Difference Between Freon and Refrigerant

The key difference between Freon and refrigerant is that Freon is a tradename that refers to halocarbon products, whereas refrigerant refers to a substance or a mixture used in the refrigeration cycle.

Freon is a tradename which typically includes halocarbon refrigerants that leads to ozone depletion. Moreover, some Freon compounds are useful as aerosol propellants. Refrigerant is a compound we specifically use for heat pump and refrigeration cycle in a refrigerator.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Freon 
3. What is Refrigerant
4. Side by Side Comparison – Freon vs Refrigerant in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Freon?

Freon is an aerosol propellant, refrigerant, or organic solvent consisting of one or more of a group of chlorofluorocarbons and related compounds. It is a tradename for a group of halocarbons. Moreover, these halocarbons are useful as refrigerants and aerosol propellants. The owner of this trademark is “The Chemours Company”. These compounds are stable, flammable and less toxic. They are either gases or liquids. The two major members of this group are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which the manufacturers used as refrigerants.

However, not all refrigerants are in the group of Freon; it applies only to certain refrigerants. More importantly, using these substances was phased out on the 20^th century due to its adverse effects on the ozone layer

What is Refrigerant?

Refrigerant is a substance or a mixture used for refrigeration. It is usually a fluid. We can use them in heat pump cycles and refrigeration cycles. In these cycles, the refrigerant undergoes phase transitions from liquid to gas and vice versa. Fluorocarbons became popular in the 20^th century as efficient refrigerants, but the use of them was prohibited because of its harmful effects, which includes ozone depletion. The common compounds we use today are ammonia, sulfur dioxide and propane (or other non-halogenated hydrocarbons).

If we are to use these compounds in a refrigerator, they should have desirable thermodynamic properties: noncorrosive, safe (free from toxicity and flammability), no harm to the ozone layer, does not cause any climate change, etc. Ammonia, carbon dioxide and other refrigerants we use today are not harmful to the ozone layer and have the least global warming potential, thus are less or no harmful climate changes.

When removing refrigerants, we must recycle them in order to remove the contaminants they contain. Moreover, we need to consider some refrigerants as hazardous waste, even during recycling.

What is the Difference Between Freon and Refrigerant?

Freon is an aerosol propellant, refrigerant, or an organic solvent consisting of one or more of a group of chlorofluorocarbons and related compounds while refrigerant is a substance or a mixture used for refrigeration. The key difference between Freon and refrigerant is that Freon is a tradename that refers to halocarbon products, whereas refrigerant refers to a substance or a mixture used in the refrigeration cycle. Moreover, the members of Freon group are mostly halogenated compounds while the refrigerants we use at present are non-halogenated compounds.

Freon is useful as refrigerants and aerosol propellants while refrigerants are useful in heat pump cycles and refrigeration cycle. Examples for Freon include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) while examples for refrigerants are ammonia, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, etc.

Summary – Freon vs Refrigerant

Freon is a tradename while refrigerant is the name of a group of compounds used in heat pump cycles and refrigeration cycles. The key difference between Freon and refrigerant is that Freon is a tradename that refers to halocarbon products, whereas refrigerant refers to a substance or a mixture used in the refrigeration cycle.

Reference:

1. “Refrigerant.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Apr. 2019, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Freon” By aibara (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Refrigerants-CoolCraft” By Лобачев Владимир – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia