the water, go down to the basement and cover yourself with the bathtub. And stop trolling ...

As long as you use the refrigerator as intended, you have nothing to fear.
Even in the event of a refrigerant leak, this amount is not dangerous. Unless there is a leak
inside the refrigerator, and you will look inside it and illuminate the interior with a candle.

I'm not sure, but isn't this R600a odorous enough that if there is a potentially explosive amount in the room, it will smell so bad that you will run away immediately?

Recently, a pressure test of LPG heating systems was carried out in a nearby bank in the city center. With the use of water. The water washed away the odorant, resulting in an intense "gas" smell in the neighborhood. Which resulted in ... the evacuation of the city hall located next to the building - because the administration of the office did not know about the works.

Can 60 g of butane spread even inside the refrigerator (not to mention the entire kitchen - assuming that the windows in the kitchen are closed) pose a risk of explosion?

A first-class fridge from the offer of a well-known electronics and household appliances chain. Typical, with a tall refrigerator at the top and a low freezer at the bottom. Let it be Samsung. Usable capacity of the refrigerator - 269 liters. This gives us the gas density in the refrigerator (until it has time to escape from it - and it is not perfectly tight, even though the tightness level must be high for efficient operation) 0.22 g / dm ^ 3. The question is whether this is a dangerous concentration.

I would think more about the possibility of unsealing to the inside and some kind of explosion in the event of a spark. I used to read about the Beko glaciers that burst into fire when opened, although the mechanism itself was not described. Of course, it can always be the case that an editor has a bit of a fancy to have something to write about. But the idea of a flammable coolant seems weak to me.

Coming back to the R600a, it has already been explained what it is. Usually it is not odorized, but it has an odor itself, although it is slightly perceptible.

In the first better MSDS for isobutane, I found the flammability range: 1.8 - 8.4 vol.%.
After superficial calculations for 60g of isobutane in the refrigerator with a capacity of 269l comes out about 8.5% vol. (calculations for normal conditions - i.e. 0 ° C and 1013hPa). So in the event of an ignition source, it could explode.
But there is nothing to worry about, because such leaks are unlikely to happen - unless someone likes to stab with a knife at the exchangers in the refrigerator ...

As for the factors themselves - now they are being changed precisely due to the mass of environmental protection regulations, etc. For this reason, the factors used at the very beginning of refrigeration, such as CO2, NH3, or various hydrocarbons such as butane or propane, are being returned to. Only that they have a significant disadvantage compared to "classic" freons (i.e. generally chlorine and fluorine derivatives of hydrocarbons) - lower density, which means that in order to transfer a given amount of heat, a larger volume of gas must be pumped. As a result, the compressors have to be larger and the systems are generally less efficient.

The worst thing is that, just like in the case of this factor for cars - companies are trying to make money here - and of course those who are responsible for the new regulations either do not know it completely or are completely corrupt ...

hauerdex wrote:

Only that they have a significant disadvantage compared to "classic" freons (i.e. generally chlorine and fluorine derivatives of hydrocarbons) - lower density, which means that in order to transfer a given amount of heat, a larger volume of gas must be pumped. As a result, the compressors have to be larger and the systems are generally less efficient.

hauerdex, thank you very much for a very professional statement!

By the way, you have touched on a very interesting topic, since you need to pump a larger volume of gas, I assume it causes more electricity consumption. Ok, today's refrigerators are much more economical than a dozen years ago, but as I suppose it may be due to the new technologies of compressors, etc. I wonder how much electricity consumption would drop, if with the current technology an analogous refrigerator as with R600a but with freon? Because it may turn out that this "ecology" is not worth much and, for example, electricity consumption is 20% higher, which on a global scale gives a huge difference ....

As for R-1234yf, it smells like a huge lapowka and it is very high ... Especially that if the EU was very committed to ecology, it would go to support CO2-based solutions.

As for halon extinguishers, there is another matter than "environmental protection" - namely the often used there carbon tetrachloride, the so-called "Tetra" in contact with a heated surface can decompose into phosgene - once used as a poisonous combat gas ...

How many cars have you seen burning after the accident? , I do not remember how I can remember, unless someone is mistaken the reality of a rambo movie, it will actually be a problem with a new factor you might as well groan that we are poisoned with cyanides from the process of burning the dashboard or upholstery, it's unbelievable that no one bothers and all the time they sit on a sponge which is deadly