The REAL CFCS
The real CFCs are organic compounds made up of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. CFCs are highly effective refridgerants that were developed in response to the pressing need to eliminate toxic and flammable substances, such as sulfur dioxide and ammonia, in refrigeration units and air conditioners. The most common commercial CFCs, marketed under the trade name Freon, are trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) and dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12). Commercial CFCs are nonflammable, noncorrosive, nontoxic, and odorless, and their vapor pressures and heats of vaporization made them very suitable for refrigeration applications. They were also widely used as aerosol propellants, cleansing agents for electrical and electronic components, and foaming agents in shipping-plastics manufacturing.
Halons are organic compounds that are like the CFCs. They contain carbon, fluorine, and bromine and may contain chlorine. Halons have been used primarily as propellants in fire extinguishers. Because of their bromine content they are even more destructive to ozone than CFCs, and an amendment to the Montreal Protocol banned their use by 1994.
Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are organic compounds that are similar to CFCs but less destructive to ozone. HCFCs consist of carbon, hydrogen, chlorine and fluorine. They are used as replacements for CFCs, but are to be phased out by the year 2020, as specified by the Montreal Protocol as amended, when they are expected to be replaced by Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs are organic compounds that contain hydrogen, carbon and fluorine. HFCs, which do not contain chlorine, do not have any potential for the destruction of ozone, and so are suitable replacements for CFCs.
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