Arkema’s North American Forane® refrigerants website has expanded its information about R-22 retrofitting in response to users’ needs to better understand the many options open to them.

The world of so-called natural refrigerants, particularly hydrocarbons (HCs), has gotten a lot more interesting recently. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given Significant New Alternatives Program (SNAP) approval to three HCs.

Safety is paramount when working with ammonia refrigerants. Why? If something does go wrong in such a situation, it can have grave consequences. Ammonia is a health risk because of its corrosiveness to skin, eyes, and lungs. In fact, exposure to 300 ppm creates an imminent danger to life and health.

Uses of so-called natural refrigerants such as HCs, CO2, and ammonia are being advocated as ways to positively deal with issues of climate change, greenhouse effect, and global warming. That was the primary perspective of an extended report from Eurammon, a joint European initiative of companies, institutions, and individuals who advocate an increased use of natural refrigerants.

HCFC-22 may not have been historically a refrigeration refrigerant, but it sure has been high on the minds of those wholesalers who deal with a lot of refrigeration products.

Refrigerant manufacturer DuPont Refrigerants warned about counterfeit refrigerants in a statement issued to coincide with the 2012 International Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigerating Exposition.

The Pro-Set® MT69 Molecular Transformator™ dramatically improves the speed and high-temperature performance of refrigerant recovery machines. It is designed for use with all refrigerants. Its maximum effective heat sink temperature is 100°F.

Now that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has greenlighted the use of a number of hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants in certain refrigeration applications, many in the industry have questions about these refrigerants and their potential uses.

I’m not sure many people in the HVACR industry started 2012 with a New Year’s resolution that went something like, “I want to be totally confused over the cost and availability of R-22.”

We, as contractors, have to walk a very fine line when it comes to deciding what issues/opportunities we go after. The reason for this is that we have a responsibility to our customers to make them aware of upcoming issues in order that they, the customers, may make informed decisions regarding the issues confronting them.