Even if you find a download that scans "clean" by your antivirus, you will likely face severe technical handicaps:
Corporations caught using unlicensed REFPROP copies face fines of up to $150,000 per copy under the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) audits. For a student or freelancer, the risk is lower but real: your university’s IT department actively scans network traffic for known peer-to-peer hashes of illegal software.
CoolProp is an open-source, cross-platform thermophysical property database that serves as a free alternative to REFPROP. It is widely used in academic and industrial settings and supports many of the same fluids and property calculations. Because it is open source, there are no licensing restrictions, and it can be used portably without legal concerns. refprop 9 0 portable
The "portable" strength lies in its DLL, which allows you to run calculations directly within Excel , MATLAB, Python, and LabVIEW without needing the full GUI open. Pros and Cons REFPROP | NIST
NIST actively protects its intellectual property. The agency provides technical support and updates only to licensed users. Unauthorized versions may lack important updates, contain malware, or provide inaccurate calculations due to modifications. Even if you find a download that scans
Note: For integration with Microsoft Excel (using the REFPROP.XLS or .xlam file) or MATLAB, you may need to ensure the Excel macro points directly to the portable .dll location within the folder. Comparison: REFPROP 9.0 vs. Modern Alternatives
In some configurations, REFPROP relies on environment variables to locate its fluid database files. If you encounter "file not found" errors, you may need to: It is widely used in academic and industrial
The REFPROP COM object (used for Excel and other application integration) must be registered to function. Registration typically requires the regsvr32.exe command: