The use of hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs) as an alternative for refrigeration
units has grown over the past decades as a replacement to chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs), banned by the Montreal’s Protocol because of their
effect on the depletion of the ozone layer. However, HFCs are known
to be greenhouse gases with considerable global warming potential
(GWP), thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide. The Kigali Amendment
to the Montreal Protocol has promoted an active area of research toward
the development of low GWP refrigerants to replace the ones in current
use, and it is expected to significantly contribute to the Paris Agreement
by avoiding nearly half a degree Celsius of temperature increase by
the end of this century. We present here a molecular-based evaluation
tool aiming at finding optimal refrigerants with the requirements
imposed by current environmental legislations in order to mitigate
their impact on climate change. The proposed approach relies on the
robust polar soft-SAFT equation of state to predict thermodynamic
properties required for their technical evaluation at conditions relevant
for cooling applications. Additionally, the thermodynamic model integrated
with technical criteria enable the search for compatibility of currently
used third generation compounds with more eco-friendly refrigerants
as drop-in replacements. The criteria include volumetric cooling capacity,
coefficient of performance, and other physicochemical properties with
direct impact on the technical performance of the cooling cycle. As
such, R1123, R1224yd(Z), R1234ze(E), and R1225ye(Z) demonstrate high
aptitude toward replacing R134a, R32, R152a, and R245fa with minimal
retrofitting to the existing system. The current modeling platform
for the rapid screening of emerging refrigerants offers a guide for
future efforts on the design of alternative working fluids.