After the strong legislation has taken place to phase out the harmful refrigerants, such as R22, people are unable to figure out the life span of both old refrigerants being phased out as well as new refrigerants to work on. Today many technicians are facing problems in the event of carting around these harmful gases in service vans from one place to another and working day and night.

With the aggressive implementation of rules stated in the Montreal Protocol, the phasing out of R-22 gas took a sharp toll during September 2007. The speed through which companies were found replacing the use of R22 in their existing systems with newer alternatives was simply above par.

HCFCs and HFCs were considered as the next generation of refrigerants to be replaced by the older ones. HFCs are believed to have gained a momentum in North America. R-410A has been a favorite for many industrial units these days. It is operated at higher pressures and has high cooling capacity with good heat transfer characteristics. It has a high GWP and its design mostly copes up with higher head pressures. But in Europe, HFCs are not able to grab hold of much demand where people looked for a better version to keep safe out of global warming concerns. Thus, in Europe, people are seeking R-744 (CO2), something which is beyond HFCs. This might also remain a niche gas in the near future. It offers low GWP for low temperature plants and MAC. Ammonia, on the other hand, continues to take its toll with its zero GWP, and that it can be well used for industrial or central water chillers.

Flammable hydrocarbons (HCs) also got even exposure in the market; people advocated the use of HCs with a blend of propane and isobutene, in a wider range of applications. Basically, Europe prefers flammable refrigerants as compared to North America.

After the UK Government has recently planned to phase out all hazardous substances having direct effect on the ozone layer, more challenges have been foreseen in choosing out the refrigeration alternatives. The Background to Refrigerant Regulations suggests that under EC Ozone Regulation 2000 (Chlorofluorocarbons and Hydro Chlorofluorocarbons), the usage of CFC and R22 (Refrigerant gas) were completely phased out from all new systems. This regulation will also phase out the usage of R22 for servicing new equipments. Under the EC F-Gas Regulation (HFCs, PFCs and SF6), which is going through final stages of legislation, the HFC (Hydro Fluorocarbon) users will be required to prevent leakage. However, there will be no ban on the use of HFCs for industrial as well as commercial purposes. The HFC 134a will be banned to be used for air-conditioning in cars.

On the verge of making utmost proper use of energy, the above ozone and F-gas regulations focus on the choice of refrigeration units, in order to minimise ‘direct impact’ on ozone layer and global warming. At the same time, an efficient usage of energy level is equally important, especially for industrial applications. An indirect emission of carbon dioxide from the usage of electricity disturbs the entire global warming of most of the refrigeration plants. It is, therefore, important to improve the energy levels especially in case you want to replace your old R22 plant in your place.

Some of the ozone regulations to phase out the harmful substances disturbing the ozone layer are Montreal Protocol 1987, EC Regulation 1994 and EC Regulation 2000 (2037/00). The Montreal Protocol 1987 was ruled out in January 1989 to protect the ozone layer from its depletion by eradicating the production of the responsible harmful substances. EC Regulation 2000 saw considerable increase in the phasing out of ODS and banned the use of CFCs from 2001, and the use of new HCFC and production controls was propagated. R22 is one of them which is a widely used refrigerant worldwide, the removal of which has become a major issue for the past few years.

There has been an accelerated depletion of the ozone layer in the earth’s stratosphere due to excessive presence of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other chlorine- and bromine-containing compounds. CFCs came into existence during early 1930s and are being used for various industrial, commercial and household purposes. CFCs are basically non-toxic, non-flammable and non-reactive substances as compared to other chemical compounds. Thus, their safety and sable characteristics make them ideal applicants to be used as coolants for residential and commercial refrigeration units, aerosol propellants, blowing agents as well as electronic cleaning solvents. There has been an uninterrupted growth in the manufacturing and usage of CFCs due to their increased demand for commercial applications.

Nevertheless, during 1970s it was discovered that chlorine is an essential catalytic agent for the destruction of the ozone layer that can remove the odd oxygen species without affecting the chlorine. This process however damaged the ozone layer largely, but the evidence was found only in 1985. Later in March 1985, the polar ozone depletion over Antarctica was taken on a serious note and various scientific initiatives were taken to analyse the Ozone Depletion Process, so that the production of chlorinated fluorocarbons can be diminished. During investigation, it was found that in the polar springtime, atmospheric dynamics, chemical reactions and solar radiation were responsible for the low levels of ozone.

Recent trends in the ozone and chlorofluorocarbon levels suggest that there is a significant downward movement in ozone at all latitudes outside the tropics and corresponding upward movement in CFCs while measured at ground-based stations in northern and southern hemispheres. The ozone levels are anticipated to be lower than its pre-depletion levels in spite of its rapid phase out on account of long troposphere existence of CFCs.

The potential replacements for CFCs with no chlorine, Hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs), have been tested for any symptoms of fluorine compounds on the ozone destruction. HFCs, a blend of chlorine atoms and hydrogen, make them reactive with chemical species in the troposphere, which stops the chlorine from reaching the stratosphere and disturbing the ozone depletion.

The UK Government is now phasing out all the hazardous substances that have immediate effect on the ozone layer, according to the terms mentioned in the “Montreal Protocol”.

The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty signed in 1987 that came into force on January 01, 1989, to protect the ozone layer from its depletion by eradicating the production of the harmful substances responsible for the same. The recent dangerous substance to have been phased out by the UK government is the refrigerant gas R22. It is believed before 2002, all air conditioning systems installed at commercial places had R22 gas inside them. However, until 2004, with the exception of an extension for heat pump systems, the use of R22 in new equipments was prohibited.

R22 is also often used as a refrigerant in existing systems used by food and drink manufacturers. The two main uses of refrigerants are refrigerators/freezers and air conditioners. Nevertheless, even today the manufacturers of refrigerators are permitted to generate and supply R22 and utilise them in the servicing and maintenance of existing systems. It is likely that the manufacturing and usage of the gas R22 will be completely banned at the end of 2009.

Air Options Limited, with its roots for almost 15 years in the UK’s air-conditioning and refrigeration industry, offers environmental-friendly refrigeration and air conditioning equipments as well as facility management services across the UK. Many corporate and other business ventures using air conditioning systems with heat pump systems prior to the year 2004 are more likely to find R22 installed in their air-conditioning units. Such companies need to be prepared for the complete ban on the usage of such air-conditioners anytime from now onwards. They should make a backup plan, or consider most appropriate options, like purchasing new equipment, to avoid any future problems. There is no guarantee that there will be adequate supplies of recycled R22 available in the years to come.