REFRIGERANTS
room to manoeuvre, even if someone were to claim to be able to use carbon dioxide in applications intended for air conditioning alone – a rather audacious idea. Currently, transcritical CO2
is effi cient
in combined applications, in which both refrigeration and air conditioning with heat recovery are worked on. The data from some trials seem to support these possible uses, but these are complex and expensive systems with a strong economic impact on the supply chain in terms of initial construction and installation costs. Indeed, there are large market operators who are making heavy investments and are obtaining positive results in applications dedicated to air conditioning. No matter how much we explore, however, nothing reduces the extent of the impact on the supply chain, and concern with respect to this regulatory pressure is also growing due to the fact that PFAS doesn’t yet have a clear risk profi le. The scientifi c literature on the subject is not entirely in agreement, and the traceable studies on the subject lead to confl icting conclusions. This allows a will to prevail that’s almost more guided by a politics than by responsibility towards the environment or towards the health of the populations potentially aff ected by the PFAS cycle. After a few years of regulatory uncertainty,
the recent update of the EN60335-2-24/40/89 standard has allowed us to gain a clearer picture of the product requirements necessary to operate in systems that adopt fl ammable fl uids. The update has incorporated key and fundamental clauses such as 22.116 and 22.117 present in EN60335-2-40. The process necessary to certify the safety of electromechanical components is certainly now clearer and this allows Sanhua, in collaboration with German
certifi cation bodies, to guarantee the total safety of its products in systems operating with A2L and A3 refrigerants. The product certifi cations obtained are aimed at verifying electrical safety and demonstrate that Sanhua components do not constitute potential sources of ignition. Among the many tests carried out by the certifi cation bodies, the verifi cation of the surface temperature of the coils in conditions of maximum stress (short circuit) and that there are no contacts that could generate sparks. This is certainly a methodological point that favours the transition, but at the same time, it makes it necessary for those who apply the technologies – the operators in the fi eld – to update them.
In any case, the general PFAS problem is still not solved because the potential inclusion of PTFE (Tefl on) among the substances at risk of a
ban could complicate the matter. At the moment, there is no economical alternative available that allows us to overcome this obstacle. Is derogation – an exemption or relaxation
of regulations – possible? Yes, and it wouldn’t be the fi rst derogation in this fi eld – let’s not forget that the presence of lead, as we mentioned earlier, in the copper alloys and brass in particular, used to produce components is already the subject of a derogation that’s exceeded twenty years of life because an acceptable replacement solution couldn’t be found. The industrial costs of fungible solutions are 80% higher, and the impact in terms of commercial prices of any attempted solution has proved to be such as to induce the legislator to grant its use. Tefl on could have the same ‘treatment’, and perhaps, in our current state of knowledge and experimentation, it would be desirable.
HumiTech, part of Munters, install, commission, maintain and service all makes and models of industrial and commercial humidifiers and evaporative coolers.
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