| There must be space both for liquid and vapour in a container. As the temperature rises, the liquid expands. The space occupied by the vapour becomes smaller. Eventually, there will only be liquid in the container. After that time, even a small increase in temperature will result in a very large increase in pressure, since the liquid is seeking to expand further but there is no space for it to do so. The resulting forces are sufficient to burst the container. To prevent containers from being overcharged, regulations governing the storage of compressed gases specify how many kilograms may be charged into a container for every litre of container volume. This charge factor multiplied by the internal volume gives the permissible charge quantity. The charge factor for the refrigerants used in cars is 1.15 kg/l. |
|
|
|
