Life Cycle Climate Performance Research Articles

HFOs and their binary mixtures with HFC134a working as drop-in refrigerant in a household refrigerator: Energy analysis and environmental impact assessment

Global warming is a worldwide common theme. Due to the Regulation (EU) no. 517/2014, refrigerants with a GWP (Global Warming Potential) higher than 150 are not allowed from January 1st, 2015 in new domestic refrigerators. Thus, a replacement for HFC134a is needed.In this paper attention is devoted to the drop-in substitution of HFC134a with HFO refrigerant fluids in a domestic refrigerator. An experimental evaluation of the environmental impact in term of the greenhouse effect of the substitution of HFC134a with HFOs has been reported. The greenhouse effect is accounted for the experimental evaluation of the LCCP (Life Cycle Climate Performance) index. The refrigerant fluids that have been tested as a drop-in are: pure HFO1234yf, the mixture HFO1234yf/HFC134a (90/10% in weight), pure HFO1234ze (E) and the mixture HFO1234ze (E)/HFC134a (90/10% in weight). The plant working with pure HFOs or with both mixtures achieves the same temperature levels of HFC134a in the freezer and the refrigerator cabinet. The experimental results clearly show that the lower environmental impact in term of global warming can be achieved with both mixtures. The lower LCCP index can be obtained with HFC134a/HFO1234yf (with a 17% reduction respect to HFC134a).

Comprehensive investigation of transport refrigeration life cycle climate performance

This paper presents the comprehensive investigations for the total lifetime CO2-equivalent emissions for food transport refrigeration system under various influencing factors. The new R404A alternative refrigerant—R452A, is investigated to provide an improved environmental performance. With a lower global warming potential (GWP=1945), which is around half GWP of the currently existing R404A, R452A can make a 5–15% emission reduction for the food transport refrigeration system. In the R452A system, reducing the ambient temperature from 90°F (32°C) to 60°F (15.5°C) can produce up to 60% emission reduction for the fresh product case while 39% reduction for the frozen. Decreasing the annual leak rate from 25% to 10% can give a 13% emission reduction for the R452A fresh product case while 4% reduction for the frozen. Increasing the food product refrigerating temperature (evaporating temperature) set-point from −10°F (−23°C) to 50°F (10°C) can lead to more than 80% emission reduction. In addition, a 15% annual insulation degrade rate can provide a 13% emission reduction for the fresh and 14% for the frozen. Moreover, the Cycle Sentry running mode can result in a 14–21% emission saving than the Continuous. Furthermore, the sunny/cloudy conditions, system efficiency improvement rate, and alternative transport refrigeration technologies other than the conventional hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) based vapour compression refrigeration systems, are also investigated to explore the possibility to minimize environmental impacts.

Life cycle climate performance evaluation (LCCP) on cooling and heating systems in South Korea

In this study, a life cycle climate performance (LCCP) of cooling and heating systems is developed and evaluated for South Korean weather conditions. While a heat pump is widely used for both space cooling and heating in United States, the heat pump is only used for space cooling and a gas boiler is used instead for space heating in South Korea. Therefore, LCCP evaluation method is extended with the gas boiler. The evaluation results show that the use of the heat pump for space heating can reduce CO2 emissions by 11–17%. Moreover, various low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, cycle options and weather conditions are applied and evaluated. Low GWP refrigerants reduce the direct emissions by decreasing the charging amount compared to R410A. In case of using R290, total CO2 emissions are reduced by 19–22%. The vapor injection cycle with a flash tank with R410A improves energy efficiency and it reduces CO2 emissions by 7–10%. Applying the VI cycle with R32 or R290, the total emissions are reduced by 27–35%.

HFO1234ze as Drop-in Replacement for R134a in Domestic Refrigerators: An Environmental Impact Analysis

Abstract In this paper are reported the results of an experimental comparative analysis between R134a and HFO1234ze, when they are employed as refrigerants in a domestic refrigerator. Under sub-tropical conditions, it have been measured the energy consumptions in accordance with the UNI-EN-ISO15502. For each experiment it have been estimated both the TEWI and the Life Cycle Climate Performance indexes to assess the environmental impact due to HFO1234ze when used in place of R134a.

HFO1234yf as a Drop-in Replacement for R134a in Domestic Refrigerators: A Life Cycle Climate Performance Analysis

HFO1234yf as a Drop-in Replacement for R134a in Domestic Refrigerators: A Life Cycle Climate Performance Analysis

HFO1234yf as a drop-in replacement for R134a in domestic refrigerators: a life cycle climate performance analysis

HFO1234yf as a drop-in replacement for R134a in domestic refrigerators: a life cycle climate performance analysis

Potential emission savings from refrigeration and air conditioning systems by using low GWP refrigerants

Purpose Refrigeration and air conditioning systems have high, negative environmental impacts due to refrigerant charge leaks from the system and their corresponding high global warming potential. Thus, many efforts are in progress to obtain suitable low GWP alternative refrigerants and more environmentally friendly systems for the future. The system’s life cycle climate performance (LCCP) is a widespread metric proposed for the evaluation of the system’s environmental impact.

LCCP evaluation on various vapor compression cycle options and low GWP refrigerants

Reducing environmental impacts from the energy conversion systems has been an important research topic due to recent severe global climate changes. In residential buildings, the space heating and cooling are main energy consumers, which are mainly relying on a vapor compression cycle. In an effort to better understand the environmental impacts of these systems, life cycle climate performance (LCCP) evaluation method was developed, which considers the direct and indirect emissions of the system over the course of its lifetime from manufacturing to disposal. Based on the developed LCCP evaluation method, five cycle options and seven low GWP refrigerants are evaluated for air conditioning applications.

Investigations of life cycle climate performance and material life cycle assessment of packaged air conditioners for residential application

A comprehensive investigation for life cycle climate performance (LCCP) and material life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed under various influencing factors for the packaged conditioners. The whole carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq.) emissions during an air conditioner’s lifetime are evaluated from the LCCP aspect. Results indicate that the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) rating has a large influence on the emission variation, 13 SEER R410A has approximately a +3% CO2-eq. emission increase when compared with the 13 SEER R22 in the area of Richmond, which is mainly caused by the direct emission of annual leakage of high GWP R410A. The efficient 14 SEER R410A unit depicts a 9% reduction. In general, as the climate is varied from cold to hot, the emissions are increased. Among the emission contributors, the energy consumption accounts for more than 70% of the total emissions, followed by annual refrigerant leakage. Parameter analysis reveals that the refrigerant recovery rate has a larger effect on the LCCP results than the cycle degradation coefficient, especially in the cold areas. In addition, the two capacity air conditioner product has approximately a 13% emission reduction due to the better load matching. Material LCA investigation shows that, in general, most of the material phase environmental performance is decreased in 14 SEER air conditioners. This is because the addition of aluminum from employing of the micro-channel heat exchanger. For a sustainable future, minimizing material use and CO2-eq. emissions and maximizing energy efficiency should have been considered in its entirety.

A comparative study on the environmental impact of supermarket refrigeration systems using low GWP refrigerants

Supermarket refrigeration systems have high environmental impact due to their large refrigerant charge and high leak rates. Consequently, the interest in using low GWP refrigerants such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and new refrigerant blends is increasing. In this paper, an open-source Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP) framework is presented and used to compare the environmental impact of four supermarket refrigeration systems: a transcritical CO2 booster system, a cascade CO2/N-40 system, a combined secondary circuit with central DX N-40/L-40 system, and a baseline multiplex direct expansion system utilizing R-404A and N-40. The study is performed for different climates within the USA using EnergyPlus to simulate the systems' hourly performance. Further analyses are presented such as parametric, sensitivity, and uncertainty analyses to study the impact of different system parameters on the LCCP.

The Role of Environmental Metrics (GWP, TEWI, LCCP) in the Selection Of Low GWP Refrigerant

Based on increasing contribution of refrigeration systems to climate change it is necessary to use environmentally friendly refrigerants to mitigate the global warming. Different environmental metrics are used to facilitate decision-making process of selection of refrigerant with low global warming potential. Three conventional environmental metrics - global warming potential (GWP), total equivalent warming impact (TEWI) and life cycle climate performance (LCCP)–are used in this study as tools to select the most environmentally friendly refrigerant for 30kW air/water heat pump system. The uncertainties in use of all these environmental metrics are discussed. The study concludes with the selection of the refrigerant and discusses the suggestions to facilitate further studies on selection of the low GWP refrigerant with low contribution to global warming.

LCCP Evaluation on Environmental Impact of Air-Conditioning Cold and Heat Source

Several indexes for evaluating the global warming impact, including GWP (global warming potential), TEWI (total equivalent warming impact) and LCCP (life cycle climate performance), are analyzed and investigated from the concept, contents, difference and correlation among them. LCCP is a rigorous method to calculate the cradle-to-grave warming impact of different refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The LCCP index was therein used to analyze overall greenhouse effect of three air conditioning cold and heat source plans for a public building. The results show that the total amount of equivalent CO2 emission from air conditioning heat and cold sources is up to 50,000 tons throughout the life cycle. Indirect global warming impact dominated the LCCP values of cold and heat source systems, which accounts for >96% of overall impact and caused by energy consumption both for producing refrigerant and operating refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. Therefore, increasing the energy efficiency of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment to reduce indirect global warming impact is the key to lowering A/C’ total impact on climate change. The LCCP of water source heat pump is always lower than that of conventional electric water chillers plus gas direct-fired unit, and its carbon emission reduction rates up to 32.4% as compared to the latter. So the overall impact from air conditioning cold and heat source could be effectively reduced through using renewable energy technology.

Measures against global warming and assessments of environmental impact for fluorinated carbon materials

Global warming countermeasures have been evaluated using the global warming potential (GWP). However, since GWP shows only one aspect of global warming, the alternative indicator, carbon dioxide equivalent warming number (CEWN), which is based on the removal rate of each greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, is explained here. The latest CEWN values are shown, and the life cycle climate performance results of car air-conditioning, recovery and recycling of R-22 refrigerant and semiconductor cleaning process, where fluorinated carbon compounds are used, are evaluated with those CEWN values. The results reveal that fluorinated carbon compounds are beneficial in coping with global warming. In addition, carbon resources are also evaluated with new concept, and consequently it is shown that fluorinated carbon compounds are beneficial in conserving carbon resources.

Green‐MAC‐LCCP©: Life‐cycle climate performance metric for mobile air conditioning technology choice

AbstractMost refrigerants used today are potent chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), greenhouse gases (GHG) that can contribute significantly to anthropogenic climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion. In a business‐as‐usual scenario, HFC emissions in 2050 have been predicted to be equivalent to 9–19% (CO2‐eq. basis) of projected global CO2 emissions. This percentage increases to 28–45% if projected CO2 emissions result in a 450‐ppm CO2 stabilization scenario. Half of current direct HFC emissions are from mobile air conditioning (MAC) and alternative refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) should have higher energy efficiency. The European f‐Gas Directive phases out the use of refrigerants with GWP > 150, including HFC‐134a (GWP = 1430) from MACs by 2017. Life‐Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP) identifies environmentally superior technology to minimize GHG emissions from refrigeration and air conditioning applications. The comprehensive LCCP model, GREEN‐MAC‐LCCP© focuses on the current choice among alternative refrigerants that meet the f‐Gas requirement starting in 2011. Using GREEN‐MAC‐LCCP© we estimate that the current MAC technology based on HFC‐134a refrigerant demands additional fuel during vehicle A/C operation in the: USA by 7%, in the EU by 7%, in Japan by 9%, in India by 15–20%, and in China by 7–10% depending on the humidity. We compare these data with the projected LCCP CO2‐eq. savings by the year 2017 when HFC‐134a will be replaced by a low GWP alternative (GWP < 150) according to the f‐Gas rule. We find that refrigerant HFO‐1234yf has the potential to reduce global LCCP CO2‐eq. greenhouse gas emissions by about 7% in 2017, whereas greenhouse gas emissions from air conditioning systems using R‐744 (carbon dioxide) refrigerants are estimated to be about 2% greater, compared to the current HFC‐134a MAC baseline systems. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2011

Measures against global warming and assessments of environmental impact for fluorinated carbon materials

Global warming countermeasures have been evaluated using the global warming potential (GWP). However, since GWP shows only one aspect of global warming, the alternative indicator, carbon dioxide equivalent warming number (CEWN), which is based on the removal rate of each greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, is explained here. The latest CEWN values are shown, and the life cycle climate performance results of car air-conditioning, recovery and recycling of R-22 refrigerant and semiconductor cleaning process, where fluorinated carbon compounds are used, are evaluated with those CEWN values. The results reveal that fluorinated carbon compounds are beneficial in coping with global warming. In addition, carbon resources are also evaluated with new concept, and consequently it is shown that fluorinated carbon compounds are beneficial in conserving carbon resources.

EWEA offshore wind conference reveals key actions

Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP) is a widely accepted metric to evaluate the carbon footprint of air conditioning (AC) systems “from cradle to grave.” This paper: (1) reviews the invention and evolution of LCCP, including a comprehensive timeline and bibliography; (2) documents the successful application of LCCP in the replacement of HFC-410A with HFC-32 in room air conditioners; (3) compares the conceptual frameworks and the operational approaches; and 4) reflects on the drawbacks of current LCCP research and points out possible future work.The major policy-relevant findings are: 1. The indirect emissions caused by energy consumption is 70 to 80 percent of the LCCP of AC systems in most countries but will decline in importance as electric power supply shifts rapidly from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources, which have near-zero carbon intensity; 2. The embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in refrigerant manufacture are, in most cases, negligible but the physical and chemical properties are crucial for system optimization for low carbon footprint; 3. The LCCP metric can be used for multiple purposes such as refrigerant selection and AC system architecture optimization; and 4. Data limitations in material manufacturing and the carbon intensity of electric power are the most significant challenges. Finally, this paper describes a variety of methods to fill in data gaps, including the correction factor method, the data-driven method, and the database searching method. The next-generation LCCP will be an enhanced evaluation process considering local climate, heat islands, and local power supply characteristics.

Comparison of R-290 and two HFC blends for walk-in refrigeration systems

To help provide a clear understanding of the relative performance potential of HFCs (R-404A and R-410A) as compared to R-290 for walk-in refrigeration systems representing direct expansion commercial refrigeration systems with small charge, an experimental evaluation of the three refrigerants was investigated. To compare the environmental impact of refrigerants over the entire life cycle of fluid and equipment, including power consumption, the life cycle climate performance (LCCP) of the three refrigerants were evaluated based on measured data. The estimated LCCPs at various emission rates indicate that the LCCP of R-290 is always lower than that of R-404A. The LCCP of R-410A is lower than that of R-290 as long as the annual emission is kept below 10%. It was concluded that R-410A has less or equivalent environmental impact as compared to R-290 when safety (toxicity and flammability), environmental impact (climate change), cost and performance (capacity and COP) are considered.

P.065 Closed sinuslifting for the endosseous implants

Reducing environmental impacts from the energy conversion systems has been an important research topic due to recent severe global climate changes. In residential buildings, the space heating and cooling are main energy consumers, which are mainly relying on a vapor compression cycle. In an effort to better understand the environmental impacts of these systems, life cycle climate performance (LCCP) evaluation method was developed, which considers the direct and indirect emissions of the system over the course of its lifetime from manufacturing to disposal. Based on the developed LCCP evaluation method, five cycle options and seven low GWP refrigerants are evaluated for air conditioning applications.

The effect of blowing agent choice on energy use and global warming impact of a refrigerator

A study, comparing the effect of blowing agent selection on energy consumption and the life cycle climate performance (LCCP) of a typical European refrigerator is discussed. Energy consumption of prototype European-style refrigerators made with a foam formulation with HFC-245fa as the blowing agent was measured and compared with energy consumption of the same model as currently produced (using a foam with a pentane blend for the blowing agent). Results were used in a LCCP study, considering both direct and indirect climate impacts due to blowing agent emissions and energy consumption in manufacturing processes and over the life cycle of the refrigerator. An assumption is made that the refrigerator is built and used in the European market.