The green NGO ¨Deutsche Umwelthilfe¨ (DUH) urged American carmakers to respect their plight to develop greener cars by choosing CO2 for their air conditioning systems, after presenting an English version of its investigation of 1234yf’s flammability in Sacramento, USA. UPDATE: the English version flammability video is now available on R744.com + link to the original DUH press release.
Given this article's focus on flammability, it might be interesting to note the US EPA's recent (see FR 6/12/08) SNAP list approval (with conditions) of R152a for new Motor Vehicle Air Conditioner (MVAC) end use given its stated MSDS flammability ratings (HMIS=4 and US DOT= 2.1).
One of the end use conditions in the final EPA rule is that "systems must be designed to avoid occupant exposure to concentrations of R152a above 3.7% in the passenger cabin free space for more than 15 seconds, even in the event of a leak", to protect against flammable conditions.
It will be interesting to see how Motor Vehicle manufacturers react to this end use condition of R152a.
Thanks for this observation, this is indeed an interesting requirement, and a similar provision for the 1234yf SNAP approval could pose a further barrier.
However substantial worldwide experience in the use of hydrocarbon natural refrigerants has established they can be safely used as a very efficient and environmentally benign solution to replacing HFC134a or CFC-12 in existing MVAC systems. In spite of being flammable within a 2-10% concentration, fires are not known to occur, and it is high time the safety record of hydrocarbons was better documented and recognised by regulators, manufacturers and the service industry.
One of the most responsible things the USEPA under the Obama Administration could immediately do to reduce greenhouse emissions would be to give SNAP approval for hydrocarbons, but I'm not optimistic this will occur without substantial domestic pressure from US climate advocates.
Meanwhile, it would seem the fluorolobby are feeling the heat and are on the offensive, a google news alert on "1234yf" turned this up overnight.
--------------------------
Honeywell's Low-Global-Warming-Potential Refrigerant Endorsed by SAE International Cooperative Research Project
MORRIS TOWNSHIP, New Jersey, December 8 /PRNewswire/ --
- SAE's International Cooperative Research Program finds new refrigerant offers 'superior environmental performance'
Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that the SAE International Cooperative Research Program has endorsed Honeywell's low-global-warming-potential refrigerant for use in mobile air conditioning (MAC) to meet new, more stringent regulations in Europe.
The SAE program team said refrigerant HFO-1234yf "offers superior environmental performance" and that "this alternative refrigerant -- of all proposed alternatives -- has been judged to have the lowest risk for use in mobile air conditioning systems in meeting environmental and consumer needs."
The SAE's research program was launched in 2007 as a response to the European Union's MAC directive, which requires that all new vehicles produced starting in 2011 use a refrigerant with a global warming potential below 150. Current global mobile air conditioning systems use HFC-134a, a refrigerant with a GWP of 1,430. HFO-1234yf has a GWP of only four.
The SAE program's extensive testing showed that HFO-1234yf is a "highly energy-efficient refrigerant, meaning autos with HFO-1234yf use less fuel and have fewer (greenhouse gas) emissions than those that use alternatives." The program found that while CO2, another proposed alternative, has a global warming potential of 1, it "is less efficient than 1234yf, resulting in greater indirect emissions."
[continues...]
the English version of the flammability video is now available on R744.com. You'll find it below the last paragraph of the news article. Just click and wait some moments for it to load completely.
![R744.com '.$SectionNames[($SectionId-1)].'](http://www.r744.com/images/banners/supermarket-survey-sm.jpg)