REFRIGERANTS The road to net zero
Reclaimed refrigerants will play an increasingly important role in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry’s strategy for minimising environmental impact, says James Henley, product development manager at Daikin Applied UK.
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‘circular economy’ approach to the refrigerant market could make a huge difference to air conditioning and refrigeration firms as they seek to manage the F-Gas phase down and its associated supply and cost pressures.
The principle of the circular economy is that waste and pollution are designed out of the process by keeping products and materials in use as much as possible. For our sector, we can reduce the consumption of new (or ‘virgin’) gases by tens of thousands of kilograms every year by stepping up efforts to reclaim used gas – making it one of our most significant contributions to addressing the climate change emergency. Since the start of the year, virgin HFC refrigerants with a global warming potential (GWP) greater than 2500 have been banned from use with systems using
a refrigerant charge size of 40 tonnes of CO2e or more – that is around 10kg of R404A. As well as reducing the industry’s options, this will increase demand for reclaimed R404A and push up costs. Recycling refrigerant is an option if you can capture the gas and reuse it on the same site for service and maintenance purposes. The industry will gradually move over to lower GWP alternatives in the long-term, but reclaimed refrigerant will also play an important part in the transition process.
Meeting sustainable goals
Stepping up the amount of reclaimed gas in use is another part of the industry’s wider strategy to meet environmental goals. It is sustainable because it makes use of material that has already been produced and reduces carbon footprint because it helps to prolong the life of equipment. It is also very much in line with the total lifecycle approach that has led to the adoption of energy saving technologies such as inverters and heat recovery that are also helping to reduce our environmental impact. As well as dramatically reducing
our level of CO2 equivalent emissions, reclaimed gas is not included in the F-Gas quota system that determines how much refrigerant is available to the market, so can ease the supply and cost impact created by the HFC phase down. However, reclamation is a more complex process than recycling because the reclaimed gas needs to be taken to a licensed facility and purified to the same quality as virgin material in line with the industry standard AHRI 700. The gases must be returned to their original state by removing any impurities, such as oil and acid, and reducing excess moisture that may have built up during use. This means there will be no loss in performance. A sizeable amount of R410A is already being reclaimed and reused, but there is great potential to extend that to other refrigerants. One of the big challenges with F-Gas Regulation is that each step down in HFC availability sparks a period of confusion and alarm in the market. The availability of more reclaimed gas can smooth out the transition process and give clients precious breathing space. Meanwhile, the industry is already adopting lower GWP gases and reducing the size of refrigerant charge in systems thanks to the emergence of highly efficient refrigerants like hyrdofluoroolefins (HFOs) and R32, which allows contractors to achieve the same level of performance with a 30% lower charge. At Daikin Applied, switching to R32 has allowed us to achieve a 10% improvement in seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) compared with the
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equivalent equipment using R410a. The R32 chiller range also fully complies with the efficiency requirements imposed by the Ecodesign regulations.
Even more significantly, a chiller using R32 has a 63% lower CO2 equivalent charge than a similar capacity R410a counterpart. In the event of any leakage of refrigerant gas to the atmosphere that is a major difference and marks a considerable technical advance in line with the aims of F-Gas regulators. It also means that an end user can significantly reduce their potential impact on the environment and meet all their legislative obligations with no loss of performance.
What about the equipment lifecycle?
The industry is anticipating a clear shift from HFC to HFO, particularly because of the next quota step down in 2021 for HFC refrigerants. This will inevitably lead to another price increase for HFCs, making HFOs more cost-effective. Daikin Applied has designed a new compressor for the use with HFO refrigerant, so that the cost profile comes more into line with R134a chillers. Not everyone will be ready to shift immediately to these longer-term alternatives – in some cases a total change of equipment will not be cost-effective – so we have to find a way to make the transition as smooth as possible. Having more reclaimed gas available allows us to extend the lifecycle of installed HFC equipment that is still operating efficiently – making the process less disruptive and expensive for end users. This can also ensure the phase down goes more smoothly and reduces the opportunities for anyone tempted to try and circumvent the legislation. The growth in online sales of counterfeit and non-quota illegal refrigerants is a worrying trend and the more alternatives we have, the better chance the bona fide industry has of defeating such attempts to sabotage the process. By harnessing the circular economy approach, we are giving specifiers and contractors more options while still achieving our long-term environmental goals without any loss in performance. This is very much in line with the bigger picture created by the government’s commitment to achieving a net zero carbon economy by 2050.
There have already been heated debates about how much decarbonising our economy will cost with the Treasury calculating the final bill at more than £1trn. The target has also been dismissed as meaningless by many commentators because they think it is not possible without future technology breakthroughs that cannot be guaranteed. However, by adopting the principle of the circular economy we can bring this goal much closer and make it more economically viable. The air conditioning and refrigeration sectors have been tackling their GWP for many years and, simultaneously, reducing carbon impact. Technology improvements – and the odd breakthrough – have played their part, but the ability to introduce incremental changes is, arguably, the most important strategic step towards a net zero future. Making change a gradual process without the need for huge capital investment will help the industry and its clients work harmoniously towards a common goal. Increasing the availability of reclaimed refrigerant gas is a prime example of this philosophy in action and will be an important step towards a more environmentally benign future for all.
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