Wetting behavior and interfacial tension of a refrigerant oil in air and refrigerant atmospheres
Abstract In the present study, the wettability of ground AISI 321 steel and PTFE surfaces with a polyalkylene glycol-based lubricant in air and 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a) atmospheres is characterized. For this, spreading velocities are determined from videos recorded during the continuous dosing of lubricant on the solid surfaces. The results are compared with interfacial tension data for the lubricant measured by the pendant-drop method in air and R-134a atmospheres. Significantly higher wettability was found in the presence of refrigerant atmosphere, on the steel surface and along its grinding grooves, whereas no consistent temperature-dependent trends could be identified. The interfacial tension of the lubricant decreases with increasing temperature at ambient air atmosphere as well as with increasing R-134a pressure at a fixed temperature. The temperature-dependent behavior of the interfacial tension for a given refrigerant pressure is affected by the temperature itself and by the resulting solubility of the refrigerant in the lubricant.