refrigeration energy efficiency opportunities

1

Going GreenRefrigerant Selection for the Future

Daniel Dettmers ([email protected])

HVAC&R Center/Industrial Refrigeration Consortium

University of Wisconsin

www.irc.wisc.edu

(866) 635-4721

Dettmers 2/8/07Dettmers 2010

Dan’s History of Refrigerants

1826 – Fredric “The Ice King” Tudor

becomes a millionaire by shipping ice

from New England across the U.S. and

as far as Brazil and India

Nathanial “The Engineer” Wyeth invents various ice plows and

other devices to make this possible

1857 – 1st canned ice factory

constructed

Future plants use NH3 or CO2

1927 GE “Monitor Top” refrigerator debuts

Used SO2 (toxic) or Methyl Formate (flammable)

Public relations nightmare ensues as refrigerators

tend to causes blindness, lesions and death or blow

up housewives

http://www.irc.wisc.edu/

2


Dan’s History of Refrigerants 1928 – Fridgidare asks General Motors’ lab to come up

with a safe refrigerant

3 days later, Thomas Midgley develops R-21

1931 - Midgley invents R-11 and R-12

1936 – Midgley invents R-22

1938 – My father-in-law drowns one of his dad’s horses

into Long Lake near Madge, WI

This ends natural ice harvest in Madge

My F-I-L hides for a week

in the forest

1974 – Rowland and Molina publish

paper in the journal Nature defining the

effects of chlorofluorocarbons on the

ozone layer

C

Cl

F F

Cl


Dan’s History of Refrigerants 1985 - UNEP/WMO/ICSU conference concluded

that greenhouse gases "are expected" to cause

significant warming in the next century

1987 – Montreal Protocol

CFC’s & HCFC’s phaseout

1997 – Kyoto Protocol

HFC’s targeted

2006 – Al Gore releases

An Inconvenient Truth

2009 – Copenhagen Summit

Copenhagen Accord drafted

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Aninconvenienttruth.jpg

3


Where Are We Now? CFC’s – gone

HCFC’s – going, going…

HFC’s – Safe? Not everywhere

Kyoto Protocol targets them as a greenhouse

gas for reduction/phaseout

What do “they” want?

0 ozone depletion

0 or very low global warming

High efficiency

Inherently safe


R-22 Outlook Will there be shortages of:

R-22?

Replacement parts?

EPA has a DRAFT

report on HCFC’s to

see if cap reductions

are possible

It is a preliminary draft

report, not to be cited

4


Total Projected R-22 Servicing Demand

Source: The U.S. Phaseout of HCFC, U.S. EPA


0

20

40

60

80

100

2000 2004 2010 2015 2020 2030

HCFC Phaseout Schedule -2007% Reduction in National Consumption of HCFC’s

Cap at 1989 ODP- weighted HCFC + 2.8% CFC consumption.

35%

reduction

of cap

75%

reduction of

cap

(formerly

65%)

90%

reduction of

cap

99.5% reduction

of cap, but 0%

allocation to R-22

0%

2009 EPA

step down

reduction in

R-22

production

5


What About Equipment? 12/23/09 issued 2 statements seeming to ban sale of all

R-22 equipment, replacement components and servicing

1/14/10 a Fact Sheet issued to clarify the EPA’s position

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/phaseout/rulesoverview.html

Sale and distribution allowed of:

Equipment if manufactured before 1/1/10.

Pre-charged appliance components manufactured before 1/1/10

Components manufactured on or after 1/1/10, for the servicing of

existing appliances as long as they do not contain a charge of

virgin R-22 or a blend with R-22 or –142b.

Not allowed:

Field-charging appliances with virgin R-22, -142b or a blend

containing either.

Source: www.epa.gov/EPA-AIR/2008/December/Day-23/a29999.htm,

www.epa.gov/EPA-AIR/2008/December/Day-23/a29965.htm


What Are The Alternatives? Stockpile

Purchase large quantities for future

use and/or sale

Ties up money, incurs storage costs,

may not need the stockpile

Conversion

Replace R-22 with a “drop-in”

alternative refrigerant

Replacement

Replace with HFC or natural refrigerant

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/phaseout/rulesoverview.html

http://www.epa.gov/EPA-AIR/2008/December/Day-23/a29999.htm










6


Problems with “Drop-In” Conversion

They must have EPA SNAP approval for

refrigeration & A/C

Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program

evaluates and regulates substitutes for the ozone-

depleting chemicals

Other problems:

No true “drop-ins”

None are as efficient

None are as miscible with

Mineral Oil and Alpha Benzene as R-22

None will work in every R-22 SystemSource: Stephen Spletzer, Arkema Inc, 2010 ASHRAE Winter Conference


GWP of Popular R-22 Retrofits

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

R-2

2

R-4

07

C

R-4

10

A

R-4

07

A

R-4

27

A

R-4

17

A

R-4

24

A

R-4

22

B

R-4

21

A

R-4

22

D

R-4

22

C

R-4

22

A

R-4

28

A

R-4

04

A

7


What is HFC’s Future? Analysis of HFC Production and

Consumption Controls

Released October 2009

Preliminary analysis of potential benefits for

controlling consumption of HFCs

No legislation

pending

Would count on

HFO’s, natural and

low GWP blends

to fill the gap


Any New Refrigerants? HFO-1234yf

A hydrofluoro-olefin refrigerant

Development

Similar capacity and efficiency

to R-134a

Joint project of Honeywell

and DuPont

Targeted at European automotive market as

alternative to using R-744 (CO2) in cars

No ODP and low GWP

(GWP = 4 vs. 1340 for R-134a)

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/downloads/HFCAnalysis.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/downloads/HFCAnalysis.pdf

8


Any New Refrigerants? HFO-1234yf, ctd.

May eventually have application in stationary

equipment or similar HFO

Mildly Flammable (LEL = 6.2%, UEL = 12.3%)

Others developed or being reconsidered

R-152a

Low atmospheric lifetime, 0 ODP, 122 GWP

A2 classification (lower flammability)

R-245fa

Low pressure, B1 classification, 950 GWP


ASHRAE Standard 34-2004 Refrigerant Classification

Just Approved:

Flammability classification “2L”

Refrigerant is still mildly flammable (2) but

will have Lower Flammability Rating

Lower propagation rate

Similar to ISO 817 category 2L

Targeted at refrigerants like

R 152a

Ammonia

HFO 1234yf

Other HFO’s and blends

9


Going Green Natural refrigerants have gained traction in

recent years

R-717 (Ammonia)

R-744 (Carbon Dioxide)

R-290 (Propane)

R-718 (Water)

Air

They all have 0 ODP, 0 GWP

Each has drawbacks that prevent universal

application to all refrigeration needs

Toxic/Slightly flammable

88F critical point

Very flammable

Inefficient/Freezes

Inefficient


Going Green Multi-national companies have policies in place to fight

climate change

Walmart – Sustainability initiative goals

To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy

To create zero waste

To sell products that sustain people and the environment

Coca Cola

HFC free by 2015, 40-50% efficiency increase by 2010

35 CO2 vending machines installed in U.S. Capitol 4/28/10

Refrigerants, Naturally!

Committed to natural refrigerants only

The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, McDonalds, Carlsberg, and

PepsiCo

Other multi-nationals have taken similar

pledges

10


Going Green Multi-national Ctd.

Carrier has developed

transcritical CO2 refrigeration

systems for:

Supermarkets (European)

Heat pump water heaters

General Electric & Ben & Jerry’s (Unilever)

Petitioning EPA to allow use of hydrocarbon

refrigerants in domestic refrigerator and ice cream

cabinets, respectively

GE Monogram unit reported to use 2 oz. isobutane

Acceptable under UL 471 for Commercial Refrigerators


Going Green EPA

Released pre-publication version of Proposed Rule to

list four hydrocarbon refrigerants as acceptable

substitutes, with use conditions, for CFC-12 and

HCFC-22

Use of isobutane, propane and HCR-188C and HCR-188C1

in in household refrigerators, freezers, combination

refrigerator and freezers and retail food refrigerators and

freezers (stand-alone only)

HCR-188C blend of propane, isobutane, ethane,

and pentane gases

0 ODP and <5 GWP

Replace R-134a

11


Going Green IIAR

The Carbon Dioxide Industrial

Refrigeration Handbook

Published earlier this year to provide

guidance to designers of industrial

CO2 refrigeration systems

ASHRAE

ASHRAE Position Document on Natural

Refrigerants

Issued Jan. 28, 2009

Supports research and growth of CO2, air,

ammonia, hydrocarbons and water


How to Protect Yourself

1. Make sure refrigerant is SNAP approved

800-296-1996

www.epa.gov/air/ozonedep.html

2. Check with compressor manufacturer

Check warranties, oil issues, etc.

3. Check with refrigerant manufacturer

4. Check contractor’s references

5. Check cost

Refrigerant, tax & operating cost

http://www.epa.gov/air/ozonedep.html

12


Hydrocarbons (HC) as Refrigerants

Propane/Butane/HC as a refrigerant?

Technologically…yes

HC’s have 0 GWP and 0 ODP

Often have high efficiency

Legality in the U.S?…see HC-12a

www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/refrigerants/hc-12a.html

“It has been illegal since July 13, 1995 to replace CFC-12

with the HC-12a® formulation that was submitted for SNAP

review in any refrigeration or A/C application other than

industrial process refrigeration.”

R-22 Propane Butane IsoButane

COP 4.66 4.5 4.74 4.62

Source: 2009 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, Chp 29, Table 9


Pure Hydrocarbon as Refrigerants

Be certain they have SNAP approval

Beware of another HC “drop-in” marketed for

R-22 systems

These do not currently have SNAP approval

Sometimes called a HC or Alkane refrigerant

“Drop-in” Propane

Hazardous ingredient Alkane Propane is Alkane

Lower Flammability Limit (LEL) 2.15% 2.2%

Upper Flammability Limit (UEL) 9.6% 9.5%

Autoignition temperature 800 F 842 F

Boiling Point -44.5 F -43.67 F

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/refrigerants/hc-12a.html



http://www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/lists/index.html

13


What’s the Danger of HC’s? If they are environmentally friendly, efficient and

allowed in industrial processes, why won’t EPA

allow them in A/C processes?

Icepak Coolstore in Tamahere, NZ

Refrigerated Warehouse that used propane

1 dead, 7 injured

Who/What’s to blame?

Stenching agent no longer

present in propane

Insufficient warning signs

Insufficient flammable gas detection on premises

Many other factors mostly related to systemic defects in

regulatory environment & communication between agencies


In Conclusion Ammonia has been and will continue to be a

mainstay refrigerant for industrial applications

The phase-out of R-22 is creates challenges

and opportunities

No clear “drop in”

Large number of alternatives = confusion

Opportunity to go green (with care)

http://www.fire.org.nz/Media/News/2008/Pages/Tamahere-Icepak-Coolstore-report-released.aspx







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