Manual for Refrigeration Servicing Technicians - UNEP - Division of ...

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Environmental Impact
European
One example is regulation (EC) no 842/2006 of the European
Parliament. It applies to several HFC compounds, among them the
R134a, and R404A.
According to this Regulation, for stationary refrigeration, air conditioning
and heat pump units over 3 kg charge (6 kg if hermetic), operators must:
• Prevent leakage, and repair any leaks as soon as possible
• Arrange proper refrigerant recovery by certified personnel during
servicing and disposal
• Carry out regular leak checks (e.g. at least once every three
months for applications with 300 kg or more of fluorinated
gases) by certified competent staff
• Maintain records of refrigerants and of servicing
• Provide labelling of equipment containing fluorinated gases
• Prohibit of placing on the market certain equipment containing
fluorinated gases such as non-refillable containers.
For non-stationary equipment (e.g., mobile units on trucks) and any
other products containing fluorinated gases, operators must ensure
that appropriately qualified personnel are used to recover gases, as
long as this is feasible and not excessively expensive.
Other European measures regarding the use of HFCs are covered by
the Directive 2006/40/EC, relating to emissions from air-conditioning
systems in motor vehicles, which bans fluorinated gases with a GWP
higher than 150 (such as R134a) as of 2011 for new models of cars.
USA
Another case of regulations concerning the use of HFC compounds
are the measures adopted by the California Air Resources Board
in 2007, to reduce the HFC emissions from mobile vehicle air
conditioning (MVAC) systems. These measures will control HFC
releases from MVAC servicing, requiring leak tightness test, repair
to smog check, enforce the federal regulations on banning HFC
release from MVAC servicing, dismantling, and require using low-
GWP refrigerants for new MVAC.
Mobile Vehicle Air Conditioning manufacturers are testing
alternative refrigerants to meet the long-term needs of automotive
manufacturers. Currently there are two alternatives under
consideration: R744 (carbon dioxide) and R1234yf (an unsaturated
HFC). Both have low GWP, are of lower toxicity, and whilst R744
is non-flammable, R1234yf has a lower flammability classification.
These new alternatives are still in the testing and development
phase, and it is not clear whether either one or both will be adopted
for MVAC systems.
With the continued environmental pressure on refrigerants,
technological innovations have helped in the consideration of
“natural refrigerants” (ammonia, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide) as
a safe and economic options for RAC applications in many areas.
Because of smaller environmental impacts and for being more
appropriate in terms of sustainable technological development
perspective, refrigeration systems with natural refrigerants could
have an important role in the future as technical solution in many
applications.
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