A technical conference in 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand, has provided some of the most up-to-date information on a way to deal with unwanted ozone depleting and greenhouse gases. The conference was the 32nd Open Ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.

The attention that’s being paid to HFC refrigerants used as retrofits in HCFC-22 systems is among the more positive developments in the industry. Refrigerant manufacturers are working with contractors and end users in doing such retrofits in real-world situations.

Rajan Rajendran has garnered recognition as one of the leading experts on the use of alternative refrigerants. His knowledge and ability has gained him recognition as one of The NEWS’ 2012 NEWSMakers.

Now, more than ever, the industry has been looking for alternatives to R-22 to keep the huge existing base of R-22 equipment up and running. More reclamation has been one option. But at the same time, attention is being paid to a large number of HFC refrigerants that can be retrofitted into R-22 equipment.

Because no one HFC refrigerant can be retrofitted efficiently into the entire range of R-22 equipment, a wide and sometimes changing variety of HFCs have entered the market. The NEWS contacted a number of refrigerant manufacturers asking them to discuss some of their most popular HFCs for R-22 retrofits.

Two recent projects demonstrated successful retrofitting of HFC refrigerants into existing HCFC-22 systems. These projects, which were highlighted by Arkema, detail the processes with regard to HFC-427A in refrigeration and air conditioning applications.

While natural refrigerants start to slowly — and cautiously — gain a foothold in North America, their impact is more forceful almost everywhere else. What do other countries have to say about this?

Two recent refrigerant developments focus on CO2 and HFOs. One relates to CO2 in refrigeration; the other is an announcement of an HFO in air conditioning.

In response to the accelerated phaseout of HCFCs, Indianapolis-based refrigerant producer ICOR International has expanded its refrigerant reclamation operations.

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about natural refrigerants such as CO2 and hydrocarbons gaining a stronger foothold. Yet much of the talk is related to the possible phasedown of HFC production. And currently, while there may be some talk about a possible phasedown, no actual action seems to be taking place.