Heat pumps are utilized over a wide range of applications and conditions. These range from space heating to industrial water heating.The choice of the refrigerant for vapor compression heat pumps has been largely determined by the temperatures of the source and sink fluids. With the phaseout of CFCs and HCFCs, a new set of working fluids will be required. The choice will be dictated by the combination of thermodynamic, transport, and safety properties and the practical limits imposed by manufacturing capabilities.This paper examines several of these applications in conjunction with the refrigerant characteristics to determine the most likely candidates for future applied heat pumps. The refrigerants that are considered include fluorocarbons, hydrocarbons, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.

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