International. In a bid to remove the barriers currently faced by flammable refrigerants in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump (Rachp) applications, since June 2017, the European Union (EU) has a new project: "Flammable refrigerant options for natural technologies: improved standards and product design for safe use (FRONT)". to help increase the availability of suitable alternatives.
The project is funded by LIFE, the EU's financial instrument that supports environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects across the bloc.
LIFE FRONT is a demonstration project with elements of best practice, combining two main objectives in the EU priority area "Climate Action – Climate Change Mitigation 2016".
The project aims to remove "standards-raised barriers" for flammable refrigerants in RACHP applications. It also seeks to increase the "availability of suitable alternatives" in those areas, improving system design to address the risk of flammability and encouraging the use of climate-friendly alternatives to fluorinated gases.
shecco, a media and marketing company specializing in refrigerants, joined forces with leading experts in the field to raise awareness and remove barriers to the safe use of flammable refrigerants such as hydrocarbons. "We are confident that LIFE FRONT will have a positive impact to facilitate the expansion of natural refrigerants in the European RACHP market, and will create a positive ripple effect for other regions beyond Europe," said Alvaro de Oña, Group COO, shecco.
To achieve these objectives, LIFE FRONT proposes a methodology to combine existing and new evidence for a safe and proportionate use of flammable refrigerants, to transfer theoretical analysis to applied research, to apply risk mitigation mechanisms to real-life RACHP equipment, to influence standardisation processes at EU and international level, and to remove barriers to knowledge among key stakeholder groups.
The project will result in Europe's largest leakage simulation and size database for equipment using flammable refrigerants, as well as testing of different configurations of equipment with higher refrigerant loads to determine to what extent it is safe to operate with higher flammable refrigerant loads.
The project is led by shecco, in coordination with five other partners, including AHT, ait-deutschland (AIT), the European Environmental Citizens' Organisation for Standardisation (ECOS), HEAT and NIBE. The project began in mid-June 2017 and work will continue until the end of July 2020.
Objectives of the LIFE FRONT project:
- Support the EU and international standardisation process for flammable refrigerants;
- Reduce the safety risks of improved system design for air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pump applications with flammable refrigerants;
- Participate in the development of technological capacity for EU equipment manufacturers;
- Remove non-technological knowledge barriers between relevant European groups;
- Improve Europe's competitiveness for RACHP equipment using non-fluorinated refrigerant alternatives, and;
- Supporting an effective and timely achievement of the EU's 2030 climate goals
Source: LIFE FRONT.
