Page 16 - Climate Control News July 2019

In Focus
Around 60 per cent of split system air conditioners registered with the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) web site use R32.
Enormous advances in efficiency and sustainability driving market forward
INGERSOLL RAND'S AUSTRALASIAN busi- ness leader, Stuart Kirkwood, said A2L refriger- ants are not new to Australia and have been in use in small charge residential split system air conditioners up to 18kWr since 2014.
He said there are over one million R32 systems installed in Australia.
“Manufacturers advice indicates that A2L systems will now be offered up to 30kWr,” Kirk- wood said.
“Around 60% of wall splits currently registered on the GEMS website utilize A2L R32.”
“WE WILL SEE AN EXPANDED FOCUS FROM COMPONENT AND PRODUCT LEVEL EFFICIENCY TO SYSTEM AND BUILDING LEVEL EFFICIENCY.” – INGERSOLL RAND'S AUSTRALASIAN BUSINESS LEADER, STUART KIRKWOOD.
Kirkwood said Australia's HFC phasedown is more aggressive than action being taken inter- nationally.
“But it's important to remember that it is a phasedown over 18 years, not a phaseout,” he said. At the end of the phasedown, the final quota
will be 1608 Mt CO2-e in December 31, 2035. However from the year 2025 Kirkwood said R134a, R401a and R407c will be prohibited in
new chillers.
Despite the changing landscape, Kirkwood
said market requirements remain the same. “It's about reliability, efficiency, initial cost and life cycle cost,” he said.
“Economics are important as sustainabili- ty is a significant driver that is moving the market forward.
“MEPS and green building initiatives are driv- ing improved efficiencies while legislation is driving the move to lower GWP refrigerants.”
Kirkwood outlined a range of factors to con- sider in a changing landscape for the owners of chillers and large HVAC systems.
For larger DX installations he said some op- tions include incorporating detection and auto- mated shut-off (isolation), utilize multiple small- er charge units and reduce charge volume by utilizing a secondary working fluid.
“We all need to reduce our carbon footprint as the biggest factor going forward is decarbonisa- tion,” Kirkwood said.
He said technology enablers for increased product efficiency and sustainability targets include enhanced heat exchanger tubing & de- sign, improved joints/fewer leakage points, low charge heat exchangers, microchannel coil technology, centrifugal impeller aerodynam- ics, variable volume screws and scrolls, perma- nent magnet & EC motors, variable speed drives, low loss bearings and drivelines, multi- stage compressors, economizer cycles and op- timized controls.
“Manufacturers have delivered enormous ad- vances in efficiency and sustainability in recent years,” Kirkwood said.
“For smaller systems there's coils and compo- nents and for larger ones the focus is on oil separa- tors and heat exchangers to improve performance.”
In the near future, he said there will be a lot more heat pumps, heat recovery and free cooling. “We will see an expanded focus from compo- nent and product level efficiency to system and building level efficiency. If we are going to triple
electricity use we need to do it right,” he added. Kirkwood said it is important to stay abreast of new codes, standards, revisions and any new
updates to stay ahead of the game.
He said the 2019 update to the National Con-
struction Code has significant changes to the building envelope and energy efficiency.
For the first time ever, Kirkwood said the cost of producing renewable energy went below the cost of producing fossil fuels.
“The cost of solar panels dropped exponen- tially and energy storage will become very im- portant in coming years,” he said.
Also in attendance at Future:Air was the new- ly appointed general manager of Refrigerant Re- claim Australia, Kylie Farrelley.
She said new refrigerants are being rolled out over a period of time but all major suppliers have retrofit products available to meet HFC phase- down requirements.
“There will be a two stage roll- out of refrigerants over the next 15 to 20 years,” she said.
Building energy targets and green building programs are driving improved efficiencies.
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