22 ACR Show Review
Continued from page 21 Seminar highlights
“The Institute of Refrigeration’s Service Engineers’ Section did some training taster sessions to check what the appetite is amongst technicians to revisit some of the fundamentals,” said Miriam Rodway of the Institute of Refrigeration. “We were surprised by just how enthusiastic those that took part were – both the students trainees and the experienced engineers. “The face-to-face training sessions were set up to cover a pick and mix of topics – including copper pipewall sizing, pressure testing, pressure enthalpy diagrams, alternative refrigerants, leak testing and compressor failure. Each topic turned out to be equally popular. We don’t think this is because there is a lack of knowledge in the industry – but more a thirst for more information.”
That thirst for knowledge was a key element of the show, particularly with regard to refrigerants. According to Tony Wright, sales and marketing director of HRP, who sponsored the Business Theatre, the quality of presentations and useful following discussions indicated that the industry has a good grip on the challenges faced. “It is clear that we have come a long way towards meeting current and proposed regulations. However, everyone seems to be agreed that more technical development, more training and increased industry awareness are essential.” A discussion on the impact of HFC leakage led by Mike Nankivell, chairman of the ACRIB F-Gas Group, and a progress report on the REAL Zero project by James Bailey both referred to the potential difficulties faced by contractors in gearing up for new types of refrigerants.
Dr Richard Powell of Refrigeration Solutions presented the results of experimental work and first practical applications of RS-50 as a direct replacement for R404a. These confirmed that RS-50 delivers the lower GWP required by future legislation along with a substantial improvement in COP.
During a seminar hosted by the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES),
ACR News April 2014 Institute of Refrigeration.
leading industry campaigner Graeme Fox said some of the least practical and potentially damaging proposals for the revised F-Gas Regulation had been stopped in their tracks.
However, he warned that there were still areas of considerable confusion and the danger of unintended consequences from the revised legislation.
“The eventual outcome is an example of how better regulation can be delivered when the industry gets together properly to argue for sensible measures,” said Mr Fox. The phase down of fluorinated gases, such as the HFCs widely used in air conditioning and refrigeration, will happen, but at a gradual pace that is economically sustainable thanks to the efforts of the industry to rein in some of the more radical proposals from the ‘green lobby’.
The most important proposal in the revised Regulation is one imposing a legal duty on wholesalers and distributors to only sell f-gas containing equipment to qualified installers. Online auction sites in particular, have been giving serious cause for concern and have been stoking the trade in DIY air conditioning installation, which threatens to increase the amount of global warming gas lost into the atmosphere.
“The UK government has to work out how it enforces this and gives the Environment Agency the resources to do it, but legally the seller will have to provide a paper trail to show where that gas has gone and who is using it,” said Mr Fox. The previous version of the F-Gas Regulation was full of loopholes; with one of the most gaping meaning almost all split air conditioning units up to 12kW cooling capacity fell outside the requirements for leakage checking. This has now been addressed by revising equipment thresholds so they are now based on tonnes
of CO2 equivalent rather than kilogrammes of refrigerant charge.
However, a proposal by the regulator to impose a ban on servicing equipment with a charge over five tonnes CO2 equivalent
had to be nipped in the bud. It could have led to small retailers, who use a high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant like R404A, having to rip out their equipment. The cost to small businesses could have been crippling.
The industry lobby managed to get this threshold pushed up to 40 tonnes so the phase down of global warming refrigerants can now be achieved more gradually and without creating a huge unintended commercial penalty for UK businesses. Mr Fox also warned that there was a looming problem with Europe’s appetite for forcing the industry to increase its use of so-called ‘natural’ refrigerants. “The contracting community is not ready for widespread working with dangerous flammable gases or massively increased operating pressures,” he told the B&ES seminar. “There is generally not enough knowledge of the inherent dangers – rapid deployment will lead to dangerous, if not catastrophic, incidents in the field. “There is also no such thing as a ‘natural’ gas for refrigeration – they are all produced by commercial processes – don’t be fooled by the greenwash on this issue.”
Alarmed by the number of DIY heat pump installations and online auction sites offering air conditioning systems for sale to unregulated buyers, enforcement officer Richard Troup told delegates that the EA wanted to work more closely with contractors and trade bodies to improve enforcement.
“We can and do get products removed from e-Bay and other auction sites within hours. We are also closely monitoring the sale of imported and second hand equipment.”
He said the promotion of DIY
installation was under scrutiny and that the EA had contacted a number of companies who promoted products as ‘easy to fit’. “If they require the connection of refrigerant pipework they fall under the Regulation,” Mr Troup said. “The industry clearly wanted this Regulation and we want to help you create a level playing field for legitimate businesses. You have spent a lot of money making sure you are compliant so it makes business sense to get rid of those who break the rules.”
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Business Theatre.
Technology Theatre.
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