With the EU already indicating a preference to implement a total phase out of R22 by 2012, owners and operators of chillers and air conditioning systems using HCFCs must act now says
The time is now. Owners and operators of chillers and air conditioning systems now need to conform to the legislation surrounding the use of HCFC and HFC refrigerants without delay.
Introduced in 2000, the EU Ozone Regulation has already banned the use of ozone depleting HCFC refrigerants, such as, R22 in new systems. However, R22 remains a very common refrigerant in existing systems and this Regulation will ban the use of R22 and HCFC “drop in” replacements such as R408 and R409 as top-up fluids for maintenance between 2010 (for virgin refrigerant) and 2015 (for recycled refrigerant). That said, the EU is already indicating its preference to bring this date forward and implement a total phase out by 2012.
The impact of this Regulation is that chillers using R22 and other HCFC refrigerants must either use alternative refrigerants or must themselves be replaced. Although this phase out was announced and legislated for several years ago, there is little evidence that the necessary steps are being taken to prevent those users of HCFC systems being caught out. In fact, some HCFC users are waiting for a ban on recycled HCFCs to be introduced believing that there will be a supply of reclaimed R22 that they can use until this point. However, this could prove a risky move for some, since the high price of reclaiming R22 means that recycled R22 will only meet an estimated 15% of the servicing needs of the remaining installations.
At the same time, air conditioning loads in older buildings have been rising steadily as a result of increased staffing levels, greater use of heat generating business equipment and the installation of faster, more powerful servers.
These factors have put a strain on many chillers originally installed to cope with the building’s initial loading. Moreover, many of these chillers which still use R22 are themselves at least 10 years old or older, and performing less efficiently than they used to, especially with fuel prices rising and the latest F Gas Regulations now coming into play.
It all adds up to a compelling reason for contractors to tackle the replacement market that’s out there sooner rather than later.
Consider the time scales. A total ban could be as early as 2012 and it’s estimated that at least 40% of all refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in use in the
Meanwhile, building owners will be keen to avoid the detrimental impact of chiller downtime on their operation. Hiring a temporary chiller or air conditioning system is, therefore, an obvious answer. Hire equipment can ensure contractors maintain the integrity of the building’s air conditioning requirements, covering comfort cooling as well as the conditions for computers and servers to continue to operate safely and reliably.
But with a huge number of installed R22 chillers likely to be replaced, planning, preparation and implementation now is critical to ensure that the right units are available at the best price. Even then, when phase-out is upon us in the 2010 to 2012 period, and hire stock is likely to be in shorter supply, you don’t want to be scratching around trying to hire a chiller from any ordinary supplier.
Choosing the right specialist hire company, rather than a plant hire outfit, is important. A chiller and air conditioning company with a hire division will have a thorough understanding of your needs and the experience to properly apply the temporary plant. The experienced supplier will also be able to give sound advice on the best solution for a particular project, purely and simply because they will have many years’ of applications knowledge and space cooling experience.
They will also be well placed to advise you on installation and safety issues, and on the ancillary equipment that’s needed to support the installation, such as, pumps, tanks and air side equipment. Coolmation’s lift and shift crews, for example, include experienced air conditioning and chiller engineers as part of a company with ISO 9000:2000 certification, Refcom refrigerant handling and management and Safe Contractor accreditations. Our Chillers4Hire division also offers a range of modern, reliable and energy efficient air conditioning equipment, and chillers with integral pumps and tanks to meet a wide range of duties, all underpinned by almost 30 years in the business.
Beyond hire, we are also actively involved in supplying chillers for a number of on-going replacement projects. In almost every case, dimensions have become a real issue. The space taken up by the original chiller is invariably not enough to accommodate the new higher capacity one. Seeing this as a major obstacle, we have worked with our Italian chiller supplier Rhoss spa to develop a radical, space saving chiller, specifically for the replacement market.
These TCAE Y Pack range of chillers and reverse cycle heat pumps, operating on R410a, feature seven models with capacities from 150kW to approaching 350kW, available in standard, silenced and super silenced form, with EER ratings up to 2.87 and ESEER up to 4.25. The largest chiller in this range has just a 6m² footprint as opposed to the 10m² footprint of its predecessor, a staggering improvement.
