HCFC 22 Availability in 2013

This year, 2013, may be the last year of good availability of R-22. It almost certainly will be the last year of “inexpensive” R-22. In fact, we have probably already passed the “inexpensive” threshold. I would like to review the available quantities of R-22 to show a little perspective. The base year that is used in determining the percentages of allowable R-22 production in 1999 when 300 million pounds of R-22 was manufactured or imported in the US. That was cut to 100 million pounds by 2011. However, the reduction also coincided with the elimination of R-22 in the manufacture of new equipment beginning in 2010. Truthfully, we did not feel much of a squeeze because the primary purchasers of the refrigerant were no longer buying it. We even had a bit of a glut for a while, actually driving prices down. Then came the panic of January 2012 when all R-22 production ceased and prices jumped significantly almost overnight. This happened because the EPA had not finalized the rule allowing producers to manufacture and/or import HCFCs in the years 2012 – 2014. Basically, manufacturers did not want to risk receiving a big fine for exceeding the limits in a rule that had yet to be published, so they stopped making R-22. To get the R-22 flowing again, the EPA sent producers a letter stating that the EPA would not bring action against them so long as they did not make more than 55% as much in 2012 as they were allowed to make in 2011. So the amount of R-22 was cut to 55 million pounds for 2012. In fact, that rule has still not been finalized. Instead, the EPA has sent another letter to producers effectively limiting the 2013 allocation to 39 million pounds. Some wholesalers are now concerned about the availability of R-22. It is conceivable that some vendors may run out without being able to replenish their supply. The law of supply and demand is kicking in, driving the prices higher. In fact, now R-22 is now generally higher than the many R-22 replacement refrigerants. I still recommend using R-22 in systems designed for R22. However, you might want to start learning about the different replacement refrigerants available in your area as it looks like R-22 will soon be difficult to find, expensive, or both. One caveat: STAY AWAY FROM FLAMMABLE DROP-IN REFRIGERANTS SOLD OVER THE INTERNET! Putting a flammable gas in a system not intended for flammable gasses is extremely dangerous!
To read more about the availability of R-22 in 2013 read the ACHR News article.

Substitute Refrigerant Safety

As R22 prices increase and R22 availability decreases, many technicians have at least thought about using a substitute refrigerant in place of R22. Usually, we are looking for a drop-in which can be used to charge a system instead of R22. My primary consideration is safety. Of course I want any substitute refrigerant to work well and be environmentally friendly, but most of all, I want it to not hurt me or my customers. The refrigerant manufacturer should be able to show that their refrigerant is listed on the EPA SNAP list of acceptable replacement refrigerants. If they can’t, I would not use it. Another source of safety information is the required MSDS sheet. Any chemical sold in the United States must have an MSDS sheet. If the seller cannot provide an MSDS sheet, I would not consider using the refrigerant. The MSDS sheet will list important information such as toxicity and flammability. One replacement refrigerant that is advertised on the internet has enough information on the MSDS sheet to let me know I don’t want any part of it. The proper shipping name is “Petroleum Gasses Liquified.” Other statements include “Vapor may ignite if exposed to static discharge", and "Flammable vapor may form if allowed to mix with air. Accumulation of gas is an ignition hazard. Vapors are heavier than air and may travel to an ignition source." R22 systems are not built to operate safely with a flammable refrigerant. There is no way I would put this in a system designed for R22. Last year technicians were killed while working on refrigerated shipping containers that exploded.(See post about it). They were R22 systems which had been charged with a flammable substitute refrigerant. Although the EPA has recently approved the use of flammable refrigerant in limited charge applications, it is important to note that there are many requirements a system must meet to be safe with flammable refrigerants. R22 systems meet none of these. For more information on flammable refrigerants, take a look at my previous post on Flammable Refrigerants. For more information on R22, take a look at my previous post on R22 Conversion. A couple of simple rules to follow will help keep you safe. Can you buy the refrigerant at your local wholesaler? If you can only get it over the internet or from a guy at a flea market, you don’t want it. Is the refrigerant listed on the EPA SNAP list for the specific application? If not, you don’t want it. Does it seem too good to be true? If so, you probably should avoid it like the plague.

HCFC 22 Rising Faster Than Gold

You may wonder why HCFC 22 has suddenly spiked in price? Although we have all been expecting it to rise because of the phase-out, the rise in the beginning of this year has been dramatic. The phase-out is not all that is behind the latest price increases. Under the phase-out rules, producers and importers must have allocations from the EPA telling them how much product they are allowed to manufacture or import. The EPA has not published the allocation for 2012, so all production stopped on January 1. Nothing drives up price more than not making any more. On January 4, 2012 the EPA published a proposed rule-making that would significantly decrease the amount of HCFC-22 produced or imported compared to 2011. On January 20, the EPA sent a letter to producers and importers promising to not fine them for making HCFC 22 so long as they produced no more than 45% of the allocation set in 2011. So for the month of January, very little if any R-22 was produced or imported. Manufactures and importers can now produce R-22 in limited quantities due to the EPA letter of “No Action Assurance.” The rule may not be finalized until just before this summer. In short, the temporary halt of production and the uncertainty created by the lack of a final allocation and ruling are driving up the price. I would not recomend hoarding R-22 as a replacement for your gold investment  - prices and the market are just too unstable for anyone to predict. Once the final allocation is announced and the panic buying stops - the price may actually come down a little. For more information check out these articles
HARDI
ACHR News

Now might be a good time to look into purchasing reclaimed refrigerant.

Dry R22 Units

I got my first look at a “dry” unit the other day. A wholesale house had one on its showroom floor with a big sign “we have dry units!” I looked at the nameplate to see what it said about refrigerant. A refrigerant amount was actually listed. Instead of the familiar “factory charge” preceding the refrigerant quantity, it had “Field Charge” and then the amount. I asked about coil matching for older systems. They recommend 1/2 ton smaller condenser than the original for heat pumps and the same size condenser for air conditioning. Then I asked about warranty and they said the units came with a 5 year compressor warranty regardless of the coil connected to it. They pointed out that this was less than the warranty on new matched equipment. Many of the units are being sold to replace condensing units that have been stolen or chopped up in place, often in rental property. Another wholesaler requires you to take coil measurements and then uses software to try and figure out the coil SEER. If the calculated SEER is less than 13, they recommend against buying the dry unit. Companies that just a few years ago were cautioning against the perils of mismatches units are now selling units that will almost certainly be mismatched. They cannot provide any meaningful charging chart without knowing what coil is on the other end of the system.  

If you do decide to install a “dry’ unit, make sure and follow good refrigeration system installation practices. The fact that you are creating your own special blend of equipment makes it all the more important to be careful, not careless. It would be wise to treat the job like a compressor burnout. Flush the lines and coil, install a filter drier, pull a good vacuum, and weigh in the charge using an accurate digital scale. You can see more about line flushing at Mainstream Engineering. They sell a flush designed for this type of use. You will need to adjust the data plate charge for line length and possibly coil mismatch, but the nameplate charge should be in the ballpark unless you have very long lines. I think it might be wise to start a little under, so I would not adjust for line length until after starting the unit.  I found a good set of instructions for installing dry systems online provided by Century, a supplier that is offering dry units. No, these are NOT the folks who suggested the 1/2 under ton heat pump coil adjustment. The link to the guide is:

http://www.centuryac.com/DryChargeInstructionsandchart.pdf

All I Want for Christmas is a Final Rule

The EPA has released a new final ruling on HCFC reduction for Christmas! I know you are probably thinking that is not much of a Christmas present, but it really is. First, the HCFC allocations were due to expire, so without a new ruling spelling out HCFC allocations, all R-22 manufacturing and importing would have ceased January 1, 2010. A new ruling setting allocations of HCFCs has been released, fixing this potential train wreck. You can download a copy of the ruling and read all the details on the EPA website

Next, the details of exactly when you may and may not install “new” equipment which uses HCFC refrigerant have been clarified. You may recall that last December the EPA shocked our industry by announcing that they considered systems which are field installed and charged to be “manufactured” when the refrigeration system was complete and the final charge added. For split systems, this would be when the system is installed. Most people in our industry were well aware of the manufacturing cutoff of January 1, 2010, but we assumed the more common definition of manufacturing date: when the equipment is made in the factory. The EPA is sticking with their definition of manufacturing, but that does not mean all R-22 inventory becomes rubbish on January 1, 2010. Packaged equipment like window units, PTACS, and packaged air conditioning equipment can all be legally sold and installed as new provided it is manufactured (in the factory) prior to January 1, 2010. You are allowed to sell and install pre-charged R-22 component parts made before January 1, 2010 to replace parts in existing systems. So you may swap out condensing units, evaporator coils, or even both in an existing system. Replacing both the condensing unit and evaporator coil on an existing system is legal. Another interesting twist is that manufacturers may ship component system parts with a nitrogen holding charge instead of refrigerant. These “dry” components can then legally be assembled into a new system provided the system is then charged with reclaimed refrigerant and not virgin refrigerant. The impact of these regulations will be minimized by the fact that most manufacturers reduced or eliminated their R-22 equipment manufacturing the past few years. Contractors have also widely accepted R-410A and few still install new R-22 systems now. R-22 production will be reduced to 41.9% of the baseline production, but that will probably be enough. With no manufacturers using it and no new systems being installed, I believe that R-22 will still be available for servicing existing systems.

I do not believe replacing an existing R-22 system with a new R-22 system is really in the customer’s best interest. Why would someone want a system that uses a refrigerant which is scheduled for extinction? Also, all new high efficiency equipment uses HFC refrigerant, not R-22. We still need R-22 equipment in schools simply because our students need to know how to work on it. You cannot assume that every call will be on a system with the latest technology. In fact, you can almost assume the opposite. Our students will continue to see R-22, so we need to teach it. However, we need to teach toward the future and not stay stuck in the past. Your lab should have many pieces of equipment with HFC refrigerant, like R-410A. You should have recovery equipment and gauges manufactured specifically for R-410A. Your texts, manufacturer’s literature, and technical literature should all support the newer refrigerants. One of our focuses in Fundamentals of HVAC/R is support for new refrigerants such as R-410A. The newer refrigerants are not only covered in the refrigerants section, but throughout the book with detailed examples using R-410A. You can learn more about Fundamentals of HVAC/R at Pearson’s site.

The New 70

Many of the old timers I talk to who are still leery of R-410A want to know what the “new 70” is. They want a target number for the suction pressure of an R-410A air conditioning system. Many service technicians are in the habit of charging to a target number on the suction side. This is frequently 70 psig on R-22 systems. The saturation temperature of R-22 at 68.5 psig is 40°F and for many years the standard evaporator temperature at design conditions has been 40°F. But 70 is a nice round, easy to remember number and close enough for quickie rules of thumb. The problem is that systems seldom operate at design conditions. Another big problem is that conditions other than charge can cause low suction pressure. If a technician is only checking the suction pressure, they are not collecting enough information to recognize other system factors that can contribute to low suction pressure. A common error of inexperienced techs using the “70” method is overcharging systems that have low evaporator airflow. I have gone behind someone using the “70” method who had overcharged the system so severely the compressor stalled at startup and pegged my high side gauge past 500 psig. The customer was told that the compressor was bad. To be fair, most experienced technicians that use the “70” method understand how airflow and system operating conditions affect system pressures, they just don’t want to bother with manufacturer’s charts. They just modify the target up or down as they judge conditions affecting system pressures. These folks can usually get a system cooling; that is why they still have a job. However, the system will often not be performing optimally when they leave. Today’s customers are paying a premium for systems that are more efficient and have less environmental impact than older systems. Beginning January 2010, even the least expensive unit a customer can purchase will be non-ozone depleting and more efficient than the least expensive unit they could purchase just a few years ago. This means everybody is paying for efficiency and reduced environmental impact. However, if technicians don’t charge units properly, customers are not getting what they are paying for. Your students can be the vanguard of a new era that values professionalism. Make sure your students know how to handle new refrigerants like R-410A and know how to read and follow manufacturer’s charging charts. That will put them in a position of leadership early in their career.

Fundamentals of HVAC/R has a detailed discussion of system charging in Unit 27 Refrigerant System Evacuation and Charging. Variables affecting system pressures, common methods of determining the correct charge, and common methods of adding refrigerant are all covered. Charging is also discussed in other units including

• Unit 35 Residential Split system Air conditioning installations
• Unit 36 Troubleshooting Split System Air Conditioning
• Unit 52 Heat Pump Installation
• Unit 53 Troubleshooting Heat Pump Systems
• Unit 83 Troubleshooting Refrigeration Systems
• Unit 84 Installation Techniques
• Unit 85 Planned Maintenance
• Unit 86 Troubleshooting

R22 Conversion

Most HVAC/R programs have a large number of R22 air conditioning systems in their shop. The ban on the use of R22 in new equipment begins January 1, 2010 – only a few months away. Although R22 will be available for servicing existing equipment, the amount of new R22 available is scheduled to be reduced by 75% in 2010. The EPA and many people in the industry believe that this will create a shortage of R22 in 2010. What this all means is that R22 will become more expensive and harder to get. I began exploring for an R22 replacement refrigerant to keep our shop equipment operating when R22 is either not available or not affordable. I would like to share a few things to consider when examining potential R22 replacement refrigerants.

Whenever possible check with the equipment manufacturer. Chances are they have some insight into what works, and more importantly, what does not work. Copeland has a six page service bulletin that discusses conversion from R22 to R422A and R422D in commercial refrigeration systems.

Copeland 422 Conversion

Tecumseh offers five service bulletins that discuss R22 refrigerant conversion. They are available at

Tecumseh Service Bulletins

There are a number of replacement refrigerants offered to replace R22 in existing systems. However, even if the system operates and cools, there are some potential negative outcomes that you should be aware of before proceeding.

Make sure that any refrigerant you propose to use has been approved for use by the EPA. You can check the SNAP list to see if the refrigerant is listed.

EPA SNAP List

There are many hydrocarbon based replacement refrigerants for sale on the internet which are NOT approved by the EPA for use in the US. Some are even manufactured in the US, but they may not be used in the US.

For the most part, most manufacturers do not endorse refrigerant conversions. Just because the EPA approves a particular refrigerant does not mean that the manufacturers must approve its use. Using a replacement refrigerant that is not approved by the manufacturer usually means any warranty is voided.

Systems may lose their UL approval since the UL testing was done with the original refrigerant. Many alternate refrigerants have been tested and classified by UL, but many have not. Consult UL or the refrigerant manufacturer to find out if the refrigerant is UL classified.

Zeotropic refrigerants (400 series blends) should never be used for flooded chillers. The refrigerant will separate in the evaporator. Since nearly all replacement refrigerants are 400 series blends there are very few acceptable non-ozone depleting replacement refrigerants for flooded chillers.

Finally, the refrigerant manufacturers will help. Even if you decide to proceed without the equipment manufacturer’s help you are not entirely on your own. The refrigerant manufacturer also bears responsibility for the application of their product. All refrigerant manufacturers offer application bulletins and guidelines for the use of their products. A few are:

Dupont

Forane

Honeywell

Smaller companies that primarily manufacture replacement refrigerants obviously have an incentive to help. ICOR has one of the most interesting support ideas – a toll free telephone number which you can call to talk to an experienced service technician.

ICOR Help

For more detailed information on refrigerants check out Unit 23 Refrigerants and Their Properties in Fundamentals of HVAC/R. For specific details on complying with EPA refrigerant regulations check out Unit 26 Refrigerant Management and the EPA in Fundamentals of HVAC/R.