Appliance Design - April 2008 - (Page 29)

RETHINKING REFRIGERANTS Freezer cabinets and coolers run by DuPont’s HFC-based refrigerant. COOLING TECHNOLOGIES T he first major phase change for refrigerants has not even been completed yet and already many are urging yet another. The long, hard, costly journey away from ozonedepleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which began in the early 90s, continues, with a 2010 step down in production and eventual phase out of hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-22 refrigerant in new HVAC/R applications. But soon after hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) became the established alternative, many in Europe began urging yet another costly, arduous trek – away from HFCs and toward “natural refrigerants.” The igniter behind all the commotion is the hot topic of the day – global warming. HFC refrigerants have no chlorine on the molecule, which gives them a zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) versus chlorine-containing refrigerants like CFC-12 (ODP=1) or HCFC-22 (ODP=0.05). But the new environmental concern in the air, global warming, casts HFCs in a less favorable light due to their relatively high global warming potential (GWP) values. While the change from CFCs to HFCs drastically reduced refrigerant-related contribution to global warming (for example, one kg of CFC-12 has the same global warming contribution as 8500 kg of CO2 while one kg of HFC-134a is equivalent to 1400 kg of CO2), the intensifying focus on global warming has created pressure to find alternatives with even lower GWPs including use of natural refrigerants like CO2, hydrocarbons and ammonia which have no ODP and very low GWP. While many European air conditioning and refrigeration manufacturers are hot on natural refrigerants, North American OEMs are cool to them. On this side of the pond, the industry is satisfied with HFCs. The industry here is happy with HFCs performance and their ability to work with most of today’s equipment designs. More importantly, OEMs here are leery of investing in another costly conversion adventure for what they see as negligible return. “There is quite a divide between and across the Atlantic,” says Daniel Colbourne, a refrigeration consultant with Refrigerants, Naturally!, a European-based initiative promoting the use of natural refrigerants. When the CFC phaseout was being considered, natural refrigerants were considered as a replacement, but the alternatives that were considered – ammonia and hydrocarbons – are flammable and toxic and in North America this led to safety concerns and litigation fears, he says. Those refrigerants were put on the back burner while HFCs became the Global warming concerns creating divergent paths. by larry adams applianceDESIGN April 2008 29 www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - April 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch A Variant of Thermoacoustic Refrigeration Known as Acoustic-Stirling is Expanding Its Range Outside Cryocooling Into More Conventional Applications Such As Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Free-Piston, Stirling Coolers Are Now Showing Up in Mainstream Applications As Costs Come Down and Heat Transport Solutions Are Devised Heat Exchanger Innovations Are Helping To Improve the Overall Efficiency of Vapor Compression Systems Environmental Concerns Have Once Again Ignited a Debate Over Refrigerants A New Glass Ceramic Material for Induction Cooktops Can Be Decorated In a Variety of Glimmering Metallic, 3-D Looks That Can Employ a Number of Shades, Patterns, Styles, Colors, Intensities, and Textures Colorful, Reflective Coatings for Glass Create a Variety of Design Options To Help Designers Establish a Unique Look for Their Products Appliance Designers Faced With Different Motor and Drive Options Need To Understand the Differences and Tradeoffs Before Choosing A New MEMS Valve Offers a Number of Advantages Over Solenoids In Certain Applications, Including the Opportunity To Cut Energy Use The AHR Expo Set Attendance Records and Showcased Thousands of Innovative New Products Classifieds Design Marts Advertiser’s Index Association Report: CEA

Appliance Design - April 2008

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