IIR INFORMATION NOTE ON CONTAINMENT OF REFRIGERANTS

IIR’s Informatory Note on Containment of Refrigerants within Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Systems focuses on the environmental impact of refrigerant leakage and also on the impact on system reliability, efficiency and economics of operation.

Refrigerant leakage reduces the system efficiency, its capacity, its reliability and its cost, due to refrigerant refilling, additional servicing and repairs.

Leakage reduction must be achieved throughout the entire life cycle of the refrigerants, and at all stages in the life cycle of equipment (design; manufacture; operation; service and repair; decommissioning).

Emission levels vary according to the type of system and thus require containment policies that are appropriate to the system type and application, differentiating for example :

• Factory-sealed equipment (small commercial and household appliances),
• Chillers, located in machine rooms,
• Commercial and Industrial refrigeration with long refrigerant circuits,
• Car air-conditioning with flexible elastomer hoses and open-type directly driven compressors.

IIR recommends to bear in mind the major impact of indirect emissions from energy conversion on global warming, and therefore to use an LCCP cycle approach in the design, selection installation and operation of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning systems.