REFRIGERANTS
to separate mixtures, provision of appropriate packages to contain waste, reclamation and analysis.
We have many years’ experience of providing this type of service to the market in Canada where a successful waste refrigerant service has been and continues to be in operation. We possess technology to separate mixtures of refrigerants to their component parts where necessary, so that they can be used to make up the original or different blends. We operate this technology in Canada, the USA and the UK. The refrigerant waste system in Canada operates across the whole of this vast country, and is a model worth looking at for the UK and the EU. This whole system in Canada is voluntary and not controlled by the state. The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI), which is the Canadian equivalent of the British Refrigeration Association, runs a programme called Refrigerant Management Canada (RMC) which is responsible for operating the refrigerant waste collection and disposal system. One of the key aspects of RMC is that, like the NHS in the UK, it is free at the point of use so that users, contractors, wholesalers and all who handle refrigerants are able to dispose of their waste refrigerants at zero cost. The lack of a disposal cost substantially reduces illegal venting of refrigerants, which is a major problem in countries where a charge is made, including the UK. RMC is financed by HRAI, imposing a charge on supplies of virgin and reclaimed refrigerants so that everyone pays the same amount on a per kg basis. The Canadian waste system is effective and simple to operate, not only providing clear environmental benefits but also increasing the availability of products which are in short supply. Refrigerant Services, our partnership company in Canada, is the largest service provider to RMC, which is in part due to possessing the required technology to separate a wide range of refrigerant blends that in turn provides the flexibility needed to operate an effective waste system.
It is, therefore, of great strategic importance to have an effective, low cost and practical recovery/reclamation/separation system set up and operating in the UK and the EU. A further key requirement is the deployment of zero GWP and energy efficient alternatives to high GWP refrigerants such as R404A and R407, which can readily be retrofitted into existing systems and suitable also for new equipment. There are replacements for R404A and R507 with considerably lower GWPs, such as R442A,
www.acr-news.com August 2017 41
R407F and R407A, and more efficient than R404A/507. In addition, blends of HFO/HFCs are also available at even lower GWPs but at higher costs in view of their HFO content. There are no potential replacements for R410A for air conditioning, such as splits, which are non-flammable under ASHRAE Standard 34, and hence under all conditions of fractionation. R32 is being offered as a replacement for R410A but has an ASHRAE safety classification of A2L, which is flammable, and the issues associated with its flammability need to be worked through to gain market acceptance. In addition, while R32 is at the lower end of the
global warming scale with a GWP approximately one third of R410A, it does have a GWP of 675 and in the context of EU legislation and F-gas, must be considered as a medium-term and not a long-term solution.
In summary, in order to be able to best manage the constraints imposed on the acr industry by F-gas in the EU, there does need to be a viable, low cost and effective recovery and recycling programme operating across the EU, which is supported by the availability of suitable low GWP replacements for the refrigerants which have been mainstream since the problem of ozone depleting substances was discovered.
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