By refrigerant

When refrigeration and air conditioning equipment is installed, serviced, repaired and dismantled, safety issues need to be carefully evaluated and considered particularly when servicing technicians have to deal with refrigerants with properties that they were previously not familiar with. It is therefore important that the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry adapts to both the technical and safety issues concerning these refrigerants.

Upgrading all existing room air conditioners to highest efficiency units, combined with the transition to lower GWP refrigerants, could save 25 gigatons of CO₂ equivalents by 2030.

With new US HFC refrigerant bans about to become law, industry pressure has delayed measures which could have banned R134a and R404A from the end of this year.

Refrigerant producers, refrigeration equipment manufacturers and green groups have welcomed the US EPA’s usage bans on high GWP HFCs.

The EPA has announced that low GWP alternative refrigerants R450A, R448A, R513A and R449A are to be approved for use.

Europe’s aircon and refrigeration component makers have warned that only with a very focused approach will industry be able to achieve the phase down targets within the statutory time frame.

The conference was the largest event in the history of Centro Studi Galileo and the Italian Association of Refrigeration Technicians CSG has been able to celebrate its 40th anniversary with extreme satisfaction: 200 participants from 4 continents, more than 50 speakers and 26 Platinum, Gold and Silver Partners came together to support the Conference. Our industry will face huge challenges in the coming years and in response, the main theme of the conference was “Do not Wait – Act now!” (Per Jonasson President of AREA). Our industry will suffer if we do not act now; however if immediate action is taken, there will be innumerable benefits both for the environment and future technological evolutions and innovations. In particular for session 1 to 4, the key concepts from the Conference and the conclusions are therefore: zero use of refrigerants with a high Global Warming Potential GWP environmental impact, energy efficiency, and correct labeling. All of these actions are to be undertaken urgently in the coming months; further innovations will help and support European Companies and expansion into new markets …

Air conditioning units are reported to pose a greater fire risk than any other common household appliance in Singapore.

A fridge explosion at Michigan State University (MSU) may have been due to the use of a domestic fridge in a laboratory environment.

The implications of the US EPA’s delisting of certain common refrigerants is to be the subject of the next Emerson webinar.

A recently completed project to improve refrigeration technologies throughout the European food cold chain has furthered our understanding of the viability of alternative technologies.

A Tegut store employing CO₂ refrigeration, cabinet doors and LED lighting is the first supermarket to be recognised with an environmental Blue Angel award.

Compressor manufacturer Tecumseh is backing refrigerant R452A as a mid-term alternative to R404A in medium and low temperature commercial refrigeration.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki Moon has backed efforts to reduce HFC emissions, describing action as being essential to combat climate change.

IT’S BACK! METHYL CHLORIDE FOUND IN FAKE R22