Refrigerants
Future-proof with natural refrigerants
Refrigerants in refrigeration, heating and air conditioning technology
The first refrigeration machines in the 19th century were already operated with so-called refrigerants. These are required for heat transport and for the conversion and release of heat into cold or cold into heat. Today, they are still an indispensable component of chillers, heat pumps and air conditioning systems.
Why natural refrigerants?
For many decades, CFC and HCFC substances in particular were used as refrigerants. However, with the discovery and research into the ozone hole in the 1970s, it became necessary to replace them with other chemical compounds due to their bromine and chlorine content. However, their successors (HFC and HFC refrigerants) were also found to have a negative effect: Their component fluorine also increases the greenhouse effect.
Today, various HFC and HFC refrigerants can still be used in systems – even under the changed and stricter legal conditions. However, the trend is increasingly moving back towards natural refrigerants. These were already being used before 1930. However, as some of them are toxic and/or flammable, preference was given to synthetic refrigerants, which were cheaper at the time.
However, thanks to the further development of systems, it is now possible to operate machines with natural refrigerants safely and reliably thanks to appropriate safety concepts. As the so-called F-Gas Regulation is also gradually making many HFC or HFC substances artificially scarce, the price structure will now change in favour of natural refrigerants and these will probably be cheaper than their synthetic alternatives.
What are natural refrigerants?
Natural refrigerants are all substances that occur directly in nature and can be used as refrigerants due to their thermodynamic properties. In addition to water, these include ammonia dimethyl ether, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and ammonia. As with conventional refrigerants, each substance has its advantages and disadvantages – depending on the intended use, ambient conditions and local circumstances.
SKADEC has been developing and researching sustainable, high-quality and reliable chillers for over ten years and heating systems for over seven years. In line with the slogan “The Green Cooling”, future-proof low-GWP refrigerants (refrigerants with a low global warming potential) are used. Due to the very good thermodynamic properties and the available space in trade and industry, the company concentrates on hydrocarbons. These include, for example, the natural and environmentally friendly refrigerants propane (R290), R1270, R600a and CO2. Over 520 projects have already been successfully implemented with these refrigerants, saving 13,000 CO2 emissions compared to solutions using conventional refrigerants.
Through our work, we at SKADEC want to set an example for the future, because our systems combine sustainability, quality, reliability and safety at the highest level.
F-Gas Regulation
The use of refrigerants is subject to various laws and regulations, such as the F-Gas Regulation. In past decades, fluorinated gases (F-gases) were frequently used as refrigerants. However, it is now known that these gases increase the greenhouse effect.