It was developed as a "fourth generation" refrigerant to replace fluids such as R-134a, as a blowing agent for foam and aerosol applications, and in air horns and gas dusters.

Due to its high polarity and low degradability, it is difficult to remove TFA from drinking water (ICPR 2019).

Given the relatively high global warming potential of most of the hydro-fluoro-carbons (HFCs), several actions are ongoing in different countries to reduce the use of these fluids.

In fact, from a thermodynamic point of view, it can be stated that: – The theoretical coefficients of performance of HFO-1234ze(E) is slightly lower than HFC-134a; – HFO-1234ze(E) has a different volumetric cooling capacity when compared to HFC-134a.

[17] So, from a technological point of view, modifications to the condenser and evaporator designs and to compressor displacement are needed to achieve the same cooling capacity and energetic performance of HFC-134a.