Is the switch to HC equipment possible? The answer is we already did it! - Hydrocarbons21.com
Close to 400 participants from around the world gathered over the weekend in Bangkok to discuss next steps to advance ozone and climate protection technologies. Hydrocarbons in refrigeration and air conditioning were discussed as one of the main options to replace Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in developing and developed countries with some real life examples proving that the switch is not as difficult as some might think.
In this first part of the article series from the conference Advancing Ozone & Climate Protection Technologies: Next Steps, hydrocarbons21.com summarises the main messages and discussions in presentations about solutions for refrigeration and chiller applications from Johnson Controls and AHT. Taking place in Bangkok, Thailand on 21-22 July 2012, the conference also included presentations from Indian Godrej, and Chinese Gree and Meizhi that will be the focus of subsequent articles.
530,000 propane cabinets delivered to all continents
The AHT Group specialised in supermarket equipment, ice cream freezers and bottle coolers and with factories in Austria and China, started the session on alternatives in refrigeration with a strong signal in favour of hydrocarbons. With We already did it being their main message, Reinhold Resch from AHT answered one of the main questions often posed by the national ozone officers, who are responsible for identifying alternatives for HCFC and HFC equipment in their countries: whether hydrocarbons can be a viable alternative in general and whether they can be adopted in different world regions. He showed pictures from many different projects around the world using R290 (propane) cabinets including Germany, the US, Thailand, Korea, South Africa and many more countries where hydrocarbon equipment is running without any problems.
Resch also emphasised the fact that the company can look back at almost 20 years of experience with hydrocarbons, with its first propane cabinets installed in a supermarket back in 1995. In cooperation with Unilever, AHT also catered for the Summer Olympics that place in Australia in 2000. Today, they have delivered over 530.000 propane cabinets to all continents. In addition, customer feedback confirms 50% energy reduction compared to previous R22 and R404A equipment, the best results in terms of temperature as well as no problems in production, operation or maintenance.
Johnson Controls: HC one of the possible alternatives
Johnson Controls, a leading expert in refrigeration and chiller solutions, discussed hydrocarbon refrigerants as one of the solutions for various applications. However, taking the example of the US, Bill McQuade from JCI noted that commercial air conditioning and refrigeration safety codes would need to be modified to permit the safe and affordable use of flammable natural or synthetic refrigerants. He called for cooperation between governments, manufacturers and end-users and referred to the good example in Europe.
McQuade then underlined that hydrocarbons are excellent solutions in specific applications, including propane and isobutane in domestic refrigerators and appliances as well as hydrocarbons in small packaged air-cooled equipment. But he added that in general when using natural refrigerant solutions it is important that energy efficiency of systems must remain at HFC levels and believes that system cost and application cost can be a barrier to adoption.
About the conference
The United Nations Environment Programme, the United States Government, United Nations Development Programme, and the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy organized an Industry/Government conference on 21-22 July, 2012, in Bangkok, Thailand on the weekend prior to the meeting of the Montreal Protocol Open-Ended Working Group. This event brought together industry, policy makers, environmental organisations, and academia to share information and expertise on various alternatives and approaches to ensure that the phase-out of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and HCFCs is done in such as way as to limit the contribution to climate change of high Global Warming Potential (GWP) materials.
