USA in move to authorise hydrocarbon equipment
[ added 4 May, 2010 ]
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The US EPA has put forward a long awaited proposal that will allow the use of certain hydrocarbons in new household refrigerator and freezer equipment, as well as new stand-alone commercial refrigeration units. BeyondHFCs welcomes this US move that will allow the country to catch up with the rest of the world, where several millions of refrigeration equipment units already use ozone and climate friendly hydrocarbon refrigerants.
To the liking of industry players that have been testing hydrocarbon equipment in the country, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to list four types of hydrocarbons, namely isobutane, propane, HCR-188C, and HCR-188C as acceptable substitutes, subject to use conditions, for ozone-depleting CFC-12 and HCFC-22 in household and light commercial applications. Hydrocarbons allowed in new equipment only
Manufacturers will be able to use the four hydrocarbon refrigerants in new equipment that have been designed and manufactured specifically for use with the listed refrigerant for the following applications:
- Stand-alone retail food refrigeration: propane
- Household refrigerators and freezers as well as their combinations: isobutane, HCR-188C, and HCR-188C
Refrigerant charge size
The US EPA is proposing the following charge size limits by type of application:
- Household refrigerators and freezers: 57 grams (2.0 ounces), equivalent to approximately the charge size contained in two disposable lighters, and well below the international household refrigerator and freezers standard’s charge size limit of 150 grams (5.3 ounces).
- Retail food refrigeration in stand-alone units: 150 grams (5.3 ounces), equivalent to approximately the charge size contained in five disposable lighters or less, and in line with the IEC 60335-2-89 standard for commercial appliances, which has a charge size limit of 150 grams (5.3 ounces)
BeyondHFCs welcomes this significant step forward in the USA with regards to sustainable refrigeration that will lift the current “ban” on hydrocarbons in this country. Once the final approval for hydrocarbons is effective, the US market will be able to move beyond HFCs in applications where hydrocarbons have been a standard solution in other parts of the world since more than a decade. In the EU alone, for example, there are more than 300 million hydrocarbon refrigerators.
Links
View pre-publication version of the rule by clicking here.
More significantly, as much as the USEPA may not like it, North America continues to lead the world in the volume of hydrocarbon refrigerant that is safely used in the automotive servicing market, to the great and unsung benefit of our fragile atmosphere by replacing R134a, or smuggled CFCs.
However the most important question I would like to pose is this:
What will happen first? That the powers that be in the USA finally acknowledge that this application is actually safe, as proved by 15 years of experience (so far), and therefore permissible by law, or that sales volumes in the rest of the world will eclipse those of the North American market?
I'd love to be proved wrong, but I predict that the latter will be the case. Tragically, it is we, and our children..., who will pay the price of forgoing the emissions abatement that global recognition of the suitability of HCs in MACS could achieve in the near term, were it nor for the intransigent and recalcitrant attitude of certain regulatory authorities, who really should know better than to believe everything they are told by those who have a lot to lose by a more rational appraisal of the suitability of HCs for use in existing, let alone optimised, MAC systems.
If European industrialists, policy makers and regulators were to take a more active interest in this debate, I would be very happy to revise this pessimistic assessment - in the face the laudable restriction of R134a and the current deadlock between CO2 and the toxic and flammable R1234yf, surely the ball is your court?