ASHRAE and the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) have announced the establishment of new definitions for five refrigeration keywords: cooling, refrigeration, chilling, freezing and cold chain.
The definitions are the result of more than a year of discussions and were established to clarify the meaning of basic terminology used in the HVAC&R industry.
“The new definitions will help those within our industry, as well as the general public, gain a clearer understanding of important refrigeration keywords that are often misused or too broadly defined,” said
ASHRAE President Sheila J. Hayter, P.E. “We appreciate the contributions of IIR and anticipate that the adoption of these definitions will be positive.”
“I t was impor tant that the differences that might exist in these definitions between the IIR and ASHRAE be erased for more consistency. It now seems important for us to reach even greater harmonization on an international level to establish universal definitions,” said Jean-Luc Dupont, head of the Department of Scientific and Technical
Information of the IIR.

To avoid confusion, the official definitions are:

Cooling
(1) Removal of heat, usually resulting in a lower temperature and/or phase change
(2) Lowering temperature.

Refrigeration
(1) Cooling of a space, substance or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (removed heat is rejected at a higher temperature).
(2) Artificial cooling.

Chilling
Cooling of a substance without freezing it.

Freezing
Solidification phase change of a liquid or the liquid content of a substance, usually due to cooling.

Cold Chain
Series of actions and equipment applied to maintain a product within a specified low-temperature range from harvest/production to consumption.