Reference Terms

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Refrigerant

A refrigerant is a compound used in a heat cycle that undergoes a phase change from a gas to a liquid and back.

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Refrigerant", which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:

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A More Environmentally Friendly Air Conditioner

Aug. 22, 2022 — Summer is in full swing, and people are turning up their air conditioners to beat the heat. But the hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in these and other cooling devices are potent greenhouse gases and ...

Propane -- A Solution for More Sustainable Air Conditioning

Aug. 16, 2022 — Current severe heatwaves that will likely increase in severity and frequency in the future are driving a rise in the use of air conditioners, threatening the environment with their high energy ...

Scientists Develop a Cool New Method of Refrigeration

Jan. 4, 2023 — Researchers have developed a new kind of heating and cooling method that they have named the ionocaloric refrigeration cycle. They hope the technique will someday help phase out refrigerants that ...

Using Waste Heat to Power an Environmentally Sustainable Future

May 24, 2021 — Researchers explore a novel organic Rankine system for converting waste heat into ...

Optimizer Tool Designs, Evaluates, Maximizes Solar-Powered Cooling Systems

Mar. 15, 2022 — Researchers have developed an optimizer tool to design, evaluate, and maximize the performance of different types of solar-powered adsorption under various operating scenarios. The tool was created ...

Making a Case for Organic Rankine Cycles in Waste Heat Recovery

Nov. 11, 2020 — Researchers say that cascaded organic Rankine cycle systems could improve the way in which environmentally-friendly power is generated from waste ...

Innovative Solution for Thermal Energy Storage

Mar. 9, 2022 — A new research article features one major challenge overcome through a remarkably simple idea, opening the door to expanded use of phase-change materials (PCMs) for energy-efficient heating and ...

Climate-Friendly Cooling to Help Ease Global Warming

Oct. 6, 2020 — A new study shows that coordinated international action on energy-efficient, climate-friendly cooling could avoid as much as 600 billion tons CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions in this ...

Intensified Water Cycle Slows Down Global Warming

Sep. 23, 2021 — A new study shows that the intensification of global hydrological cycle drives more ocean heat uptake into the deep ocean and moderates the pace of global ...

Scientists Discover Urea in Atmosphere Revealing Profound Consequences for Climate

June 15, 2023 — Areas of the ocean that are rich in marine life are having a bigger impact on our ecosystems and the climate than previously thought, new research ...

Earth & Climate News

October 2, 2023

Wild Asian Elephants Display Unique Puzzle Solving Skills

Sep. 28, 2023 — A new study has documented the abilities of individual wild Asian elephants to access food by solving puzzles that unlocked storage boxes. It is the first research study to show that individual wild elephants have different willingness and abilities ...

Earth's Stability and Ability to Support Civilization at Risk: Six of Nine Planetary Boundaries Exceeded

Sep. 13, 2023 — A new study updates the planetary boundary framework and shows human activities are increasingly impacting the planet and, thereby, increasing the risk of triggering dramatic changes in overall Earth ...

Using Evidence from Last Ice Age, Scientists Predict Effects of Rising Seas on Coastal Habitats

Aug. 31, 2023 — The rapid sea level rise and resulting retreat of coastal habitat seen at the end of the last Ice Age could repeat itself if global average temperatures rise beyond certain levels, according to an ...

Loss of Antarctic Sea Ice Causes Catastrophic Breeding Failure for Emperor Penguins

Aug. 24, 2023 — Emperor penguin colonies experienced unprecedented breeding failure in a region of Antarctica where there was total sea ice loss in 2022. The discovery supports predictions that over 90% of emperor ...

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Despite Being Properly Treated and Highly Diluted, Wastewater Still Impacts on the River Ecosystem

Sep. 25, 2023 — An experiment using water from a large wastewater treatment plant has shown that this water continues to affect river diversity and the trophic web ...

Nanofluidic Device Generates Power With Saltwater

Sep. 22, 2023 — There is a largely untapped energy source along the world's coastlines: the difference in salinity between seawater and freshwater. A new nanodevice can harness this difference to generate ...

Improved Mangrove Conservation Could Yield Cash, Carbon, Coastal Benefits

Oct. 2, 2023 — A shift in the way we think about the benefits mangroves provide to coastal regions could yield significant economic and biodiversity gains and protect millions from flooding, research has ...

Fair and Sustainable Futures Beyond Mining

Oct. 2, 2023 — Mining brings huge social and environmental change to communities: landscapes, livelihoods and the social fabric evolve alongside the industry. But what happens when the mines close? What problems ...

Viruses Dynamic and Changing After Dry Soils Are Watered

Oct. 2, 2023 — Viruses in soil may not be as destructive to bacteria as once thought and could instead act like lawnmowers, culling older cells and giving space for new growth, according to ...

Scientists Investigate Grand Canyon's Ancient Past to Predict Future Climate Impacts

Oct. 2, 2023 — A team explores relationship between warming post-Ice Age temperatures and intensifying summer monsoon rains on groundwater ...

Engineering Study Employs Deep Learning to Explain Extreme Events

Oct. 2, 2023 — At the core of uncovering extreme events such as floods is the physics of fluids – specifically turbulent flows. Researchers leveraged a computer-vision deep learning technique and adapted it for ...

Sustainable Protection of Rapidly Subsiding Coastlines With Mangroves

Oct. 2, 2023 — Along the Asian coast lines there are many areas where rural communities experience alarming rates of sea level rises due to land subsidence up to 10 cm per year. This causes tremendous challenges on ...

Climate and Human Land Use Both Play Roles in Pacific Island Wildfires Past and Present

Oct. 2, 2023 — It’s long been understood that human settlement contributes to conditions that make Pacific Islands more susceptible to wildfires, such as the ...

Researchers Propose a Unified, Scalable Framework to Measure Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Oct. 2, 2023 — Increased government investment in climate change mitigation is prompting agricultural sectors to find reliable methods for measuring their ...