Estimating refrigeration costs at cryogenic temperatures

Much less information is available about the cost of refrigeration at various temperature levels. The purpose of this paper is to greatly expand and update the information for estimating cryogenic refrigeration costs. Process source temperatures from −25 °C to −190 °C are considered using single-stage and up to four-stage compression refrigeration systems with different refrigerants used at each stage. Refrigeration costs vary from $18 per GJ at −25 °C to $360 per GJ at −190 °C.