Regulations on Usage of Harmful Refrigerants
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.
