Abstract
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been in rapid growth in recent years, which resulted in an electricity consumption surge. The building sector consumes approximately 80 % of electricity, and air conditioners (A/Cs) are responsible for 50 % of that because of hot weather conditions. The dominant refrigerants in A/Cs are R22, a phase-out refrigerant yet used in old units, and R410A, which are supplied by different manufacturers and are sold at different prices. Refrigerant manufacturing is a complex process, and any deviation in the composition will have a direct impact on A/C performance. The present work aims to examine the quality of R22 and R410A refrigerants supplied from seven different manufacturers and imported to Saudi Arabia. System testing was conducted according to Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization cooling testing standards, and gas composition analysis was conducted using gas chromatography. Cooling load and coefficient of performance as well as the chemical composition of all seven refrigerants were tested and compared. Testing results have indicated that there is no cooling performance difference between different refrigerants manufacturers. Nevertheless, chemical composition testing showed slight differences between the tested refrigerants. In conclusion, refrigerants testing is recommended in order to maintain the quality of refrigerants.