Policy makers and representatives from industry and academia presented their views on the latest developments in the HVAC&R sector at the 13th edition of the biennial “European Conference Technological Innovations in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry” held last week in Milan. An overview of key presentations is provided here .
About 200 participants gathered in Milan to attend the “XIII European Conference Technological Innovations in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry” at the end of last week. Held under the auspices of several Italian ministries and organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), the Centro Studi Galileo and the Associazione dei Tecnici italiani del Freddo, the conference consisted of 5 sessions over 2 days, where more than 60 speakers discussed the latest developments in the HVAC&R sector.
The presentations
A selection of some of the presentations held in Milan is hereinafter discussed:
GREEN AND COOL DEAL: ANTIDOTE FOR CRISES, Rajendra Shende, Head OzonAction Branch, UNEP DTIE
Referring to the Green New Deal, whereby for example nearly 20% of the U.S. stimulus package is intended for the investment in ‘green’ economies, Shende maintained that it is evident that the messages of environmental sciences and economics are now being read not only by the environmental agencies but even by political leaders. UNEP is promoting the idea of redirecting the stimulus packages by deploying the principles of green economy through its call for the New Green Big deal.
After making the observation that 60-70% of the total electricity generated is utilised in the building and residential sector of which nearly 40% is consumed by refrigeration and air conditioning, Shende maintained that the RAC industry and the civil society has an unparallel opportunity to make a ‘ New Green Cool Deal’ through creativity and technological transformation. Referring to Refrigerants, Naturally, Shende pointed to how participating companies are now moving away from CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs to natural refrigerants such as R744 and hydrocarbons.
Closing his presentation, Shende referred to the ‘Seal the Deal’ campaign launched by the UN, which aims to galvanize political will and public support towards signing a UN agreement on climate change this December in Copenhagen.
UNEP assistance in Phasing out HCFC: What you can do to help developing countries to go beyond only ‘compliance’, Ezra Clark, OzonAction UNEP DTIE
Clark provided an overview of the activities of UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) OzonAction Branch in assisting developing countries and countries with economies in transition to comply with their commitments to the Montreal Protocol. He described two projects, namely the ‘HCFC help centre’ and the EC funded ‘Jump-start’ Project, both of which provide policy and technology advice and information to expedite compliance with the HCFC phase-out obligations and at the same time to adopt environmentally friendly alternatives.
Mitigating the climate impact of refrigerants: The EU and international policy, Thomas Verheye & Marios Avraamides, European Commission, Environment Directorate General
Verhey referred to the policy initiatives phasing down F-Gases internationally and maintained that more developments are to be expected in the coming months. Verhey referred to the EU’s F-Gas Regulation as an acknowledged global model which leads to more responsible management of the substances, tighter systems, lower F-Gas charges and ultimately to the substitution by more environmentally-friendly technologies. Not coincidentally, the demand for low-GWP alternatives such as ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons is growing and more recently, while also several chemical companies have started investing in new low-GWP alternatives. He finally stressed the EU’s position with regards to reaching a comprehensive and ambitious climate change agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009, according to which such agreement should include an international emission reduction arrangement for HFC emissions. He also maintained that while such an arrangement should be governed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, it would be highly desirable to maximise the synergies with the Montreal Protocol.
Sustainable Refrigeration, Paul Homsy, Nestlé
Nestlé has committed to the use of ammonia/carbon dioxide cascade systems for low temperature applications and water or glycol chillers with ammonia as primary refrigerant for all positive temperature applications whenever feasible. In this context, Homsy presented several case studies, whereby Nestlé has applied the use of natural refrigerants in industrial refrigeration. The author maintained that for smaller refrigeration units, Nestlé is collaborating closely with major equipment suppliers and through International Organisations and with Academic Institutions promoting natural refrigerants.
Reversible Residential Air-Conditioners and Heat Pumps Using Carbon Dioxide (CO2, R744) as Working Fluid, A. HAFNER, P. NEKSÅ, J. STENE, SINTEF Energy Research, Norway
Given an increasing interest for high-efficiency air-conditioning systems that can be reversed for heat pump operation, Hafner presented the main results from simulations and extensive testing of two R744 residential prototype air-conditioning systems for heating and cooling of residences in different climatic conditions. Although further development and optimization (applying ejectors etc.) of the R744 unit will be necessary before the R744 unit will be able to match or outperform the market-leading R410A RAC units in terms of energy efficiency, the results showed that R744 unit already matches many of the better R410A units on the market. The author, thus, concludes that R744 must be regarded as a promising refrigerant in reversible airconditioning and heat pump units for residential use. Hafner also presented work on the design and investigation of an air reversing, turn-table residential R744 air-conditioning unit, for which it is shown that it is a viable option where both heating and cooling is required during the year.
What to do with R-22 existing systems? Isceon®, the cost effective non-ozone depleting alternative, Jose P. Garcia Espinosa, DuPont Fluorochemicals
Espinoza presented DuPont’s existing solutions for the replacement of HCFC’s in old systems. The speaker acknowledged that this consists of only a short-term solution and maintained that “long-term solutions will include HFO, CO
2 or ammonia”.
Low GWP Refrigerant Development, Nacer Achaichia & Giancarlo Matteo, Honeywell
In this presentation, the speaker provided an overview of molecule HFO-1234yf as a new low global warming refrigerant as well as low GWP molecule HFO1234ze as a blowing-agent for one-component foam and as an aerosol propellant. The paper recognises the need for further investigations, including additional performance evaluations as well as flammability risk assessments where appropriate. When asked whether HFO can replace R22 in existing systems the speaker answered it could not, while he also maintained that “the cost of HFO would be much higher than that of currently used refrigerants”.
