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Structure Effect of Refrigeration Polyolester Oils Use in HFC-134a Compressors
Structure Effect of Refrigeration Polyolester Oils Use in HFC-134a Compressors
Structure Effect of Refrigeration Polyolester Oils Use in HFC-134a Compressors
J.-C. Remigy, E. Nakache, ISMRA, CNRS URA 480, Caen, France, and P.D.
Brechot, Mobil Oil Francaise, Research Centre, Notre Dame de
Gravenchon, France
INTRODUCTION
Since late 1995, to comply with the Montreal protocol and its amendments,
CFC has no longer been manufactured.’ This protocol has brought about im-
portant modifications in refrigeration technology, and has made it necessary
to find suitable materials for refrigeration systems that are compatible with the
new refrigerants. In particular, the choice of lubricant is crucial, since the re-
liability of the compressor cannot be assured without a suitable lubricant. The
new refrigerants proposed as replacements for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
The leading substitute for CFC-12 (CCl,F,) is HFC-134a (CF,-CH,F).
This refrigerant is not compatible (i.e. is immiscible) with conventional refrig-
eration oils (e.g. mineral oil, polyalphaolefins, alkylbenzenes). Two oils that
have been found to be miscible with HFC-134a are polyalkylene glycols
(PAG) and polyolesters (POE). PAGs are so hygroscopic that the water ab-
sorbed can produce damage to the refrigeration system. POEs are less
~ - ~ PAGs, and several studies show their good thermal and
h y g r o s ~ o p i cthan
chemical ~tability.~.’
The oils used in this study are available commercially. The POE oils have the
same basic structure (similar to a pentaerythritol structure) and different num-
bers of ester groups: neopentylglycol esters (NPG)have two ester groups, tri-
methylolpropane esters (TMP) have three ester groups, pentaerythritol esters
(PE) have four ester groups, and dipentaerythritol esters (DPE) have six ester
groups. Typical properties of these esters are presented in Table 1.
Miscibility
Lubricant miscibility with HFC-134a was tested in sealed glass tubes with a
mixture of 10% vol. oil in 90% vol. refrigerant. The tubes were immersed in
Tribological properties
60
50
40
2 30
a 20
!! 10
ln
a 0
-5
-
0
.-
-10
-20
-30
P -40
2
._ -50
r -60 I I I I I I
-70
3
rTi
5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
Principal acid chain carbon number
MISCIBILITY
Lubricant miscibility with a liquid refrigerant is one of the most important re-
quirements for trouble-free operation of any refrigeration system. Lubricant
miscibility is critical in flooded evaporators, because a phase separation will
lead to poor oil return and poor lubrication. Miscibility is a key factor in any
non-flooded evaporator, because the separated lubricant forms a layer which
creates additional heat transfer resistance.
Miscibility varies with the chemical structure of the base oil. Figure 1
shows that aliphatic or aromatic oils, such as mineral oil, polyalphaolefin and
alkylbenzene, are immiscible, whereas the others show either partial or total
miscibility.
The miscibility temperature of an ester varies with its type and chemical
structure, so selected polyolesters are miscible with HFC- 134a, unlike diesters
or aromatic esters. The miscibility of POE depends on the structure of the al-
cohol and acid used to manufacture the ester.
Figure 2 shows that the miscibility temperature depends strongly on the
acid chain length: for the same alcohol, an ester with a 5-carbon acid is very
miscible, whereas a 9-carbon acid is not. A branched chain acid is more mis-
cible than a linear chain acid (with the same carbon number); for example, an
ester of pentaerythritol and 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoic acid (PE-iC9) has a
70
60
50
40
g 30
2 20
!! 10
al
--&
a 0
-10
& -20
.-
._ -30
a -40
.4 -50
-60
-70
-80
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Hydroxyl number
Tribological properties
,---/--
PE-nC7: highly hindered ester groups NPG-nC7: less hindered ester groups
6,000
-z 5,000
g
7J
4,000
-
$ 3,000
.-N
$ 2,000
-Steel-on-steel
- - - - - Aluminium-on-steel
1,000
1.000
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Acid chain length in terms of carbon number
Steel-on-steel
6,000
5,000
z
h
'0 4,000
8
- 3,000
2?
3
.-a, 2,000
N
(0
1,000
-
n ~~
6,000
-z 5,000
u 4,000
8
-
2?
.-a, 3,000
(0
- - - - - - - Aluminium-on-steel
2,000
1,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Hydroxyl number
Figure 6 shows variation of seizure load versus acid chain length. What-
ever the type of metallurgy considered, linear acids (PE-nC9, DPE-nC9) con-
fer higher seizure load and better anti-wear properties on the polyolester than
do the branched acids (PE-iC9, DPE-iD9).
The influence of the ester group number on tribological properties is
shown in Figure 7.Whatever the type of metallurgy considered, an optimum
is reached in seizure load versus the number of hydroxyl groups (i.e. the num-
ber of ester groups of the ester) for pentaerythritol ester (four ester groups).
oh /
Trimethylolpropane ester Dipentaerythritol ester
120
* 100
iii
PE: branched chain acid
.-V
iii
$ 20 ._._._._.....-.-
C
3
t 7 ! 1 , l , l ,
1
I , l
0
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Total carbon number
The increase in seizure load with the increasing number of ester groups is like-
ly to be due to various phenomena, including the increase in the molecule size
of the ester increasing the film thickness, and the increase in the fixing points
of the molecule on the surface (i.e. polar ester groups).
The lower seizure load of dipentaerythritol ester (six ester groups) may be
explained by the fact that its basic structure is not strictly neopentyl. Its struc-
ture is like two trimethylolpropanes linked with an epoxide bond (see Figure
S), and thus the behaviour of dipentaerythritol may be the same as that of tri-
methylolpropane.
Oil 1 Oil 2
Viscosity at 40°C cSt 20.84 21.21
Viscosity
Figure 9 shows the influence of the carbon number of the acid on viscosity:
the higher the carbon number, the higher the viscosity. The branched acid es-
ters have higher viscosities than the linear acid esters (with the same carbon
number), as shown in Figure 9.
Model lubricant
Because of the higher seizure load observed for pentaerythritol ester, and from
these results, good tribological properties will be obtained with an ester of
pentaerythritol and a long and linear chain acid, but good miscibility with
HFC-134a will be obtained with short and branched acid esters. Thus, these
properties require two opposing types of ester, and a POE lubricant should be
a mixture of different types of ester. Therefore, to obtain both good miscibility
and good tribological properties for a pentaerythritol, the concentration of
long- and linear-chain acid esters should be limited, and, preferably, the car-
bon number of the linear acid should be limited to 7 carbons; the viscosity will
be affected by long and branched acids, which is a good balance between mis-
cibility and viscosity.
Based on these considerations, two IS0 VG 32 model oils (see Table 2
for oil properties) were tested on a compressor rig. Table 3 (overleaf) gives
the operating conditions.
Refrigerant HFC-134a
Duration, h 500
Oil 1 Oil 2
Water (ppm) 26 64
Metal (ppm) Al =O =O
Fe 1 3
Si 1 1
Others -0 -0
CONCLUSION
bility will be obtained with short- and branched-chain acid esters, and good
tribological properties will be obtained with an ester of pentaerythritol and a
long- and linear-chain acid. Based on the data obtained regarding the behav-
iour of each of the POEs studied, model lubricants were blended. These oils
passed the compressor rig test with good results. This study shows how chem-
ical structure influences lubricant properties, and can thus be a powerful tool
in formulating lubricants.
Acknowledgement
References
1. United Nations Environmental Programme, ‘Handbook for the Montreal Protocol on Sub-
stances that deplete the Ozone Layer’, 3rd ed., Ozone Secretariat, UNEP, August 1993.
2. Sanvordenker, K.S., ‘Material compatibility of R- I34a in refrigeration systems, CFCs:
time of transition’,ASHRAE Trans., 95 (1989), 211.
3. Sundaresan, S.G., and Finkenstadt, W.R., ‘Polyalkylene glycol and polyol ester lubricant
candidates for use with HFC-I 34a in refrigeration compressors’, ASHRAE Trans., 98,
(1992), 1.
4. Johnston, G.J., Shim, J., and Brechot, P.D., ‘Refrigeration oils for use with non-CFC, non-
ozone-depleting refrigerants - key performance and retrofitting issues’, J. Synth. Lubr.,
11,4 (1995), 243.
5. Bakunin, V.N., and Parenago, O.P., ‘A mechanism of thermo-oxidative degradation of
polyol ester lubricants’, J. Synth. Lubr., 9, 2 (1992), 127.
6. Komatsuzaki, S., and Kishi, A,, ‘Lubricants for HFC-134a automobile air conditioners’,
in Proc. Int. CFC Halon Alternatives ConL, Baltimore, USA, 1991, p. 553.