International News
PROPANE - A SOLUTION FOR
MORE SUSTAINABLE AIR CONDITIONING
By the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis ( IIASA )
Current severe heatwaves that will likely increase in severity and frequency in the future are driving a rise in the use of air conditioners , threatening the environment with their high energy consumption and refrigerants with high warming potential .
A new study finds that switching to propane as a refrigerant could lessen the global temperature increase from space cooling .
We spend enormous amounts of energy on fighting off the heat in the summer , or throughout the whole year at lower latitudes – about one-tenth of the total worldwide electricity supply . If current temperature trends continue , the energy demands of space-coolers will more than triple by 2050 . Apart from the rise in energy consumption , space-coolers also threaten the environment in different ways : by using halogenated refrigerants with high global warming potential .
Split-air conditioners ( Split ACs ) that use an indoor and an outdoor air unit connected by pipes are the most common appliances used for space-cooling . They mostly utilise HCFC-22 and HFC-410 as refrigerants , both of them characterised by a very high global warming potential score , up to 2,256 — meaning that they trap up to 2,256 times more heat than carbon dioxide over 100 years . Urged by the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol , many manufacturers are looking for alternative refrigerants with lower global warming potential scores , such as HFC-32 . However , with a global warming potential score of 771 , HFC-32 still poses a significant climate hazard .
A study led by IIASA researcher Pallav Purohit in collaboration with researchers from the United Nations Environment Programme and the University of Leeds , showed that by switching to propane , an alternative low (< 1 ) global warming potential refrigerant for space cooling , we could avoid a 0.09 ° C increase in global temperature by the end of the century , thereby making a significant contribution towards keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 ° C .
In the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ( PNAS ), researchers used the IIASA Greenhouse Gas - Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies ( GAINS ) model to compare the baseline halogenated refrigerant emission scenarios with scenarios of switching to HFC-32 or propane . While the switch to HFC-32 also lessened the global temperature increase ( 0.03 ° C by the end of the century ), propane proved to be the superior solution in terms of sustainability .
Science . com
“ Propane exhibits significant environmental advantages through good energy performance and a global warming potential of less than 1 . In split-ACs up to 7 kW , propane can be classified as a technically valid alternative to HFC-driven split- ACs ,” says Purohit .
" A new study finds that switching to propane as a refrigerant could lessen the global temperature increase from space cooling ."
Energy-efficient split-ACs using propane are already available commercially in the Chinese and Indian markets . Despite performing similarly to split-ACs using HFC-32 , and even better than the currently widespread appliances using HFC-410A and HCFC-22 , some national regulations prohibit their use , primarily due to standards and codes restricting the use of refrigerants with higher flammability , hindering their wider adoption .
“ To achieve the EU ’ s ambitious 2050 climate neutrality targets , early and aggressive action is needed . In the short term , converting new air-conditioning systems to more environmentally-friendly refrigerants can reduce their climate impact significantly , underlining the urgency of updating standards for policymakers ,” concludes Purohit . RACA
About IIASA : The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis ( IIASA ) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental , economic , technological , and social change that we face in the twenty-first century .
The 3D structure of propane . Propane proved to be the superior solution in terms of sustainability in this study .
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I October 2022 9