The gases used in refrigeration circuits have an index, GWP, which defines their characteristic in contributing or not to the greenhouse effect, and thus to global warming of the planet.
C02 is taken as a reference with a value of 1, metres the other gases have a value calculated on the impact they have over a period of up to 100 years.
For all refrigeration circuits – including water dispensers – a maximum threshold of 150 is defined, i.e. from 2025 no more refrigerant gases may be used in refrigeration circuits with a GWP above 150 in Europe.
A delay due to the market not being ready
The 2014 EU regulation imposed a threshold limit of 2022, which was postponed for several reasons. Firstly, because alternative gases posed problems that were not easy to solve. For example, the highly toxic amonia had limitations for refrigeration units placed in environments frequented by people, or hydrocarbons such as R290 and R600 were explosive and therefore impossible to use in the automotive world. C02 is an excellent gas, for cost and yield it has the considerable disadvantage of working at high pressures over 50 bar and therefore with expensive systems. In the end, derogation after derogation came to tighten the circle and impose a limit to 2025. At the moment, there does not seem to be a homogeneity that would lead to a shared solution, each sector approaching it in no particular order.
Which gas to choose for water dispensers
There are several issues to take into account when choosing gas.
–The respect of the GWP, obvious, but even in this case, if the standard foresees GWP under 150, it is not necessarily the case that calls for tenders or tenders set a lower level, as for example the CMA for public tenders requires a threshold lower than 15
The cost of gas, if a small plant the incidence of gas cost is almost zero, an MF10 has about 40 g of gas, for robust plants the amount can be ten times as much… even 400 g
-The explosive and flammability risk. Standards place a limit quantity depending on the environment in which it operates – depending on the volume of the room and the type of ventilation and the sum of all the refrigerant circuits present. The use of explosive gases such as R290 requires complex charging and charging stations with gas storage separate from the production environment. This is to prevent free flames from leading to critical situations. The gas R1234yf is not exposive, is of low flammability and does not require any special restrictions or requirements.
–Interchangeability. A refrigeration circus with old R134 cannot be repaired or regenerated using gases like R290 or R600, let alone with C02. Whereas with a gas such as R1234yf I can repair and replace old R134.
–GWS industries, taking these factors into account, has chosen to use GAS R1234 yf because it is an excellent compromise to lower overall running costs, anticipating the automotive world that is moving in this direction. Currently, the entire range in production can be purchased with the GAS R1234yf option. In the near future we will evaluate whether other HF0 (hydrofluorolefin) blends have better technical and safety characteristics. R1234ze, which is currently the best on paper, still needs to be validated by experience before it has stable use.
