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The Use of Formaldehyde as a Refrigerant in Heat Pumps

Anita Kovac Kralj

A heating system sometimes needs a low temperature source such as low-pressure steam. The need for lowertemperature heat can be replaced using a heat pump. A heat pump is a machine or device that moves heat from one location to another location mechanically. Refrigerant within a heat pump is used as the working fluid. Different standard refrigerants (such as chlorofluorocarbons, hydro-fluorocarbon isobutene …) are cycled throughout the heat pump’s system. When replacing the standard refrigerant (1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane; R-134a) within the heat pump with formaldehyde under the same compressor power, the efficiency should increase. Heating with low pressure steam can be replaced by a heat pump under optimised compressor power (5 bar) by using formaldehyde as a refrigerant during the existing process. The use of formaldehyde as a refrigerant can enlarge the efficiency of a heat pump’s system by about 80 % during an existing process.