REFRIGERANTS
Climalife says: Don’t panic!
Allan Harper introduces the seminars.
Refrigerant specialist IDS Climalife held one of its customer-only events in April, hosting a series of informative presentations, alongside Honeywell, to bring attendees up to speed on developments unfolding in the refrigerant market. ACR News reports.
I
DS Climalife holds a number of seminars through the year to ensure that customers are as up-to-date as possible in this fast-changing era of legislation driven developments. The event, which took place on 11 April at the DeVere Theobalds Estate in Cheshunt, was the second of its kind to be held by Climalife this year, as F-Gas regulation continues to make an impact.
Recognising the need to keep its customer base both informed and reassured, Climalife ensured that the afternoon of seminars addressed openly and realistically the F-Gas problem as it presently stands.
Climalife managing director Allan Harper commenced proceedings with a frank overview of the current situation and the state of the refrigerant market. Acknowledging the 32% reduction required this year for HFCs, he stated: “The R404A train has left the station. The honeymoon period for F-Gas is over and we need to make the marriage work.” Mr Harper added that equipment manufacturers have been slow to respond, and declared: “You have to ask equipment manufacturers to place new products on the market which support A2Ls or 2021 will be very
20 May 2018
diffi cult.” However, he concluded his introduction with a message that was fundamentally positive as he told customers: “Don’t panic.” This set the tone for the presentation which followed, as Climalife technical director Peter Dinnage off ered attendees a more comprehensive overview of the F-Gas phase-down in relation to both existing and new equipment, putting forward practical solutions to cope with the phase-down and noting the importance of leak prevention and careful planning.
“I’m not worried,” he said on the subject of the growing use of A2L refrigerants, “because if we do things right, do things properly, then there should be no problem.”
While Mr Dinnage emphasised the need to move much more quickly to low GWP refrigerants, with quota management being essential, he said the transition away from R404A in particular could be fairly straightforward when it came to existing equipment, with “a whole choice of R404A alternatives” being available. For new equipment, meanwhile, he said: “There’s a requirement for 2022 that quite a few commercial applications move to A2L refrigerants”, noting R454A, R454C and R555A in particular. He added that visitors to Chillventa
2018 in Nuremberg, Germany, are likely to witness equipment using A2L refrigerants, explaining that the HFO R1234yf is already to be found in the air conditioning systems of many cars.
Mr Dinnage acknowledged the limits to which one will be able to go with low fl ammability refrigerants, stating that while mildly fl ammable options are somewhat of an unknown, they will become increasingly necessary with new systems from 2021-2030: “Very rapidly, we’ll move from R410A to R32 and HFO blends.”
Indeed, he explained that R410A does not have
a low fl ammability alternative and urged the audience to “conserve R410A for systems where there is no alternative.”
In particular, he said, try not to use R410A for heat pumps but save it for VRV/VRF systems and servicing. R32 or HFO are suffi cient for new small AC systems and new chillers do not need it. In conclusion, he recommended that engineers should seek to: ■ Keep systems leak free ■ Consider whether a high GWP system needs to be converted if it doesn’t leak
■ Maintain awareness of how much refrigerant they are using
www.acr-news.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
