A study is carried out to describe irreversibilities in one stage refrigerating process for vapour compression cycle with refrigerant mixtures R-404A, R-410A, R-410B and R-507 as working fluids. They are calculated as exergy losses by an algorithm developed on the basis of thermodynamics. The proposed relationships have been derived from exergy balances on the system components. Emphasis is placed on parameters influencing the losses and the related results are presented through Grassmann diagrams (diagrams of exergy fluxes). Furthermore, detailed information on the variation of cycle's exergy efficiency with evaporating and condensing temperatures is given. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons. Ltd.