“The sky isn’t falling. There are plenty of options.” Those words are from Rajan Rajendran, director of engineering services for Emerson Climate Technologies to an audience of supermarket engineers at the Food Marketing Institute Energy & Store Development Conference.
While there are no pending regulations that would curb production of HFCs, those specific refrigerants are a part of the equation when talk turns to the broad, emotionally laden topic of global warming.
No technology has stirred up more attention in recent years than use of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a refrigerant in both stationary and mobile HVACR applications. And yet the technology has more people head scratching over it in terms of dealing with the pressures, efficiencies, installation costs, and servicing skills.
Whether or not HCs become major refrigerant players in the U.S. depends on who you talk to. Advocates point to extremely lower global warming potential, low cost, and a proven track record in Europe and Asia. Others see the flammability issue, A3 safety rating, and current building and fire codes limiting use to smaller applications.
The use of ammonia as a refrigerant has been around for approximately 160 years, dating back to its first use in France in the 1850s. It first appeared in the United States in the 1860s when it was used for artificial ice production. Its latest uses are a testament to the growing popularity of ammonia refrigerants.
In the move to new refrigerants, while the seals, compression ratios, efficiency ratings, and other considerations were painstakingly engineered, other system components were taken for granted. So the refrigerants changed, but what about the standards governing products that transport and contain those refrigerants?
The ongoing approval process to bring online an innovative approach to dealing with refrigerants that have reached the end of their useful life has taken another step forward.
As the world of refrigeration moves away from traditional CFCs and HCFCs toward more environmentally friendly alternatives, the use of ammonia refrigerants has been gaining in popularity and trending upwards.
Have you worked with R-407A in refrigeration jobs? The mechanical design company Henderson Engineers Inc. (HEI) of Kansas City has in such a project where it was given the task by a major retailer to improve the carbon footprint of a supermarket refrigeration system.
While the word “refrigerant” isn’t normally the first thing one thinks of when Thailand is mentioned (can you say “Pad Thai” or “Tom Yum soup”?), interestingly the two intersected at an event.
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