This plan is said to be the first of its kind to be launched in the European market and will to help it move towards the adoption of alternative highly flammable refrigerants in small commercial and domestic air conditioning to respect and match the future regulations and future trends within the required time frame and improve safety at the same time.
The proposed revision of the EU F-gas regulation, expected to be in place from 1st of January 2024, after completion of the legislative process, will place a ban on split systems using a refrigerant with GWP (Global Warming Potential) above 150 with thermal capacity up to 12kW; at present for these kind of applications the only refrigerant matching the requirement is R290.
The systems, manufactured in production facilities suitable for charging, pressure testing and handling the flammable refrigerant, have been delivered to the classrooms, laboratories and workshops of the training organisations this week.
These training centres have been equipped with specialist tools and equipment for use with flammable refrigerants (i.e. recovery machines, vacuum pumps, mobile and permanent leak detectors, ventilation fans to dilute the flammable concentration) to ensure safe operation of the new units.
All equipment is approved for use in a flammable atmosphere in accordance with ATEX and DSEAR Regulations.
The procedure for the safe installation, servicing and maintenance of equipment using natural refrigerants as R600a and R290 is completely different to those required to work with more traditional synthetic HFC.
For this reason, the technicians who will handle these kind of systems, potentially hundreds of thousands of people across Europe, will need to be retrained. This is a concern that has been expressed by the European contractors body AREA and BESA in the UK.
The training which will be provided by the selected training centres will follow the real alternatives project principles and program. It provides a certification scheme which is mutually recognised in 20 countries globally and translated into 17 languages. The certification is already mandatory in Spain, Netherlands and Denmark. All EU countries will probably follow and 500,000 technicians (already Fgas certified) will potentially need to be certified for the alternative refrigerants on top of the Fgas certification they already hold with a further 2 days specific training and certification.
In particular the practical part of the training will provide the procedure to install and service those systems in a safe manner, focusing on the connection of the external and internal units, pipe jointing, evacuation, charging and recovery of refrigerant, leak testing and commissioning.
For improved experience, a specific feedback form will be handled to the attendees at the end of the training asking specific questions aimed to understand the problems, the solutions and the familiarity of the technicians who will need to perform those activities in the future:
- Do you believe HC split systems will be a safe option for our sector?
- Do you feel safe using HCs refrigerants?
- Do you think the customer is safe?
- The cost will be similar
- The maintenance, repair, installation will be easier for this pure substance (no glide, good performance, low pressure).
Heat pumps (including air to air split systems) also have a bright future due to the European policy of decarbonisation and the change in refrigerant, if not followed correctly by all parties within the chain, could jeopardise this important growth (34% in 2021 and 25% in the first half of 2022 - EHPA), necessary to reach EU goals.
The four training providers, qualified by the real alternatives project funded by EU commission, are:
The first training session has been confirmed for the 29-30 November in Italy, Casale Monferrato and Bologna.
Training can be undertaken at Business Edge in the Waterlooville, Hampshire on 20 October, 20 February 2023 and 30 March 2023.
In Germany the training will be held on 12th of January 2023.
The above training centres are internationally recognised in RAC and Renewable Energy training. Thanks to this partnership they will strengthen the cooperation to make a European and global level of training and certification. They have been active in around 100 training projects together with Agencies of United Nations Environment Program in countries including: Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia, Gambia, Nigeria, Argentina, China).