Share

Achieving the green dream by the use of natural refrigerants.

Author(s) : PACHAI A. C., WITULSKI H., HARRAGHY P.

Type of article: Article

Summary

According to the latest IPCC report from 2007, a little more than 10% of global warming is related to the use of man made greenhouse gases in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. This has led NGOs and politicians to focus on all options to reduce their use and emission. Since it is much more difficult and politically sensitive to do anything significant about the carbon dioxide (CO2) problem, such man-made gases are attracting more attention, especially as they are very potent and their use is steadily increasing. The industrial refrigeration industry has for many years used natural gases such as ammonia, hydrocarbons and CO2 instead of the man-made greenhouse gases. In some countries in Europe, the use of such man-made gases has been banned and/or taxes have been introduced and/or the bureaucracy associated with them is making it more difficult and expensive to own and operate plants using such gases. This has imposed specific requirements on both contractors and owners/operators including qualification requirements, reporting of leaks and procedures for handling and reporting leak testing and handling of the used refrigerant that is regarded as hazardous waste. Not all these requirements are applicable for systems using natural refrigerants but they do also present their own challenges. This paper deals with the challenge of making safe and reliable refrigeration systems based on natural refrigerants. Special focus will be given to chillers typically used for air conditioning with ammonia and hydrocarbons as the refrigerant as presently used in Europe. Some differences in the relevant standards/legislation between Australia, New Zealand and Europe are considered.

Details

  • Original title: Achieving the green dream by the use of natural refrigerants.
  • Record ID : 2010-0018
  • Languages: English
  • Source: EcoLibrium - vol. 8 - n. 10
  • Publication date: 2009/11

Links


See the source

Indexing