UPDATED: Guidelines for the safe use of hydrocarbon refrigerants

Titled “Guidelines for the safe use of hydrocarbon refrigerants: A handbook for engineers, technicians, trainers and policy makers - For a climate friendly cooling”, the handbook has been developed by GTZ-Proklima and TÜV Süd, two organisations experienced in working with implementation of flammable refrigerants.

It addresses both regulatory aspects and technical aspects pertaining to hydrocarbon refrigerants and it hence serves as a guide for both:

• policy makers involved in designing policies to support the use of natural refrigerants; as well as
• manufacturers and installers of heating and cooling equipment in assessing the viability of hydrocarbon technology options

The handbook is split in 7 parts, namely:

• Part 1: Safety Infrastructure
• Part 2: Quality Systems for Safety
• Part 3: Training
• Part 4: Production and Manufacturing Facilities
• Part 5: Equipment Design and Development
• Part 6: Working on Systems and Equipment
• Part 7: Case Studies

Presentation of the handbook at ATMOsphere 2010

Lead author Dr. Daniel Colbourne will be presenting the guidelines on Monday 27 September 2010 at a dedicated lunch time education panel during ATMOsphere 2010, an international workshop to help bring natural refrigerants faster to market.

Other presentations during the education panel session will include:

• Katja Becken, Environmental Product Management, Federal Environment Agency, Germany (UBA): Natural Refrigerants – A Chance to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Armin Hafner, Research Scientist, Sintef: A LCCP tool for cooling and heating
• Christianna Papazahariou, Head of Government Affairs, shecco: TheNaturalVoice
• NVKL: The first European Training Centre for natural refrigerants (tbc)