Finding non-fluorinated alternatives to fluorinated gases used as refrigerants

Abstract

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and so-called hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) are used as refrigerants in air conditioning, refrigeration, chillers, heat pumps and devices for dehumidification and drying. However, many HFCs, including R-134a and R-125, have a high global warming potential and some of the HFCs and HFOs degrade atmospherically and form trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) as a persistent degradation product. Rising levels of TFA around the globe reveal an urgent need to replace fluorinated refrigerants with non-fluorinated working fluids to avoid direct emissions due to leakage, incorrect loading or removal. It is important, however, also to select refrigerants with high efficiencies to avoid increasing indirect CO2 emissions due to higher energy consumption during the use phase. The present study investigates the available non-fluorinated alternatives to fluorinated refrigerants and shows that a transition to non-fluorinated refrigerants, in general, is possible and has happened in many sectors already. Technically, there are only slight barriers to overcome in order to replace fluorinated refrigerants in almost all newly developed systems conforming to existing standards. Additionally, we show that alternatives are available even for some use cases for which derogations have been proposed in the EU PFAS restriction proposal and suggest making these derogations more specific to support a speedy transition to non-fluorinated refrigerants in all sectors.

Graphical abstract: Finding non-fluorinated alternatives to fluorinated gases used as refrigerants

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
23 Jul 2024
Accepted
09 Sep 2024
First published
03 Oct 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024, Advance Article

Finding non-fluorinated alternatives to fluorinated gases used as refrigerants

J. Glüge, K. Breuer, A. Hafner, C. Vering, D. Müller, I. T. Cousins, R. Lohmann, G. Goldenman and M. Scheringer, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4EM00444B

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