Are Chillers Eco-Friendly?

Chillers are machines that remove heat from the liquid via a vapour compression or absorption refrigeration cycle.

Various speculations regarding the use of chillers in the industries have been in the air for they contributed majorly to the environment pollution. Vapour compression chillers use a refrigerant internally as their working fluid. While selecting a refrigerant, the chiller manufacturers must be careful to check the Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) & Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the refrigerant. Previously, the chiller companies in India or even worldwide relied on the popular yet eco-unfriendly refrigerant R-12.

CFCs in particular are (or were once) used in the refrigeration, air conditioning (especially for larger sized air conditioning systems such as chillers) Chemically, R-12 is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), every pound of which when released into the atmosphere has an equivalent global warming potential of about 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. It is considered to contribute greatly to the depletion of the ozone layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. The ozone layer is responsible for resisting ultraviolet radiation, a known cause of multiple diseases, including skin cancer. Lately the manufacturers in India are improving with the refrigeration system. R-12 is replaced by R134a [hydroflurocarbon (HFC)] in the long term as it has no Chlorine content and no Ozone depletion potential.

Another type R407a is a ternary blend of hydroflurocarbon or HFC compound. It too has no Ozone depletion potential as well as no Chlorine content. Similar refrigerants include R507a and R404a. R507a is a replacement of the potentially hazardous R502, but gives greater performance than the latter.

Many chiller manufacturers in India providing cooling solutions rely on adsorption and absorption chillers. Adsorption chillers generate solid desiccants that do not move and neither does contain chemicals that require testing. Similarly, the absorption chillers are eco-friendly and increase the efficiency by converting the lost heat into useful heat.

Hazardous substances threaten our environment and hence the need to provide eco-friendly solutions came in the picture. Chillers are now more eco-savvy than the previous years.