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Article: Is ammonia an alternative for air conditioning? The phase-out of CFC refrigerants is focusing attention on new ammonia applications. (includes related articles on central energy plant for Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania and on use of turbine-driven ammonia chillers in Chicago, Illinois district plant)
- Article from:
- Building Design & Construction
- Article date:
- January 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Although its use is a pungent idea to many people, others ardently believe that ammonia refrigeration has excellent potential for certain air-conditioning applications.
The phase-out of the chlorofluoro-carbons (CFCs), which deplete atmospheric ozone and contribute to the greenhouse effect, makes a changeover to alternative refrigerants inevitable, even though the exact phase-out date is not yet known. But a plethora of uncertainties surrounds any course of action for new and existing air-conditioning installations.
The ideal solution, of course, would be if some chemist were to devise an environmentally safe, nontoxic, nonflammable refrigerant with the ...