Convert Ton of Refrigeration to Petawatts
Convert Ton of Refrigeration (RT) to Petawatts (PW) instantly and accurately.
Conversion Formula
PW = RT × 3.516852842e-12
About Ton of Refrigeration
One ton of refrigeration (RT) = 12,000 BTU/h ≈ 3,517 W - the cooling rate to freeze 1 short ton (2,000 lb) of water in 24 hours. This follows from water's latent heat: 144 BTU/lb × 2,000 lb ÷ 24 h = 12,000 BTU/h. US residential AC is 1.5-5 tons; a large commercial building 500-2,000 tons; a hyperscale data centre 50,000-100,000 tons. The RT is deeply embedded in North American HVAC catalogs, load calculation software, and contractor pricing. 1 RT = 3,516.85 W.
About Petawatts
A petawatt (PW) is 10¹⁵ W. Total solar power intercepted by Earth is ~174 PW. The world's most powerful laser pulses operate at petawatt peak power via chirped pulse amplification (CPA, 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics): China's SULF demonstrated 10 PW in 2019; ELI-NP targets 10 PW. These PW pulses last femtoseconds and create plasma temperatures of billions of kelvin in laboratory targets. Gamma-ray bursts radiate 10²⁴-10²⁷ W at peak - thousands to billions of times the petawatt scale. 1 PW = 10¹⁵ W.
Quick Reference Table
| Ton of Refrigeration (RT) | Petawatts (PW) |
|---|---|
| 1 RT | 3.517 × 10-12 PW |
| 2 RT | 7.034 × 10-12 PW |
| 5 RT | 1.758 × 10-11 PW |
| 10 RT | 3.517 × 10-11 PW |
| 25 RT | 8.792 × 10-11 PW |
| 50 RT | 1.758 × 10-10 PW |
| 100 RT | 3.517 × 10-10 PW |