Australia is well on the way to phasing out the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons as part of a global HFC phasedown which will see the introduction of a wide range of new refrigerants to the local market.
It makes for interesting times ahead. Thinkwell Group managing director Michael McCann, says that by 2025, 60 per cent of low GWP gases will be new species. It’s fair to say that Australian industry is at a crossroad.
As industry transitions to this new refrigerant landscape over the next decade, the biggest change will be the introduction and wider use of more flammable refrigerants, most notably HFC-32. With the biggest Japanese air conditioning manufacturers adopting R32, it is clearly here to stay. This refrigerant is not new to Australia as it makes up 50 per cent of R410A and 23 per cent of another refrigerant blend R407C.
HFC-32 has a GWP of 650 and has comparable efficiency to R410A and HCFC-22 in mini-split air conditioners. In a report prepared by the Expert Group for the Department of the Environment, the research firm predicts rapid growth in sales of HFC-32 charged equipment with the stock of equipment increasing from zero in 2014 to around four million units in 2025.
“While HFC-410A is expected to maintain some market share in the larger and more demanding applications in this sector for some time, in the absence of other low GWP and non-flammable alternatives, HFC-32 should enjoy robust growth in market share.
"Other than the A2L classification, other potential barriers to HFC-32 include equipment and compressor supplier concerns with long term reliability arising from hotter compressor discharge temperatures, and additional costs and risks associated with training industry to handle ‘mildly flammable’ refrigerants,” the report says.
And there it is - flammability - the word that has everyone debating the merits of HFC-32. It’s a bit of a trade-off, really. To achieve a low GWP, contractors will have to adapt to working with a class A2L refrigerant.
It’s a big change for an industry that routinely works with non-flammable category one refrigerants. Addressing the new refrigerants likely to gain market acceptance, the Expert Group/Thinkwell report refers to some of the issues surrounding HFC-32 and hydrocarbons.
“While both HFC-32 and HC-290 have commendable properties in terms of lower GWP, widespread use will effectively mean that the entire industry has to develop and hone its capacity to deal with flammable substances. Hydrocarbons are projected to achieve a five per cent share of new equipment by 2025. When the industry migrated from HCFC-22 to higher pressure HFC-410A, there were accidents resulting in personal injuiry.
"Major equipment suppliers went to great lengths to ensure their customers were adequately trained to handle the new refrigerant, which minimised corporate risk and exposure to litigation. It is unclear to what extent potential liabilities of personal injury to installers, or owners of equipment might create barriers for mildly flammable refrigerants and HFO blends.”
Issues such as storage requirements and handling procedures will all need to be addressed making safety education campaigns a priority. Visit a few industry blogs and it won't take long to realise that contractors are concerned about HFC-32.
The biggest concern raised by contractors is the potential hazards associated with hydrogen fluoride, which is created when R32 is ignited. (full story published in a special five page feature on R32 in the August edition of Climate Control News Magazine, out this week).