Refrigerant types & dates

top

Legal implications

If the dates given in the previous table are not adhered to, offenders can be prosecuted under European law.

top

How can I tell what type of refrigerant is in my dryer?

Look at the data plate on your dryer. This will give you the make & model and the refrigerant type (one off the above list) and some other information.

top

Environmental Protection Act (1990)

Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act states that it is ILLEGAL to “treat, Keep or dispose of controlled waste in such a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment or harm to human health”

Section 34 of the act (duty of care) means that the end user cannot pass responsibility. It places a specific responsibility on people who have control over any refrigeration systems to ensure that anybody who carries out work on their behalf also does not allow these substances to escape.

top

R12

This refrigerant is a CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon). The term CFC refers to a series of compounds developed since the late 1920's, which display an unparalleled range of qualities for use as refrigerants. These refrigerants quickly replaces most of the early refrigerants in many applications and they were almost solely used as the preferred refrigerant used in early and later refrigerated compressed air dryers. After many studies, it was found that the chlorine compound in this refrigerant (which is known to damage the Ozone layer) migrates from the refrigerant when ultraviolet rays come into direct contact. For this reason, legislation has been put into place (see above table) to limit and finally remove this substance from all of the countries subscribing to the |Montreal Protocol (see below) and all European union member states.

top

R22

This refrigerant is part of the group of HCFC (Hydrofluorocarbon) refrigerants that were developed somewhat later than CFC refrigerants. These were basically CFC refrigerants combined with a Hydrogen atom to give different characteristics. The manufacturers of refrigerated compressed air dryers used these as almost the sole refrigerant for production. Again, after many studies, it was found that the chlorine compound in this refrigerant (which is known to damage the Ozone layer) migrates from the refrigerant when ultraviolet rays come into direct contact. For this reason, legislation has been put into place (see above table) to limit and finally remove this substance from all of the countries subscribing to the Montreal protocol (see below) and all European union member states.

top

R134a, R404a, R407c

These refrigerants belong to a group designated HFC (hydrofluorocarbon). These refrigerants are known to cause no damage to the Ozone layer and therefore are widely accepted as good replacements for both CFC and HCFC type refrigerants.

top

Summary

If your company or a customer of your company has a unit containing CFC refrigerant, it will be illegal to service or repair its refrigeration system after 31.12.2000.

If there is a fault on the unit the only option is to retrofit the system with an approved non-CFC refrigerant. This, (if done by a company that does not have access to the manufacturers original design data) can reduce the compressed air capacity of the unit and therefore possibly cause problems to the end users products or processes. The cost of retro fitting refrigerants on small to medium size dryers can be up to 60% of the cost of a complete new dryer, (parts, labour to remove refrigerant and older oils).

The only viable (due to cost and operational efficiency) action if you or your customers have CFC containing equipment installed is to replace it with a new, ozone friendly refrigerated type compressed air dryer.

top

Reproduced with the kind permission of Hankison UK Ltd