Refrigerants in Europe: Time is running out

In the interview, Dr Heinz Jürgensen, Director Application Engineering and Product Performance at BITZER, explains just how important it is especially now to choose the right refrigerant, and talks about how to use natural refrigerants.

To the interview - part 1
To the interview - part 2

• Dr Jürgensen, what are the most important refrigerant regulations today?

  Dr Heinz Jürgensen: In the EU, it’s undoubtedly the revised F-Gas Regulation 517/2014. Outside the European Economic Area, we were also affected shortly thereafter by the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which in October 2022 comprised 139 member states. Proposed restrictions to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are being drafted through the EU’s REACH chemical regulation.

• How urgent are these regulations?

  Jürgensen: The revised F-Gas Regulation will soon enter the trilogue phase, which refers to negotiations between the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission. The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment only recently issued a statement on the Commission’s draft, and we expect a statement from the European Council in the near future. Negotiations on the revision should be completed in the second quarter of 2023. The revision’s initial far-reaching measures should then take effect in January 2024, which is earlier than originally expected on the basis of the current regulation.

• How does the revised F-Gas Regulation affect users?

  Jürgensen: Published in April 2022, the Commission’s draft aims to further reduce the volume of emissions permitted. Manufacturers and operators can expect new or recycled refrigerants to be available for maintenance on and repairs to existing refrigeration systems for the next few years. For new systems, only refrigerants with a greenhouse effect (GWP) near zero may be used, thus ensuring that existing systems can continue to be serviced with increasingly limited and expensive fluorinated substances such as R454C, R455A and R1234yf and less and less frequently with R513A, R450A, R448A and R449A.

  I’d like to circle back to the aforementioned statement issued by the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, which states that refrigeration may no longer require any newly produced fluorinated substances from 2024 or, depending on the application, from 2027. These requirements are much more stringent. In terms of the ongoing negotiations, it’s difficult to predict what the results will be. Recent surveys have revealed that many EU states support a more stringent regulation. The proposed PFAS regulations may once again reduce the range of potential solutions available, as they apply to many HFCs, including the newer unsaturated compounds with low global warming potential such as R1234yf and R1234ze. The idea is that these substances in particular will reduce the overall greenhouse effect.

• How many systems will be affected?

  Jürgensen: We predict that at least several million refrigeration and air conditioning systems and heat pumps will be affected in the EU, with capacities ranging from individual kilowatts to megawatts. Most of these are not designed to accommodate a switch to the refrigerants that will be available over the long term.

• The F-Gas Regulation is only applicable in the EU. What does it look like in the rest of the world?

  Jürgensen: The surrounding countries, states and regions are eagerly watching what’s happening in the EU and will hopefully learn from it. On a global basis, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol will also help reduce the volume of fluorinated greenhouse gases emitted. However, the phased plans are somewhat delayed compared to the EU regulation. Many states have already developed their corresponding action plans.

• Many companies are hesitant to switch to natural refrigerants. Why do you think that is?

  Jürgensen: My impression is that many refrigeration system operators – most notably, smaller supermarkets, restaurants, bakeries and butchers – are unaware of how quickly and extensively these changes will affect them. They have limited exposure to the flow of information regarding the F-Gas Regulation and other refrigerant regulations. For them, the refrigeration system is a tool that needs to operate as efficiently and inexpensively as possible, which ultimately reduces the demand for long-term solutions in the market. It’s quite possible that people are unaware of just how urgent the regulation timeline is. If people would only consider today which refrigerants will still be available for system maintenance and operation in 15 to 20 years, the demand for CO₂, propane and ammonia solutions would certainly increase.

• In just a few words, what do people need to know about the naturally occurring substances carbon dioxide, propane and ammonia when used as refrigerants?

  Jürgensen: Propane, or R290, is a suitable refrigerant for commercial refrigeration. It has a boiling point of -42°C and can evaporate at temperatures of -40°C and higher. Much like R404A, propane can accommodate fluctuating temperatures without issue when compressing. As a hydrocarbon, propane is extremely flammable and therefore requires an expanded risk assessment for work environment as well as implementation of the corresponding risk minimisation measures. Especially when it comes to maintenance and repair, safety rules need to be carefully and strictly observed. At BITZER, we’ve been using propane, for example, with reciprocating compressors for many years and can accommodate the full capacity range from 2-cylinder to 8-cylinder compressors. Even compact screw compressors for air conditioning and process cooling as well as semi-hermetic screw compressors for compound systems operate with propane and the similar refrigerant propylene.

  Carbon dioxide, or R744, is already a very common refrigerant. It’s not flammable, but requires a much higher pressure level, with potential back pressures of 90 to 130 bar, which means the entire system design, control and maintenance are different. For two-stage CO₂ systems, the BITZER portfolio features specially adapted compressors for low and medium temperature stages. This type of system design initially requires comprehensive training, which we offer at the SCHAUFLER Academy. Systems with CO₂ compressors can be quite competitive, especially when medium to higher capacities are required in commercial refrigeration.

  Ammonia is typically used as a refrigerant in large systems with a capacity of more than 100 kW, but generally not in the vicinity of the general public. With steel pipes, flooded evaporators and insoluble oils, the proven system technology for ammonia is not a suitable solution for typical commercial refrigeration applications. In addition, a few safety factors need to be taken into account. Due to the high charged amount, the price of ammonia is much lower than that of other refrigerants, which is also a winning argument when it comes to large refrigeration systems. BITZER has years of experience in this application range as well as new, highly efficient screw compressors in its portfolio.

• In your opinion, do the refrigerant regulations also offer opportunities?

  Jürgensen: It’s likely impossible to cover all applications with a single refrigerant. Most importantly, the refrigeration system needs to be specially designed for the application in question and the appropriate refrigerant of the future, thus minimizing emissions to the highest degree possible throughout the system’s service life. Still, new compressors and components offer high energy efficiency and thus the potential to reduce costs. At BITZER, we added propane compressors to our portfolio in 1987 and have been optimising them ever since. As far as we know, our newest large-scale ammonia screw compressors are truly the most efficient in their performance class. Carbon dioxide applications call for dedicated designs. Because carbon dioxide often requires two-stage operation, we offer specially adapted compressors for both the lower and higher pressure stage. As a result, we can create the affordable, potential combination of motor, pressure drop, cylinder head design and valve plates, and thus ensure that they’re highly optimised for the application in question.