Refrigeration and A/C: Status of Technology - World Banksiteresources.worldbank.org/EXTTMP/Resources/05_LK... · Refrigeration and A/C: Status of Technology Lambert Kuijpers OORG

Refrigeration and A/C: Status of Technology

Lambert Kuijpers

OORG AdvisorRefrigeration and AC

15th Annual Financial Agents WorkshopWashington D.C., 31 March 2011

31 March 2011 15th Annual Financial Agents Workshop 2

Introduction Decision XIX/6 (2007) mentions that “high ODP”

should be phased out first; this helps compliance of countries via the foam sector at a certain cost level

It leaves a complicated sub-sector for the near future In HPMPs refrigeration and air conditioning often play

a major role and cannot be “overlooked”; in some cases the sub-sector has been addressed

This actually also applies to refrigeration/AC servicing It should be noted that it also brings back the issue of

climate friendly (and low GWP) R and A/C solutions


Refrigeration and A/C in HPMPs

Reasonable to address R-A/C as of 2011/12 “to a certain degree”

This not only for achieving the 2015 Montreal Protocol target (baseline minus 10%) but also to not let the equipment base grow further until 2016-2020; with the well known consequences for the service sector HCFC consumption

The TEAP replenishment report “under development” made certain choices; in a first instance, 75-85% of the ODPs to be addressed in HPMPs phase I will be in the foam sub-sectors (HCFC-141b, -142b and -22)


Low GWP

Policy as well as NGOs talk about low-GWP alternative solutions as HCFC alternatives

In fact, for RAC these are HCs, CO2, ammonia, HFC-152a and HFC-161 and unsaturated HFCs (HFOs)

In how far are all these options mature and cost effective for a variety of RAC sub-sectors ?

At this moment in time (saturated) HFCs are still the major HCFC replacement candidates

Countries often consider HFCs, but at the same time the question is then asked whether it would require a second conversion in the future (at own costs)


The choices ?

Convert to a solution such as R-410A in A/C which implies changes in manufacturing and product concept; is this the preferred only future direction ?

Convert to an intermediate solution such as R-407C (or R-407A in refrigeration) which is very likely to ask for a second conversion to low GWP in the future (at own costs or via other funding mechanisms)

Choose a lower GWP solution - sustainable - mature ? What about cost effectiveness ?

What is the role of foreign ownership in companies on conversion decisions to be made ?

Air Conditioning: Status of Technology


Conversion to R-410A

GWP somewhat higher than HCFC-22 (2100 vs 1790) Advantages compared to HCFC-22 regarding volumes

of components Lower efficiency than 22 at high outside temperatures It is preferred to change compressors, heat

exchangers and piping in order to achieve proper performance (at least high pressure needs addressing)

R-410A is the major candidate in the A/C market in developed countries (with over 80% estimated in 2010); will this change in future ?


Conversion to R-407C

GWP somewhat lower than HCFC-22 (1700 vs 1790) Changes in compressor and heat exchangers small;

conversion of manufacturing procedures relatively moderate

Lower efficiency at high outside temperatures Other blends such as R-422B could also be used with

marginal design changes, but costs are relatively high compared to HCFC-22; no real advantage

Could this be an intermediate step to convert to low GWP hydrocarbons (R-161, GWP 12 ?) in the future ?


Conversion to HFC-32 GWP lower than HCFC-22 (670 versus 1790) Advantages compared to HCFC-22 regarding volumes

of components Better efficiency at moderate and high outside

temperatures; flammability moderate (A2L) It is preferred to change compressors, heat exchangers

and piping in order to achieve proper performance (at least high pressure needs addressing) (similar to 410A)

Is this a major candidate in the future A/C market; with so far only a push from one manufacturer ?

Could this be a successor to R-410A ?


Conversion to HC-290

Low GWP solution No major changes required in the product design, but

these will be required in the manufacturing procedures and in the product concept in order to deal with the flammability (A2)

Better efficiency at most outside temperatures Will or can hydrocarbons be applied in A/C

equipment of all sizes ? What about the development of HFC-161 (in China)

(less flammable, comparable efficiency, toxicity ?)


Conversion to Carbon Dioxide

Low GWP solution Very significant changes required in the product

design; these will be required in the manufacturing procedures and in the product concept in order to deal with the high pressures and trans-critical mode

Efficiency very dependent on outside temperatures Will carbon dioxide be applied in A/C equipment of

different sizes ? So far this solution has not matured in mass

production of A/C equipment


Conversion to low GWP

Conversion to low-GWP climate friendly alternatives is being emphasised in Parties’ decisions and in strategies for the development of HPMPs

In A/C, however, the discussions are focused on the role of HFCs in the future, since the range of low alternatives to choose from is limited, due to flammability aspects, questions about the maturity of the solutions as well as the global applicability

In larger A/C equipment (chillers), ammonia as well as HFC-134a are applied, since the emphasis here is on energy efficiency and the leakage is small

Commercial Refrigeration: Status of Technology


Commercial RefrigerationStatus of Technology Stand alone equipment (freezers, vending machines,

beverage coolers, ice makers, small display cases etc.)

Condensing units (simple units for specialty shops)

Supermarket centralised systems


Stand-alone equipment In a first instance, the main substitute refrigerants

are/ were HFC-134a and R-404A; their use is still significant at present

Vending machines increasingly use hydrocarbons (propane, isobutane) and carbon dioxide (ambient temperature could be prohibitive for high efficiency)

Ice cream freezers increasingly use hydrocarbons in Europe; ice makers mainly use HFC-134a and conversion to hydrocarbons is ongoing

The role of R-404A in “new” becomes less significant


Stand-alone equipment (2)

Since the refrigerant charge is a few 100 grams (and can be further reduced), hydrocarbons have been applied since several years; (north-western) Europe

Many German supermarkets (“discounters”) insist on the application of a large amount of separate display cases on hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons are considered the low GWP solution here

What is the future role of the HFC-134a/-1234yf mix (as promoted under ”Opteon” by a manufacturer)


Condensing Units

HCFC-22 is still the most used refrigerant here The dominant HCFC-22 replacement for condensing

units have been the HFC refrigerants R-404A and HFC-134a (refrigerant charge 1 to 5 kg)

R-404A has been more often used than HFC-134a; reasons are the smaller compressor/piping dimensions than for HFC-134a; currently R-407A is being mentioned as the important substitute for HCFC-22 rather than R-404A (GWP reasons)

Condensing units found in specialty shops but series of condensing units are also installed in supermarkets


Condensing Units (2)

Their design is not an overall installation design; in fact, a condensing unit is an off-the-shelve spare part integrated by a contractor on any type of small installation anywhere; there is a split between the condensing unit design and design of the complete unit; this makes application of hydrocarbons difficult

A two stage system has been proposed by a Japanese manufacturer; it is a two stage ammonia-carbon dioxide system coupled via a brine circuit

The condensing unit market is very much cost driven; HFC blend costs count even when decreasing: limits!!


Centralised systems

In the past supermarkets applied independent racks of compressors for higher conservation temperature equipment and for freezers; capacities varied from 20 kW to several MW (R-502 and HCFC-22 applied)

Replacements such as R-404A and R-507C were the main substitute refrigerants considered initially; these have largely disappeared in new systems

As a first alternative, indirect systems can be applied with brine or carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide requires low pumping energy). These systems were introduced in 1995 and have expanded slowly since


Centralised systems (2) Ammonia (R-717), HCs (HC-290 or HC-1270), and CO2

can be used as low-GWP refrigerants in these refrigerating systems in case they are completely installed in machinery rooms; and if coupled to secondary heat transfer loops

Such systems are then installed in machinery rooms with safety features, e.g., allowing high air ventilation rates in case of significant leaks

The ammonia charge can be 10% of the usual total system HFC refrigerant charge; the same applies to HCs with similar charges


Centralised systems (3)

There is a trend to apply CO2 in a sub-critical cycle for supermarkets in regions with lower ambient temperatures; questions are raised at which annual ambient temperature conditions these CO2 systems show (significant) energy efficiency decrease

The fact that two temperature levels are required in supermarkets actually leads to the consideration of cascading systems first

This can be a system with HFC-134a (or HFC blends or HCs) in the medium temperature loop, and a CO2 compression system for the low temperature part


Centralised systems (4) Two stage CO2 systems are discussed more and more;

at high ambient temperature the efficiency of the high temperature trans-critical part is relatively low

Two stage CO2 systems have been installed in a number of supermarkets (Europe); much emphasis from environmental groups to go this direction

In summary, the cascading or two stage systems direction seems to be the direction one prefers to go in developed countries for centralised systems

What about the HFC-134a/-1234yf solution which “has been received quite well” (RAC press) in Germany ?


Conversion to low GWP

Air conditioning market is the market with mass production where the choice of the refrigerant is important, where low-GWP is being emphasised but where reality choices mostly are HFCs

Commercial refrigeration is the market with a variety of system categories with different designs

In a first instance one emphasises the use of low GWP Developments that occur in practice are often related

to more complicated designs which minimise the amount of refrigerant and often involve the use of CO2


Conversion to low GWP (2)

Is the commercial refrigeration market really easy to cope with at present, for the HPMPs Phase I ?

It may be valid for solutions that replace HCFC-22 in the same system design (e.g. R-407A)

But many developments that so far have taken place in the developed countries are supermarket chain related or to be looked at on a “case by case” basis

However, there will be a moment that the conventional supermarket systems (with the apparent HCFC-22 leakage) will have to be addressed !

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Thank you !

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Refrigeration and A/C: Status of Technology - World Banksiteresources.worldbank.org/EXTTMP/Resources/05_LK... · Refrigeration and A/C: Status of Technology Lambert Kuijpers OORG