Refrigerant for chemical plants and process cooling
Where the refrigerant sits in a process plant
In most Indian chemical and pharmaceutical plants the refrigerant does not touch the process. It cools a secondary loop, usually chilled water, glycol or brine, and that loop does the work: reactor jacket cooling, condenser duty on a distillation column, crystallisation control, solvent recovery, holding a cold room at temperature.
That is a useful separation, because it means the refrigerant choice is a plant engineering decision rather than a chemistry one, and the temperature the process needs is what drives it.
Matching the fluid to the temperature
Chilled water down to about 5 °C covers most general plant duty and is served by conventional chillers on R-134a, R-410A or R-407C.
Below zero the secondary fluid changes to glycol or brine, and the refrigeration plant works harder. R-134a and R-407C are common here, with R-404A appearing where the duty runs genuinely low.
For deep process cooling, typically minus 40 °C and below, the plant moves to a cascade arrangement with R-23 or R-508B in the low stage. See the cascade guide.
Large ammonia plant exists in the heavy end of the industry. That is a separate supply chain and we do not supply ammonia.
What a plant buyer needs beyond the gas
Three things come up on every plant enquiry that rarely come up at a counter.
Documentation that survives an audit. The manufacturer's Safety Data Sheet on file, an invoice naming brand and product, and batch traceability where the plant's quality system asks for it. For R-22, the seller's ODS registration.
Storage compliance. Cylinder quantities above the thresholds in the Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016 need licensed premises. Plants often hold more than they realise once a few gases are counted together.
Leak accounting. Refrigerant lost is a Scope 1 fugitive emission, and for a listed company it surfaces in BRSR reporting. Converting kilograms lost into tonnes of CO₂e is straightforward once someone is actually recording the top-ups. See Scope 1 emissions.
Continuity
A plant that shuts down because a chiller is short of gas has a much larger problem than the cost of the gas. If your site runs a gas that is not commonly stocked, R-23 and R-508B being the obvious examples, it is worth establishing where it comes from before the chamber is already warming.
Quick answers
What refrigerant do process chillers use?
Commonly R-134a, R-407C or R-410A for chilled water and glycol duty, with a large installed base still on R-22. Deep process cooling uses cascade systems with R-23 or R-508B.
Does the refrigerant contact the process?
In most plants, no. The refrigerant cools a secondary loop of chilled water, glycol or brine, and that loop serves the process.
Do we need a licence to store refrigerant cylinders at the plant?
Above the quantity thresholds in the Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016, yes. Plants often exceed them once several gases are counted together.
Do you supply ammonia?
No. Ammonia refrigeration is a separate supply chain with its own licensing and handling. We supply fluorocarbon refrigerants.
- Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016 · storage quantities and licensed premises · peso.gov.in.
- ODS (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 · Rules 6 and 7 · ozonecell.nic.in.
- Greenhouse Gas Protocol · Scope 1 fugitive emissions from refrigeration · ghgprotocol.org.
This guide is general information compiled from the cited sources — not legal, safety or engineering advice. Read our full disclaimer.
Related: Pharmaceutical plants · Cascade systems · Scope 1 emissions · Industries we supply