R134a freon (refrigerant): characteristics (properties), tables, diagrams, alternatives

Topic of the article: refrigerant (freon) R134a, its characteristics and properties, physical and chemical. In the article you will find maximum information about R134a, summary tables, graphs and diagrams. At the end we have published links to suppliers of this refrigerant and useful related materials.

Phase-out of R134a freon (refrigerant)

R134a refrigerant has an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of 0, but a global warming potential (GWP) of 1430. Therefore, its use is gradually declining. Alternatives to R134a are currently being developed, and some are already in use or being tested.

R134a in the USA

In the United States, starting from 2021, it is prohibited to use R134a freon in passenger cars, household refrigerators, and freezers. From 2024, it is prohibited to use R134a as a refrigerant for chillers.

If vehicles are exported to countries that do not have the infrastructure to service alternative refrigerants, they can use R134a until May 2025. If the car was manufactured before the ban on this refrigerant, it can be used when servicing the car’s air conditioner.

R134a in the EU

The European Union has banned the production of new machinery and equipment using refrigerants with a global warming potential above 150 from January 1, 2022. By 2030, the production of fluorinated gases should be reduced to 21%. These refrigerants include freon R134a.

Alternatives to R134a

R1234yf

R1234yf (2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene) refrigerant is commercially available and widely used in automotive air conditioning systems. Highly flammable, has a global warming potential of 4, ozone depletion potential of 0. Special safety requirements of SAE J639 apply to equipment using R1234yf.

R744

Freon R744 is ordinary carbon dioxide CO2. Its use requires pressures 5-10 times higher than for R134a. Therefore, car manufacturers are not yet in a hurry to use it. For refrigerant R744: GWP=1, ODP=0.

R152a

Refrigerant R152a (1,1-difluoroethane) is highly flammable, but can be used in climate control systems. Now it is used as a component of other refrigerants (R401, R405a, R411, etc.). Equipment working with R152a must comply with the safety requirements of SAE J639 and SAE J2773.

R452A

Freon R452A is a mixture of HFC and HFO refrigerants with a global warming potential of GWP=675. It is non-toxic and non-flammable and has similar performance characteristics to R134a. R452A is well suited for heat pumps.

R454A

R454A refrigerant is another mixture of HFC and HFO refrigerants with GWP=490. It is non-toxic and non-flammable and has slightly better performance than R134a. R454A is better suited for use in heat pumps.

R134ze(E)

R134ze(E): This is another HFO refrigerant with a GWP of 7. It is also non-toxic and non-flammable, but its volumetric efficiency is slightly lower than R134a.

R134a as a component of mixed refrigerants

Freon R134a is part of mixed refrigerants. Its content ranges from 4% to 93%. Here is a list of refrigerants containing R134a:

• R-404A.
• R-407A, R-407B, R-407C, R-407D, R-407F.
• R-417A.
• R-420A.
• R-421A, R-421B.
• R-422A, R-422B, R-422C, R-422D.
• R-424A.
• R-426A.
• R-427A.
• R-434A.
• R-438A.
• R-442A.
• R-448A.
• R-449A.
• R-450A.
• R-513A.
• Free Zone .
• Freeze 12.
• FRIGC FR-12.
• Hot Shot 2.
• ICOR AT22.

Characteristics (properties) of R134a

In this section we will present the physical and chemical properties and characteristics of R134a freon (refrigerant). For your convenience, they are presented in two systems: SI and British Imperial Units.

Characteristics of R134a in SI units

Properties	Value
Chemical formula	C2H2F4 (CF3CH2F)
Chemical name	1.1.1.2-tetrafluoroethane
Molar mass	102.032 kg/km
Liquid density at 25 °C (77 °F)	1206 kg/m3
Saturated vapor density at boiling point	5.25 kg/m3
Heat capacity of liquid at 25 °C (77 °F)	0.339 kcal/(kg K)
Heat capacity of steam at 25 °C (77 °F) and 1 atm (101.3 kPa / 1.013 bar)	0.204 kcal/(kg K)
Critical pressure	There are 40.56
Critical temperature	101.1 °C
Critical density at 25 °C (77 °F)	508 kg/m3
Triple point pressure at 25 °C (77 °F)	There are 0.0039
Melting temperature	-103.3 °C
Boiling temperature	-26.3 °C
Flash point	250 °C
Solubility in water at 25 °C (77 °F) and 1 atm (101.3 kPa / 1.013 bar)	0.15% weight
Water solubility in R134a at 25 °C (77 °F)	0.11% weight
Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP)	0
Global Warming Potential (GWP)	1430
Class ASHRAE	A1
Compressor oil type	POE
Gas constant R	81.488856 J/(kg K)
Isoentropic exponent	1.13
Standard Gibbs free energy of formation	-810.44 kJ/mol
Enthalpy of formation under standard conditions	-877.8 kJ/mol
Melting enthalpy under standard conditions	5.84 kJ/mol
Enthalpy of vaporization under standard conditions	15.48 kJ/mol

Properties of R134a in British Imperial Units

Properties	Value
Chemical formula	C2H2F4 (CF3CH2F)
Chemical name	1.1.1.2-tetrafluoroethane
Molar mass	102.032 kg/km
Liquid density at 25 °C (77 °F)	75.28 lb/ft3
Saturated vapor density at boiling point	0.328 lb/ft3
Heat capacity of liquid at 25 °C (77 °F)	0.339 Btu/(lb·°F)
Heat capacity of steam at 25 °C (77 °F) and 1 atm (101.3 kPa / 1.013 bar)	0.204 Btu/(lb·°F)
Critical pressure	588.9 psi inch abs.
Critical temperature	213.9 °F
Critical density at 25 °C (77 °F)	32.17 lb/ft3
Triple point pressure at 25 °C (77 °F)	0.05656482 psi inch abs.
Melting temperature	-153.9 °F
Boiling temperature	-15.3 °F
Flash point	482 °F
Solubility in water at 25 °C (77 °F) and 1 atm (101.3 kPa / 1.013 bar)	0.15% weight
Water solubility in R134a at 25 °C (77 °F)	0.11% weight
Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP)	0
Global Warming Potential (GWP)	1430
Class ASHRAE	A1
Compressor oil type	POE
Gas constant R	81.488856 J/(kg K)
Isoentropic exponent	1.13
Standard Gibbs free energy of formation	-810.44 kJ/mol
Enthalpy of formation under standard conditions	-877.8 kJ/mol
Melting enthalpy under standard conditions	5.84 kJ/mol
Enthalpy of vaporization under standard conditions	15.48 kJ/mol

Table of temperature and pressure of R134a in degrees Celsius

Below is the dependence of pressure on temperature for refrigerant (freon) R134a at a temperature of -70…+60 degrees Celsius in increments of 4 degrees. The given pressure is not absolute pressure, but gauge pressure. The following abbreviations are used in the table:

• t, C – temperature in degrees Celsius;
• kPa – excess pressure in kilopascals (KPa), where 1 KPa is equal to 0.009869 atm.;
• Psig – excess pressure in pounds per square inch;
• Psig (with a minus sign) – inches of mercury below atmospheric pressure.

t, C	kPa	Psig	t, C	kPa	Psig
-70	-96	-28,2	6	260	37,7
-66	-92	-27,2	8	286	41,5
-62	-88	-26,1	10	313	45,4
-58	-84	-24,7	12	341	49,5
-54	-79	-23,2	14	371	53,8
-50	-72	-21,3	16	402	58,3
-46	-64	-19,0	18	435	63,1
-42	-55	-16,3	20	470	68,2
-38	-45	-13,2	22	506	73,4
-34	-32	-9,4	24	544	78,9
-30	-17	-5,0	26	583	84,6
-28	-9	-2,6	28	625	90,6
-26	0	0,0	30	668	96,9
-24	10	1,5	32	713	103,4
-22	20	2,9	34	761	110,4
-20	31	4,5	36	810	117,5
-18	43	6,2	38	861	124,9
-16	56	8,1	40	915	132,7
-14	69	10,0	42	970	140,7
-12	84	12,2	44	1028	149,1
-10	99	14,4	46	1089	157,9
-8	115	16,7	48	1151	166,9
-6	133	19,3	50	1216	176,4
-4	151	21,9	52	1284	186,2
-2	171	24,8	54	1354	196,4
0	191	27,7	56	1427	207,0
2	213	30,9	58	1502	217,8
4	236	34,2	60	1581	229,3

Table of temperature and pressure of R134a in degrees Fahrenheit

Below is the pressure versus temperature relationship for refrigerant (freon) R134a for a temperature range of -49 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The pressure given is gauge pressure, not absolute pressure. The following abbreviations are used in the data:

• t, F – temperature in degrees Fahrenheit;
• Psig – excess pressure in pounds per square inch;
• Psig (with a minus sign) – inches of mercury below atmospheric pressure.

t, F	Psig	t, F	Psig	t, F	Psig	t, F	Psig
-49	-18,4	1	7,0	51	46,6	101	126,3
-48	-18,0	2	7,5	52	47,7	102	128,4
-47	-17,6	3	8,0	53	48,9	103	130,6
-46	-17,3	4	8,5	54	50,0	104	132,8
-45	-16,9	5	9,1	55	51,2	105	135,0
-44	-16,5	6	9,6	56	52,4	106	137,2
-43	-16,1	7	10,2	57	53,6	107	139,5
-42	-15,7	8	10,8	58	54,9	108	141,7
-41	-15,2	9	11,3	59	56,1	109	144,0
-40	-14,8	10	11,9	60	57,4	110	146,4
-39	-14,4	11	12,5	61	58,7	111	148,7
-38	-13,9	12	13,1	62	60,0	112	151,1
-37	-13,4	13	13,8	63	61,3	113	153,5
-36	-13,0	14	14,4	64	62,7	114	156,0
-35	-12,5	15	15,0	65	64,0	115	158,4
-34	-12,0	16	15,7	66	65,4	116	160,9
-33	-11,4	17	16,4	67	66,8	117	163,5
-32	-10,9	18	17,0	68	68,2	118	166,0
-31	-10,4	19	17,7	69	69,7	119	168,6
-30	-9,8	20	18,4	70	71,1	120	171,2
-29	-9,3	21	19,1	71	72,6	121	173,8
-28	-8,7	22	19,9	72	74,1	122	176,5
-27	-8,1	23	20,6	73	75,6	123	179,1
-26	-7,5	24	21,3	74	77,1	124	181,8
-25	-6,9	25	22,1	75	78,7	125	184,6
-24	-6,3	26	22,9	76	80,2	126	187,4
-23	-5,7	27	23,7	77	81,8	127	190,2
-22	-5,0	28	24,5	78	83,4	128	193,0
-21	-4,3	29	25,3	79	85,0	129	195,8
-20	-3,7	30	26,1	80	86,7	130	198,7
-19	-3,0	31	26,9	81	88,4	131	201,6
-18	-2,3	32	27,8	82	90,0	132	204,6
-17	-1,5	33	28,6	83	91,8	133	207,6
-16	-0,8	34	29,5	84	93,5	134	210,6
-15	-0,1	35	30,4	85	95,2	135	213,6
-14	0,4	36	31,3	86	97,0	136	216,7
-13	0,7	37	32,2	87	98,8	137	219,8
-12	1,1	38	33,1	88	100,6	138	222,9
-11	1,5	39	34,1	89	102,5	139	226,0
-10	1,9	40	35,0	90	104,3	140	229,2
-9	2,4	41	36,0	91	106,2	141	232,5
-8	2,8	42	37,0	92	108,1	142	235,7
-7	3,2	43	38,0	93	110,0	143	239,0
-6	3,6	44	39,0	94	112,0	144	242,3
-5	4,1	45	40,1	95	114,0	145	245,7
-4	4,6	46	41,1	96	115,9	146	249,1
-3	5,0	47	42,2	97	118,0	147	252,5
-2	5,5	48	43,2	98	120,0	148	255,9
-1	6,0	49	44,3	99	122,1	149	259,4
0	6,5	50	45,4	100	124,2	150	262,9

Thermodynamic properties of R134a in British Imperial units

The following abbreviations are used in the table below for the thermodynamic properties of R134a:

• t, F – Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit;
• DL – Density of liquid in pounds per cubic foot;
• SVV – Specific steam volume in cubic feet per pound;
• EL – Heat capacity – enthalpy of liquid in BTU per pound;
• EV – Heat capacity – enthalpy of steam in BTU per pound.

t, F	DL	SVV	EL	EV
-150	102,34	457,07	-32,78	80,21
-125	99,64	123,44	-25,38	83,72
-100	96,89	41,52	-17,94	87,25
-75	94,09	16,56	-10,47	90,76
-50	91,22	7,56	-3,00	94,25
-25	88,28	3,83	4,50	97,72
-15	87,08	2,99	7,52	99,11
-10	86,47	2,66	9,03	99,80
-5	85,86	2,37	10,55	100,50
0	85,25	2,12	12,07	101,20
5	84,63	1,90	13,59	101,89
10	84,01	1,70	15,13	102,59
25	82,11	1,25	19,76	104,68
50	78,84	0,78	27,67	108,15
75	75,39	0,51	35,85	111,55
86	73,80	0,42	39,56	113,00
100	71,70	0,34	44,39	114,78
125	67,68	0,23	53,39	117,66
150	63,13	0,16	62,99	119,88
175	57,60	0,11	73,58	120,79
200	49,44	0,07	86,53	118,16

Thermodynamic properties of R134a in SI units

The thermodynamic properties table for R134a below uses the following notation:

• t, C – Temperature in degrees Celsius;
• DL – Density of liquid in kilograms per cubic meter;
• DV – Vapor density in kilograms per cubic meter;
• EL – Heat capacity – enthalpy of liquid in kilojoules per kilogram;
• EV – Heat capacity – enthalpy of steam in kilojoules per kilogram;
• ErL – Entropy of the liquid in kilojoules per kilogram per degree Kelvin;
• ErV – Entropy pair in kilojoules per kilogram per degree Kelvin.

t, C	DL	DV	EL	EV	ErL	ErV
-60	1472,00	0,93	24,49	261,49	0,69	1,80
-50	1444,90	1,65	36,30	267,78	0,74	1,78
-40	1417,00	2,77	48,63	274,07	0,80	1,76
-30	1388,20	4,43	61,13	280,32	0,85	1,75
-20	1358,40	6,79	73,83	286,51	0,90	1,74
-10	1327,40	10,05	86,78	292,60	0,95	1,73
0	1295,10	14,43	1000	298,54	1,00	1,73
10	1261,20	20,23	113,54	304,28	1,05	1,72
20	1225,50	27,77	127,44	309,76	1,10	1,72
30	1187,50	37,52	141,74	314,89	1,14	1,71
40	1146,70	50,06	156,49	319,58	1,19	1,71
50	1102,20	66,23	171,78	323,65	1,24	1,71
60	1052,90	87,35	187,72	326,90	1,29	1,70
70	996,49	115,56	204,52	328,94	1,33	1,70
80	928,78	155,13	222,62	329,10	1,38	1,69
90	838,51	216,94	243,17	325,66	1,44	1,67
100	649,71	367,06	273,64	309,04	1,52	1,61

Compatibility of R134a refrigerant with materials

Compatibility with plastics

The table below shows the following values:

• “+” – compatible;
• “0” – compatible to the point of acceptable;
• “—” – not compatible.

Polypropylene	+
Polystyrene	0
Chlorinated PVC	+
PTFE (Teflon)	0
ETFE (tefzel)	0
Polyvinylidene fluoride	0
Ionomer resin	+
ABS	+
Cellulosic materials	—
Epoxy resins	+
Polyacetamine	+
Polycarbonate	+
Polybutylene terephthalate	+
Polyarylate	+
Polyamide	+
Polysulfide	+

Metal compatibility

The following metals are well compatible with R134a refrigerant:

• Steel;
• cast iron;
• Bronze;
• Copper;
• Lead;
• Lead;
• Aluminum (in normal condition).

Hazardous when used with R134a:

• Highly active, alkaline and alkaline earth metals such as sodium, barium, potassium react with freon R134a causing its decomposition.
• Aluminum and magnesium in a fine-grained or powdered state cause a strong decomposition reaction.
• Alloys of magnesium and aluminum, in which the magnesium content is more than 2%, act as catalysts that accelerate the decomposition of R134a. The rate of decomposition depends on the ratio of metals and temperature.

Mollier diagrams (log P-H diagram) for R134a

Manufacturers of R134a refrigerant

• Taizhou Huasheng New Refrigeration Material Co., Ltd.
• Zhejiang NOF Chemical Co., Ltd.
• Shandong Shing Chemical Co., Ltd.
• Chengdu Henbin Refrigeration Co., Ltd.
• SAE Manufacturing Specialties Corp.
• Rhodia Chemicals Ltd. United Kingdom.
• National Refrigerants Ltd.

Related materials

• What is the Montreal Protocol.
• Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
• The United States ratified the Kigali Amendment.

Find more information at Freons.Info.