Information on refrigerants, as of June 2022

Many of the refrigerants used (fluorinated refrigerants) are harmful to the environment and internationally regulated (Montreal Protocol or EU F-Gas Regulation). This information sheet summarises the most important points regarding the selection and availability of refrigerants and makes recommendations. In Germany, around 14% of all electrical energy is used for cooling processes 
The resulting emissions have a significant impact on our climate and are referred to as indirect CO₂ emissions. Direct emissions from chillers are caused by leaks and the resulting escape of refrigerants. Refrigerants are also released during maintenance, filling and disposal of the system. Refrigerants have different effects on the environment

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The GWP value of a refrigerant defines its global warming potential in relation to CO₂ (also known as CO₂ equivalent). CO₂ has a standardised GWP of 1, which means that the GWP value indicates how many times greater the refrigerant's impact on the greenhouse effect is compared to CO₂. A GWP value is always related to a time horizon and therefore describes the impact on global warming in the specified period. For currently applicable regulations, such as in Europe, the F-Gas Regulation is referenced to a GWP100 and therefore describes the impact of a greenhouse gas over a time horizon of 100 years.

The latest IPCC publication shows that the next 10-20 years will determine whether the international climate agreement is adhered to or not.

A consideration of the GWP20 is therefore relevant in terms of climate policy, but is not legally binding.

As mentioned, the GWP100 applies here.

The EU F-Gas Regulation (Regulation (EU) No. 517/2014), which came into force in 2015, aims to reduce CO₂ equivalents from fluorinated greenhouse gases to around 21 % by 2030. To this end, the total amount of CO₂ equivalents (fluorinated greenhouse gases) permitted on the market will be gradually reduced (see Table 1). The initial value is 183.1 million tonnes (100 %), which corresponds to the average amount of CO₂ equivalents placed on the European market between 2009 and 2012. To compensate for this value, the whole of Germany would have to do without road transport for 1.25 years or shut down the agricultural sector for 2.7 years (as of 2020). Refrigeration systems with a charge of >40 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, which are operated with a refrigerant with a GWP of over 2500, have been banned by Article 13 since 1 January 2020. The exception to this is for systems with a useful temperature of below -50 °C and for servicing and maintenance with recycled refrigerants. From 2030, recycled refrigerants may also not be used for systems with application temperatures >-50 °C. A revision of the F-Gas Regulation was finally proposed in 2022.

Supply and demand determine the price in a free market economy. Regulations and the associated limited availability of refrigerants on the market inevitably lead to an increase in the price of GWP refrigerants. The first restriction on the maximum quantity of CO2 equivalents to be placed on the market in 2017 resulted in a sharp rise in the price of refrigerants. The high rise in refrigerant prices has led to the formation of an illegal market for GWP refrigerants within the EU since 2018. As a result of this and the additional stockpiling of refrigerants, there was an oversupply of refrigerants in the third quarter of 2019, according to the Öko-Recherche Report, which led to a reduction in the price of refrigerants (Figure 2). 

TFA is formed in the body through the oxidation of halothane and an increase in the ALT concentration is recorded after administration and decreases again after administration is stopped. The same characteristic can be seen in the direct addition of TFA to drinking water from the UBA study. Before chemicals are introduced into the environment, it must be proven that they are harmless to both humans and the environment. It is only a matter of time before there will be negative effects on humans and the environment.

ECHA stands for European Chemicals Agency and is based in Helsinki, Finland. ECHA is responsible for the implementation of the EU chemicals regulation REACH, the Regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, more detailed information can be found here.

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The proposal to restrict PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), submitted to ECHA by the authorities in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden on 13 January 2023, is set to ban several thousand substances. The proposal aims to reduce PFAS emissions into the environment and make products and processes safer for people and the environment. A ban would affect various refrigerants, including all HFO refrigerants and some established refrigerants that are also part of refrigerant blends. HFO refrigerants in particular decompose in the atmosphere to form TFA; a highly mobile and persistent short-chain PFAS.

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An online information session will be organised on 5 April 2023 to explain the restriction process and to help those who wish to participate in the 6-month consultation phase starting on 22 March 2023.
Furthermore, all low GWP mixtures are affected as they contain HFO.
For example, R-452A/B, R-454A/B, R-455A, R-469A,

The aim of energy efficiency measures is to reduce the overall energy demand of processes by reducing the quantitative and qualitative losses that occur during the conversion, transport or storage of energy. Refrigeration systems require more drive energy (with a constant heat sink and a constant cooling capacity) the lower the useful temperatures are. The ratio of the cooling capacity and the drive power is described as the cooling capacity factor. For typical refrigeration systems for air conditioning, the cooling capacity factor is in the order of 3, i.e. for 1 kW of drive power, a refrigeration system provides 3 kW of cooling capacity for air conditioning. The maximum coefficient of performance that can be achieved in a loss-free, reversible process is described by the coefficient of performance of a Carnot process. This is purely dependent on the ambient temperature (heat sink) and the useful temperature (heat source). The lower the effective temperature required, the lower the coefficient of performance of a chiller. Different refrigeration processes have different efficiencies depending on the temperature. Compression refrigeration systems (2-stage booster systems or cascades) are more efficient in comparison with cold air refrigeration technology up to useful temperatures of -50 °C. From temperatures of  -70 °C, cold air refrigeration technology is the most efficient. Liquid nitrogen is often used for process cooling. This process differs fundamentally in that the refrigerant (nitrogen) is consumed and has already been produced in an air separation plant at temperatures of -196 °C. Generating liquid nitrogen at -196 °C requires significantly more energy than generating process temperatures of -80 °C with a refrigeration plant. Using nitrogen at high utilisation temperatures therefore leads to high nitrogen consumption and high energy costs, which are generally not included in the balance sheet of the manufacturing company. The choice of refrigeration technology therefore requires knowledge of the sensible areas of application of the various refrigeration technologies. You can find out more about energy efficiency in our freely available ULT report.

The majority of refrigeration systems for low-temperature technology are regulated by the EU F-Gas Regulation due to the refrigerants used (e.g. R404A, R410A, R499A, R23). Currently, high GWP refrigerants are permitted until at least 2030 due to the exemption in Article 13 of the F-Gas Regulation. Due to climate policy targets, operators will face further restrictions on the use of refrigeration systems with a high GWP in the coming years. Among other things, the -50 °C exception for the use of high GWP refrigerants is increasingly being criticised and possible phase-downs are being proposed. In order to continue to guarantee production reliability, strategic decisions must be made at an early stage and investments made in future-proof technology. Anyone currently investing in new systems and retrofits with a high GWP (e.g. R452A) runs the risk of no longer being able to operate their systems from 2030, as either maintenance will be prohibited or the availability of refrigerants will drop sharply and the costs of maintenance will increase significantly. Future-proof technologies will be long-term solutions with natural refrigerants, as these are environmentally friendly and efficient on the one hand and free from all regulations on the other. For applications below -50 °C, cold air refrigeration technology and cascade systems with flammable refrigerants have established themselves and are already being used safely in many applications. In addition to new systems, existing systems must also be considered. Many systems can be equipped with a retrofit on the refrigeration side without changing the actual process.