NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 92

BOSTON 2017

Conference & Expo

coolers. It's a design that is already in use throughout Europe.
Ammonia, another efficient natural refrigerant, has also been
used in roof chillers on a trial basis in these cascade systems.
These moves by Target and Whole Foods and others indicate
how eager the supermarket industry is to move toward the
refrigerant future, said Keilly Witman, a supermarket refrigeration consultant who for years ran an EPA program aimed at
helping grocers reduce refrigerant leakage.
"You have to realize how frustrating it is for these companies, which have no choice but to use refrigerants, to
constantly have to pay to transition from one bad one to
another," Witman said. "For the very first time in the history of
the food industry, we might have refrigerants that we can use
that would finally eliminate this environmental problem. That
has never been the case."

Research and testing
With pressure from the EPA, industry, and safety officials to
find a safe and viable solution, activity is moving quickly on
many fronts as the cutoff date for HFCs approaches.
Target is a lead sponsor of a Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF) project that is analyzing the fire hazard of
propane refrigerants in commercial retail and kitchen settings.
The project, currently underway, includes a literature review
of past research, as well as computer simulations and full-scale
testing of propane refrigerants under various circumstances.
Results could be published as early as July. The entire project
from funding to testing has an accelerated timeline, reflecting
both the interest and importance of the issue.
"We did zero fundraising, which is very unusual-usually
we have to go out and solicit money for projects," said Casey
Grant, the FPRF's executive director. "But Target rallied others.
We've been on a rocket sled trying to keep up with this thing."
Various additional projects are also now underway to test
the potential hazards of replacement refrigerants in different
scenarios, as well as to improve refrigeration equipment to
"engineer out" some of the potential dangers, Walter said.
ASHRAE, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute, and the California Air
Resource Board have jointly put up $5.6 million to fund seven
"high-priority" research programs to be completed this year.
The projects will look at many angles of the problem,
including potential ignition sources on equipment or in the
vicinity; where flammable refrigerant may concentrate in
event of a leak; sensors to detect leaks before concentration
reaches the lower flammability level; risk assessments in various scenarios in the event a refrigerant does ignite; guidelines
for flammable refrigerant handling and equipment servicing
and installing; and evaluation of the proper basis for setting
limits on how much and what types of flammable refrigerants
can be used for certain applications and equipment. Simultaneously, manufacturers are working to improve equipment
efficiency and to reduce the overall charge sizes required,
which would in effect reduce the potential hazard.
All of that work will ultimately inform ASHRAE 15, Safety
Standard for Refrigeration Systems, which is what most model
codes reference, as well as the relevant UL product standards.

92 | NFPA JOURNAL * M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 7

Those code and standard changes could begin happening as
early as late 2017 or early 2018.
Big changes to NFPA documents to address the refrigerant
change likely won't be necessary, said Guy Colonna, a division
director at NFPA.
"We don't address refrigerants as separately categorized
materials like ASHRAE does, so our codes and standards
are less impacted by this change in process to a different
substance," he said. "The primary focus of our hazardous
chemicals documents are for
storage, handling,
and use in the
The number of new air-conditioning context of fire
protection."
units estimated to be installed
In other words,
globally by 2050, according to a
relevant NFPA
study from the Berkeley National
codes already
Labratory. Most of the increase is
address general
expected to occur in developing
fire safety and pronations with hot climates where
incomes and populations are rising. tection for these
potential replacement refrigerants. Specifically addressing fire protection for
these substances used for refrigeration applications isn't in the
purview of NFPA codes and standards.
Relevant NFPA codes-NFPA 55, Compressed Gases and
Cryogenic Fluids; NFPA 58, Liquefied Petroleum Gas; and
NFPA 30, Flammable and Combustible Liquids-may come
into play indirectly, however. For instance, if HVAC companies
start storing large quantities of flammable gases or liquids,
NFPA codes and standards may compel them to take additional or different fire protection measures, Colonna said.
While nobody can say yet exactly what will happen as the
process for phasing out HFCs continues, it's almost certain
that code changes allowing more flammable refrigerants are
coming, and likely soon.
"I think it's safe to say that the charge size for 2L refrigerant will likely increase to a certain extent," Walter said. "A
nonflammable refrigerant would be preferable obviously, but
the next step is to go to one of these 2L refrigerants and apply
appropriate safety requirements to the equipment. We are
comfortable that we can use 2L safely and we are working
hard on standards to make it happen."
Walter, like others in the safety industry, is much more
cautious and unsure about increasing charge limits on class
3 refrigerants like propane. If that happens-a big if-it will
probably be a small increase, he said.
Retailers like Target understand that caution. They are also
eager to find out what will be allowed.
"The safety of guests and employees are first and foremost
on our mind, so we want to go in cautiously, make sure there
is testing, and understand all of the hazards related," Anderson of Target said. "That's the whole reason we started this
joint venture with the Research Foundation and NFPA."

1.6 billion

JESSE ROMAN is associate editor at NFPA Journal.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - May/June 2017

Contents
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 1
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Contents
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 3
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 4
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 5
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 6
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NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 16
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - I1
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - I2
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 17
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 18
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 19
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