The future for refrigerants

The regulation marks three main changes. First, it bans cfc use for the maintenance or servicing of refrigerating and air conditioning systems after the end of 2000. Second, it bans hcfc use in most new refrigeration and air conditioning systems manufactured after 2001 (with some exceptions until 2004). It also bans the use of virgin hcfcs for maintaining and servicing existing systems from 2010, with a total ban on all hcfcs from 2015.

The cfc situation
From 1 October 2000 the supply of all cfcs is banned, including products given away or supplied free of charge. From 1 January 2001 the use of cfcs (new, recycled or recovered) is banned for the maintenance or servicing of refrigerating and air conditioning systems. This means that the only way of disposing of cfcs legally after this date is destruction, which is usually by costly, high temperature incineration.

It is uncertain exactly how many cfc chillers are still being used in building air conditioning systems. Although it will continue to be legal to operate them, it will be illegal to top-up or refill with cfc refrigerant after leakage or repair.

This means that it will become impractical to operate many systems for long after January 2001. The only exception will be domestic-type refrigerators and freezers which rarely leak refrigerant and seldom need their refrigeration circuit to be repaired.

Inevitably many chillers and other refrigeration and cooling systems will need to be replaced. Although it is possible to convert some to use an alternative refrigerant, both solutions are normally very costly.

The hcfc situation
The use of hcfcs will be prohibited as refrigerants from 1 January 2000 in equipment produced after 31 December 1999. The ban covers public and distribution cold stores and warehouses, and for equipment of 150 kW and over shaft input power. (This clause was already in force through the previous regulation).

From 1 January 2001 the regulations will also prohibit hcfcs in all other refrigeration and air conditioning equipment produced after 31 December 2000.

There are three exceptions. The first is fixed air conditioning equipment with a cooling capacity of less than 100 kW. Here the use of hcfcs will be banned from 1 July 2002 in equipment produced after 30 June 2002. The other exceptions are reversible air conditioning and heat pump systems, where the use of hcfcs will be banned from 1 January 2004 in equipment produced after 31 December 2003.

From 1 January 2010, the use of virgin hcfcs will be banned for the maintenance and servicing of refrigerating and air conditioning systems, with all banned by 1 January 2015. The decision to adopt this last date will be subject to a review of the technical and economic availability of alternatives to recycled hcfcs. This will be carried out by the European Commission before 31 December 2008.

The supply of hcfcs by producers and importers (including for their own use) will also be limited and phased out completely by 2010. Under the old regulation this date was 2015, but now the quantity of hcfcs supplied to the market will be limited to 2% of the level of cfcs, plus the level of hcfcs on the market in 1989 (in ozone depleting potential tonnes) from 1 January 2001.

Figure 1 (overleaf) shows how this limit will be progressively reduced until total phase-out at the end of 2009.

It is known that R22 (hcfc 22) systems are still being specified, often on the grounds that they are cheaper than systems using alternative refrigerants such as hfcs, ammonia and hydrocarbons.

This seems an extremely short-sighted policy. Many observers predict that the 2015 ban on the use of recycled hcfcs will be brought forward at the 2008 technical review. Although drop-in and retrofit alternatives to R22 already exist, their use is not always without trouble.

The conversion of ageing systems can precipitate breakdown or failure of components. Besides the cost of conversion, the cost of disposing of R22 will escalate once the use of hcfcs has been banned.

Leakage prevention
The threat to the ozone layer from cfcs and hcfcs only occurs when the substances are released into the atmosphere. For this reason the new EC regulation includes specific measures aimed at minimising cfc and hcfc emissions.

All fixed equipment containing more than 3 kg of cfc or hcfc refrigerant must be checked annually for leakage. From 1 January 2001 all recovered cfcs must be destroyed in an environmentally acceptable way.

Recovered hcfcs cannot be reused after 2015. By the end of 2001, member states must also put in place schemes that require minimum qualification levels for all service and maintenance personnel. These requirements will inevitably increase the cost of owning and operating refrigeration systems using cfcs or hcfcs.

The Climate Change Programme
Hydrofluorocarbons (hfcs) have been developed as a family of new refrigerants to replace cfcs and hcfcs in many applications. Unfortunately, like cfcs and hcfcs, hfcs are also powerful greenhouse gases.

Within Europe, certain hard-line, environmentally conscious states are demanding stringent controls on the use of hfcs. Denmark has gone as far as legislating a ban on the use of hfcs from 2006 in most refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

On 17 November 2000, the UK Government published its Climate Change Programme2. The programme sets out the UK strategy for tackling climate change and includes specific measures related to the use of hfcs.

The programme states that hfcs should only be used where other safe, technically feasible, cost-effective and more environmentally acceptable alternatives do not exist. It says hfcs are not sustainable in the long-term – the government believes that continued technological developments will mean hfcs may be replaced in the applications where they are used.

The programme also says that hfc emission reduction strategies should not undermine commitments to phase out ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol. Finally, the programme asserts that hfc emissions will not be allowed to rise unchecked.

Alternatives to hfcs
All but hardline environmentalists recognise that hfcs are currently important alternatives that are helping the rapid transition from cfcs and hcfcs. Most manufacturers have developed equipment from chillers to split air conditioners using hfc refrigerants including R134a, R410a and R407c.

However, in the longer term, the message is that hfcs will be replaced in many applications. The most practicable alternatives to hfcs are currently ammonia and hydrocarbons, both naturally occurring substances with low overall environmental impact.

However, ammonia and hydrocarbons come with their own drawbacks, such as toxicity or flammability which can be a barrier to their use.

Another so-called natural refrigerant is carbon dioxide. This is beginning to find its way into low temperature refrigeration systems, either in conjunction with ammonia in cascade systems, or as a secondary refrigerant in conjunction with central plant ammonia chillers.

Air cycle cooling has been demonstrated by BRE and the University of Bristol3 to be a viable alternative for buildings with simultaneous heating and cooling requirements. The commercial use of air cycle technology in buildings is now only waiting for a manufacturer to start making the equipment on a commercially viable scale.

Absorption chillers are a practicable solution for buildings with waste heat supplies, such as chp schemes. Thermo-acoustic and Stirling cycle systems need further development but are showing considerable promise.

The final analysis
The refrigeration and air conditioning industries have lurched from the ozone depletion crisis to the need to address the global warming impacts of refrigerants. As a result the industry has seen the return of ammonia to building air conditioning plant and take-up of the use of other old refrigerants including hydrocarbons, air and carbon dioxide.

Although the ban on the use of cfcs for maintaining existing systems will undoubtedly be a big challenge to some building owners, it is an opportunity to fundamentally review the way cooling is provided in a building and to explore the viability of more sustainable and cost-effective alternatives.