The most important regulatory change in recent years has been vp risk email list brought about by the European regulation F-Gas 517/2014 , which regulates the use of refrigerants and the prohibitions of some types in the coming years.
Current regulatory reference for industrial refrigerants and air conditioning refrigerants: the F-Gas regulation
This regulation came into force on 1 January 2015 and its main objective is to reduce emissions by controlling the use of fluorinated gases with greenhouse potential, which must be replaced by gases with a lower greenhouse effect before 2030.
This poses significant challenges for the sector, as well as the need to develop new refrigeration solutions that use alternative refrigerants with a lower environmental impact and that are more sustainable.
Types of refrigerants
The types of refrigerants are divided into two types: fluorinated and non-fluorinated .
Natural or non-fluorinated refrigerants
Refrigerants that do not contain fluorine in their composition are called non-fluorinated or natural refrigerants and their use is not limited, at any time, by the F-Gas regulations. These gases are mainly ammonia R-717 and CO2 (R-744).
In addition, there are other types of non-fluorinated refrigerants, the most notable being R-600a (isobutane), R-290 (propane) and R-1270 (propylene).
Fluorinated refrigerants
Fluorinated gas refrigerants are those that contain fluorine in their composition, and are called artificial because they are produced through different chemical processes. In addition, many of these refrigerants are mixtures of various compounds.
Industrial refrigerants: main types and uses
In the case of industrial installations, where high cooling capacities, low temperatures and low costs are required, the most common refrigerants are ammonia, in the case of industrial plants, and fluorinated refrigerants such as R-134a and R-404-A. The latter is widely used in supermarkets for refrigeration in cold rooms.
Refrigerants for air conditioning
In the case of air conditioning systems, for the production of air conditioning or in heat pumps, a large part of them use fluorinated refrigerants.
