ACR Journal

04 ❘ The Refrigerant Update The biggest change to our sector since the introduction of these regulations in 2007 may be upon us but, possibly for the first time, there is some joined up thinking going on behind the scenes. The overwhelming majority of moans and gripes from the sector over the whole regulatory landscape is the perceived lack of enforcement undermining the regulations and what the responsible sector are doing to ensure they work within the law. I’ve spent many years now fighting on that front and have tried to help the enforcing bodies – the Environment Agency and devolved equivalents – close off loopholes and take appropriate action against those who continue to breach the rules. Changing the focus But one of the things that legislation has not kept up with, even though it is often being driven by that legislation, is advances in technology and solutions.The F-Gas phase The F-Gas Regulation Review – shifting the focus Graeme Fox is Head of Technical at the BESA and REFCOM delves into why legislation has not kept up. down is designed to restrict the products being placed on the market, reducing the supply and thereby increasing the cost of the current refrigerants available, in a drive to force the market towards lower CO 2 tonnes equivalent solutions by using lower GWP (Global Warming Potential) refrigerants. These alternatives have introduced a level of flammability in most applications already and will increasingly do so in the coming years as further sectoral placing on the market or use bans come into play. Changes coming into force in January 2022 include the requirement to only use refrigerants with a GWP lower than 150 in any refrigerator or freezer system for commercial use, or in the secondary circuit of a cascade system of a multipack refrigeration system with a rated capacity of 40 kW or more for commercial use. Unless you are able to use CO 2 as the refrigerant in these systems then you almost certainly looking at some degree of flammability with the refrigerant. Products and equipment Date of prohibition 11 Refrigerators and freezer for commercial use (hermeti- cally sealed equipment) That contain HFCs with a GWP of 2500 or more 1/1/2020 That contain HFCs with a GWP of 150 or more 1/1/2022 13 Multipack centralised refrigeration systems for commercial use with a rated capacity of 40 kW or more that contain, or whose functioning relies upon, f-gases with a GWP of 150 or more in the primary circuit of cascade systems where f-gases with a GWP of less than 1500 may be used 1/1/2022 15 Single split air-conditioning systems containing less than 3 kg of f-gases that contain, or whose functioning relies upon, f-gases with a GWP of 750 or more 1/1/2025 Table 1: Extracted from Annex III of the F-Gas Regulation EC517/2014 Placing on the market prohibitions