India became party to the Montreal Protocol on17th September 1992. The per capita consumption of ODS in India did not cross 20g between 1995-97 (base line) as against 300g permitted under the Protocol. India was self sufficient in production of CFCs. India was mainly producing and used nine of the 96 substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol. These are CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, HCFC-22, Halon-1211, Halon-1301, CTC, Methyl Chloroform and Methyl Bromide.
The situation today: CFC / HCFC phase-out in India
India has phased out production and consumption of CFCs, CTC and halons as on 1. 1. 2010 except use of pharmaceutical grade CFCs in manufacturing of MDIs for Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) patients under Essential Use Nomination (EUN)of the Montreal Protocol.
The 19th MOP took a decision to accelerate the phase-out of production and consumption of HCFCs for developed and developing countries. The new phase-out schedule for Article 5 Parties as per the decision of the 19th MOP is as follows:
- Base-level for production & consumption: the average of 2009 and 2010.
• Freeze = 2013 at the base-level
• 10% reduction in 2015
• 35% reduction in 2020
• 67.5% reduction in 2025
• 100% reduction in 2030 allowing for servicing an annual average of 2.5% during the period 2030-2040.
The accelerated phase-out schedule of HCFCs
Challenges of HCFC phase-out
The implementation of the accelerated phase out schedule for HCFCs is a challenging task specially in emerging economies like India, where there is a high growth in the use of these chemicals in Refrigeration and Air conditioning (RAC) manufacturing, foam manufacturing, RAC servicing and other applications to cater the needs of growing industrialization and GDP of the country.
The predominant consumption of HCFCs in India is of HCFC 22, HCFC 141b and small amounts of HCFC 123/ 124. Other HCFCs are consumed in very small quantities. The annual consumption growth of these chemicals is in the range of10 to 15%.
HFC phasedown proposals
It is true that any effort to reduce the CFC and HCFC emissions will also assist in ameliorating the global warming. With extensive work on alternatives to CFCs and HCFCs, initially HFCs, which are ozone friendly with zero ODP, were considered to be long-term solutions. The most common alternative HFC options for HCFCs have a very high GWP, typically in the range 600 to 4000. Although climate-friendly technologies using natural refrigerants are available for most applications, HFCs have been extensively used and likely to continue to be introduced to phase out HCFCs.
International experts working on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), which include HFCs, agree that cutting down only CO2 or HFCs individually cannot restrain the temperature rise within safe limits. A global agreement to phase down HFCs could avoid warming of 0.50C by year 2100, providing a shot in the arm to the deal that was just signed in Paris.
Technology required for phasing down HFCs is readily available, and rapidly becoming more viable. Given the urgent need for concerted action to address global warming on multiple fronts, countries and businesses should make it a priority to work towards phasing down HFCs under Montreal Protocol.
Since 2009, multiple proposals had been submitting to amend Montreal Protocol to include HFCs. In November 2015, world nations agreed in Dubai to phase down production and use of HFCs using the Montreal Protocol. A final agreement is expected in 2016.
Opportunities for RAC sector
The refrigeration and air conditioning sector is by far the largest consumer of HCFCs and HFCs in India. HCFC 22 is the predominant substance, used as refrigerant. The RAC industry in India can decrease its dependence on HCFCs and HFCs in various ways. Key stakeholders in RAC sector are equipment manufacturers, servicing sector and equipment owners. Increased awareness on Ozone depletion and Montreal Protocol offers the opportunity of early adoption to alternative products and technologies.
Equipment manufactures
Various challenges and opportunities exist for them – be it large or small scale enterprise. We can categorize them in 3 heads; Transition to ODS free and low GWP alternatives, emission control by design and emission control in manufacturing.
- Transition to low GWP and Zero ODP alternatives
Two-pronged rationale exists for Indian manufacturers to begin transitioning.
First, developed countries continue to rapidly discontinue their use of HCFCs and HFCs. US, Japan and the E.U. have stringent regulations on use of HCFC and HFC in new equipment. If India is to remain an active participant in the RAC export market moving forward, it must make the transition, so it can continue to supply RAC equipment to developed countries.
Second, the HVAC&R industry is now designing new equipment – specifically for use with low GWP alternatives. In addition to helping countries decrease their dependence on HCFCs and meet the protocol phase-out requirements, this new equipment is also proving to be highly energy efficient. The energy savings that can result from using equipment designed for alternatives is an incentive for India and other developing countries to discontinue its use of HCFCs and HFCs.
- Emission control by design
Two key emission control opportunities that exist in equipment design are refrigerant charge size reduction and leak tight design. There is a lot that can be done at design stage to minimize leakage and optimize charge size. The key is to design the pipe work carefully and to use connections that remain leak free in all modes of operation. During selection and design of evaporator and condenser, considering leakage and refrigerant charge size can play a significant role.
- Emission control in manufacturing
There are various sources of emission of refrigerant within equipment manufacturing process. Filling losses includes, loss of refrigerant from connection while charging the equipment, leakage within refrigerant charging machine or pumping system and emission from connection between packaging and pumping system. All these emissions can be minimized by careful consideration while designing the system and during O&M of same.
Servicing sector
Environment-friendly products and technologies offer business opportunities for service sector. It can help the industry decrease its dependence and consumption of HCFC and HFC in various ways as listed below.
- Understanding and educating equipment owner on HFC phase down and HCFC phase-out requirements and deadlines and staying aware of updates in developing countries, as well as in developed countries.
- Taking steps to minimize emissions by repairing leaks immediately, regardless of the type of refrigerant or substitute being used, and ensuring proper equipment design and installation for all new equipment. In new and existing equipment, it is also important to track system performance relative to regulatory requirements.
- Increasing awareness of new equipment that is designed specifically for alternative refrigerants. In addition to addressing environmental considerations, new equipment designed for environment friendly refrigerant is a viable option when existing systems must be replaced due to age or leaks.
- Retrofitting existing equipment to zero-ODP and low GWP alternative refrigerants. Retrofit refrigerants deliver the same, or better, performance as HCFCs and high GWP HFCs, in many cases, and decrease dependence on these compounds. They enable continued use of existing refrigeration equipment, eliminating costly equipment replacement and minimising business disruption and downtime. Since they have zero ODP, they are not subject to the Montreal Protocol phase-out schedule; however, some alternatives may be HFC but with lower GWPs then they are replacing and should be managed responsibly.
Equipment owners
All private and public sector organization with large population of installed equipment based on HCFCs and HFCs need to proactively work on transition to alternate products and technologies. This includes developing their own phase-out plans in line or in advance to country phase-out plans. Key steps of same can be:
- New equipments should be purchased based on environment friendly technologies where they are available. This policy can reduce dependence on HCFCs and HFCs. In most cases, new technologies and systems are more energy efficient. In future, servicing a system that uses HCFCs will be increasingly difficult and expensive.
- HCFC phase-out strategy should include:
£ Assess the risk – identify all systems containing HCFCs and estimate their associated business risks
£ Prioritize – identify the most business-critical systems and address these first. But do not neglect all the other systems, those must also be managed.
£ Determine the phase-out solution –The best phase-out option depends on the age and efficiency of existing equipment. If the equipment is old, unreliable or inefficient, it is best to consider its replacement. If the plant still has some years of useful life – then it may be possible to retrofit with a HFC replacement refrigerant. Three main options are available to:
t Replace the whole plant with a new system. This is the most expensive option, but enables owner to minimize leakage and maximize energy efficiency.
t Retrofit to alternative refrigerant. This is much cheaper than a new equipment, and enables you with continued use of existing equipment.
t Leave As-is. This is initially the easiest option, but it is only delaying the decision and it is a high risk strategy. It can be only applicable if equipment represents no business critical risk or is likely to be approaching the end of life.
£ Planning and Budgeting – develop a phase-out plan, with phased implementation of the phase-out solutions. Depending on the size of your operation, it is unlikely to be possible or desirable to carry out all the actions at once. This will need to be done in association with your refrigeration contractor, in order to ensure their commitment.
£ Implementation – carry out the plan, with monitoring and regular review.
£ Managing emissions – there are three main sources of refrigerant emissions and these should be managed carefully.
t Leakage during operation. If leakage is slow it can go unnoticed for long periods and result in emission refrigerant and poor refrigeration plant performance, which often leads to wasted energy. It is not uncommon for a major failure to occur and for a system to lose all refrigerant in a short time period, e.g., a refrigerant pipe burst. On a large system this can lead to a significant loss of refrigerant.
t Emission during equipment maintenance. If a component needs to be replaced during maintenance it may be necessary to remove some or the entire refrigerant from the system. To avoid refrigerant loss during maintenance it is vital that suitable recovery equipment is used.
t Emissions at end of plant life. It is vital to properly recover refrigerant from older plants during decommissioning, using suitable recovery equipment and appropriately trained personnel.
Conclusion
In accordance with the Montreal Protocol, India has already phased-out CFC-based refrigerants in air conditioning and refrigeration. The implementation of the accelerated phase-out schedule for HCFCs is a challenging task especially.
Equipment manufacturers, contractors and equipment owners must understand what options are available to help them reduce their HCFCs and HFCs consumption.
Using refrigerants with zero ODP and low GWP for new and existing equipment is one way to safely and cost-effectively facilitate a smooth transition from HCFCs and HFCs (which have high GWP) with minimal disruption to businesses.
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