INTERNATIONAL NEWS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
A
Flammable refrigerant limit
increase approved in recount
t first, the proposed standard
fell one vote short of approval,
preventing the hydrocarbon (HC)
charge limit for A3 refrigerants from rising
to 500g from 150g in HVAC&R applications.
However, in May, a recount saw the new
standard approved.
In a vote concluded on 12 April, the
International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC) rejected a proposal to increase the
charge limit for flammable refrigerants from
150g to 500g in self-contained commercial
refrigeration cabinets.
The vote ended a five-year process
that many expected would result in
a higher charge limit for flammable
refrigerants like propane under the IEC’s
60335-2-89 standard. The effort to raise
the limit could be revisited, though its
fate is unclear at present. The IEC vote
– known as the Final Draft International
Standard (FDIS) phase – fell just one vote
short of being approved. Out of 35 total
votes cast by national committees, nine
(25.7%) voted against; for the proposal to
be enacted, the opposing votes could
not exceed 25%.
The vote was received as a major
setback to many who saw raising the
charge limit as a way to boost the market for
hydrocarbon refrigerants.
The vote included participating (P)
members (countries) on the IEC’s
subcommittee (SC) 61C, which was
responsible for the development of the
proposed charge limit, as well as observer
(O) members. (In a separate vote by
only P-Members, the proposal passed by
a 70.8% vote, surpassing the two-thirds
minimum required.)
Participating members are obliged
to vote at all stages and to contribute to
standard development, while observer
members follow the work, receive
committee documents and have the right
to submit comments. They also attend
meetings and can vote.
Seven participating countries (Israel,
Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia,
Netherlands, Turkey and the US) voted
against the charge increase as well as two
observer countries (Serbia and Hungary).
Ten countries abstained and six observer
countries did not participate in the vote.
DECIDING VOTE
However, it appears that Malaysia’s “no”
vote on proposals to amend the 60335-2-89
standard has been ruled out as it did not
follow voting procedures.
Last month, the FDIS vote at the IEC
was defeated by just one vote. The
nine opposing votes from the 35 nations
voting meant that the proposal could not
enacted as it exceeded the maximum limit
of 25%.
It was later found that Malaysia, one of
those who voted against, did not include
any technical justification as required by
IEC directives clause 2.7.3. When this was
pointed out to the IEC, Malaysia’s vote
was rejected.
The amendment to the IEC 60335-2-89
standard has been in development since
2014. The long-awaited changes, if finally
ratified, will see A3 refrigerant charge sizes
increase to 500g and A2L refrigerants to
1.2kg.
FIVE-YEAR PROCESS
In 2014, SC 61C created a Working Group
(WG4) to address raising the charge limit.
In July of 2018, the National Committees
voted 75% in the affirmative (surpassing the
two-thirds minimum) to increase the charge
limit in an interim procedure called the
committee draft for vote (CDV).
The charge-limit increase to 500g
from 150g will apply to hydrocarbons
like propane and isobutane. It is likely to
widen the use of hydrocarbons as natural
refrigerants worldwide by allowing a single
circuit to be employed in larger cabinets,
COLD LINK AFRICA • June 2019
rather than multiple circuits using no more
than 150g of refrigerant.
MOVING FORWARD
“EIA is delighted that this extremely
important revised standard is going
forward, and congratulates the IEC for
reacting swiftly to the procedural mistake
that initially led to an incorrect rejection
of the vote,” said Clare Perry, UK climate
campaign leader for the Environmental
Investigation Agency (EIA).
“The safe application of flammable
refrigerants like propane is fundamental
to effective implementation of urgent
climate legislation, namely the global HFC
phase-down under the Montreal Protocol’s
Kigali Amendment and Europe’s F-Gas
Regulation,” Perry added. “This standard will
pave the way for the widespread uptake of
efficient and cost-effective climate-friendly
commercial refrigeration, and sets the
scene for a similar much-needed change to
product standards for air-conditioning.”
On 6 May, the Geneva, Switzerland-based
IEC Central Office said in response to queries
about the Malaysian vote that it would
withdraw the result of voting on FDIS 60335-
2-89 and circulate a corrected version as a
result of a misapplication of IEC voting rules to
the negative vote by Malaysia. CLA
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