Why are there so many refrigerant blends? Why don the chemical producers get together to supply one or two refrigerant blend options?
Each refrigerant manufacturer has tried to differentiate itself by blending a technically better alternative refrigerant. Actually, most blends fall into a few categories and types. There are CFC-12 retrofit blends, and R-502 retrofit blends. The CFC-12 type blends either match CFC-12 in automotive A/C (hot) conditions, or refrigeration conditions. A few “low-temp” CFC-12 blends are available as well. Then there are the longer-term HFC blends for CFC-12, R-502, and HCFC-22 applications. The blends in any given category/ temperature range are very similar in properties, behavior, and they all present the same challenges such as fractionation (composition change).
