The objective of this project was to determine the solubility of water in the two chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) alternatives R123 and R134a at a number of different temperatures in the range of -13 deg F (-25 deg C) to 140 deg F (60 deg C). Even though the Karl Fischer method is often recommended as the accepted standard procedure, high-field, high-resolution NMR spectroscopy was used to measure the solubility of water in R123 and R134a. The aim was to develop a simpler, faster, and more reliable method around NMR spectroscopy. The study was modelled after a recent report on the determination of the solubility of water in carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and dichloromethane by proton (1H) NMR spectroscopy (Wu 1981). Measurements at a minimum of 13 different temperatures were made on each liquid refrigerant saturated with water but without any oil. In addition, a room temperature determination was attempted on the vapour phase of each refrigerant.

KEYWORDS: refrigerants, R123, R134a, moisture, solubility, water, hydrocarbons, fluorocarbons, temperature, spectrometers, measuring, room temperature, calculating