Several compounds proposed as near-term or longer range substitutes for the regulated chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) refrigerants were tested in a breadboard vapour-compression circuit, and their performance was evaluated relative to more commonly used refrigerants. The limited physical property information available in the literature for these alternative compounds was used to fit an equation of state so coefficients of performance (COP) and capacities calculated from refrigerant property subroutines could be compared to those obtained experimentally. Comparisons of measured and modelled performance are given for 11 alternatives and for R22, R12 and R114. Estimates of compressor efficiency with each refrigerant are provided. Several of the alternatives exhibited better performance than the more widely used refrigerants at some or all of the conditions tested. Ozone-safe, alternative refrigerants that performed better than CFC counterparts at selected conditions are R152a, R143a, R134a, and R142b.

KEYWORDS: experiment, performance, ozone, refrigerants, coefficient of performance, fluorocarbons, testing, calculating, comparing, measuring, R22, R12, R114, compressors, efficiency, R152a, R143a, R134a, R142b, refrigerants.