State of the art on the use of flammable refrigerant alternatives, in particular from class A3, in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment

This document provides the results of a comprehensive assessment of the state of the art on the use of flammable refrigerants, in particular from class A3.
Refrigerants from class B (toxic) are excluded from this scope.
The Technical Report  includes the following elements:
•   A segmentation of the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump market, making use of existing
        studies and research, including an assessment of safety-related barriers to the uptake of flammable
        refrigerants in particular from class A3 across all relevant applications;
•   An assessment of the way risk assessments are used in existing standards for refrigeration, air-
        conditioning and heat pump equipment and in other standards and a review of available risk
        assessment research to be taken into account including identification of potential needs for additional
        research;
•   Analysis of:
              o   the relationship between risk and increased charge;
              o   the acceptability of increased risk compared to the risk presented by other technologies;
              o   the options for additional mitigation methods if the risk increase is unacceptable.

Stand der Technik über die Verwendung von brennbaren Kältemitteln, insbesondere der Klasse A3, als Alternativen in Kälte-, Klima- und Wärmepumpenanlagen

État de l'art sur l'utilisation de fluides frigorigènes inflammables de substitution, en particulier de la classe A3, dans les équipements de réfrigération, de climatisation et de pompes à chaleur

Le présent document fournit les résultats d'une évaluation complète de l'état de l'art sur l'utilisation des fluides frigorigènes inflammables, en particulier de la classe A3.
Les fluides frigorigènes de la classe B (toxiques) sont exclus du présent domaine d'application.
Le présent document comprend les éléments suivants :
•   une segmentation du marché de la réfrigération, de la climatisation et des pompes à chaleur, en s'appuyant sur les études et recherches existantes, y compris une évaluation des obstacles liés à la sécurité pour l'adoption des fluides frigorigènes inflammables, en particulier ceux de la classe A3, dans toutes les applications pertinentes ;
•   une évaluation de la manière dont les appréciations du risque sont utilisées dans les normes existantes pour les équipements de réfrigération, de climatisation et de pompes à chaleur et dans d'autres normes, ainsi qu'un examen des recherches disponibles à prendre en compte en matière d'appréciation du risque, y compris l'identification de l'éventuelle nécessité de recherches supplémentaires ;
•   l'analyse de :
•   la relation entre le risque et l'augmentation de la charge ;
•   l'acceptabilité du risque accru par rapport au risque présenté par d'autres technologies ;
•   les options relatives aux méthodes d'atténuation supplémentaires si l'augmentation du risque est inacceptable ;
•   un examen des normes et des programmes de travail existants et l'identification des normes qu'il convient de mettre à jour dans le cadre des demandes de normalisation existantes ou futures, sur la base de la législation pertinente en matière de sécurité des produits, en particulier en ce qui concerne les capacités de charge admissibles des fluides frigorigènes inflammables, en tenant compte des technologies disponibles ainsi que des activités de recherche et développement émergentes ;
•   l'identification d'options pour les exigences fondées sur les performances qui résultent des appréciations du risque afin de permettre l'utilisation de toutes les substances inflammables ;
•   l'identification d'options permettant de réduire les risques au minimum et d'offrir une certaine flexibilité dans l'application des mesures d'atténuation.

Stanje tehnike na področju uporabe vnetljivih nadomestnih hladilnih sredstev, zlasti iz razreda A3, v opremi za hlajenje, klimatizacijo in toplotnih črpalkah

Ta dokument podaje rezultate celovite ocene stanja tehnike na področju uporabe vnetljivih hladilnih sredstev, zlasti tistih iz razreda A3.
Hladilna sredstva iz razreda B (strupena) so izključena iz področja uporabe tega dokumenta.
To tehnično poročilo vključuje naslednje postavke:
• segmentacijo trga hladilne opreme, klimatskih naprav in toplotnih črpalk z uporabo obstoječih
  študij in raziskav, vključno z oceno varnostnih ovir za vnos vnetljivih
  hladilnih sredstev, zlasti tistih iz razreda A3, v vse ustrezne vrste uporabe;
• oceno načina uporabe ocen tveganja v obstoječih standardih za hladilno opremo,
  klimatske naprave in toplotne črpalke ter v drugih standardih oziroma pregled razpoložljivih raziskav z oceno tveganja, ki jih je treba upoštevati, vključno z opredelitvijo morebitnih potreb po dodatnih
  raziskavah;
• analizo:
– razmerja med tveganjem in povečano obremenitvijo;
– sprejemljivosti povečanega tveganja v primerjavi s tveganjem, ki ga predstavljajo druge tehnologije;
– možnosti za dodatne metode ublažitve, če je povečanje tveganja nesprejemljivo.

General Information

Status
Published
Publication Date
08-May-2022
Technical Committee
Current Stage
6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
Start Date
04-May-2022
Due Date
09-Jul-2022
Completion Date
09-May-2022

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SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST-TP CEN/TR 17608:2022
01-junij-2022
Stanje tehnike na področju uporabe vnetljivih nadomestnih hladilnih sredstev,
zlasti iz razreda A3, v opremi za hlajenje, klimatizacijo in toplotnih črpalkah
State of the art on the use of flammable refrigerant alternatives, in particular from class
A3, in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment
Stand der Technik über die Verwendung von brennbaren Kältemitteln, insbesondere der
Klasse A3, als Alternativen in Kälte-, Klima- und Wärmepumpenanlagen
État de l'art sur l'utilisation de fluides frigorigènes inflammables de substitution, en
particulier de la classe A3, dans les équipements de réfrigération, de climatisation et de
pompes à chaleur
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TR 17608:2022
ICS:
71.100.45 Hladiva in antifrizi Refrigerants and antifreezes
SIST-TP CEN/TR 17608:2022 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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SIST-TP CEN/TR 17608:2022


CEN/TR 17608
TECHNICAL REPORT

RAPPORT TECHNIQUE

April 2022
TECHNISCHER BERICHT
ICS 71.100.45
English Version

State of the art on the use of flammable refrigerant
alternatives, in particular from class A3, in refrigeration,
air conditioning and heat pump equipment
État de l'art sur l'utilisation de fluides frigorigènes Stand der Technik über die Verwendung von
inflammables de substitution, en particulier de la brennbaren Kältemitteln, insbesondere der Klasse A3,
classe A3, dans les équipements de réfrigération, de als Alternativen in Kälte-, Klima- und
climatisation et de pompes à chaleur Wärmepumpenanlagen


This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 20 March 2022. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 182.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.





EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2022 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TR 17608:2022 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

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Contents Page
European foreword . 4
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Segmentation of the Industry Sector . 7
4.1 General. 7
4.2 Commercial applications . 7
4.2.1 Commercial Refrigeration . 7
4.2.2 Professional Refrigerated Products . 7
4.2.3 Commercial versus professional cabinets . 8
4.3 Industrial applications . 8
4.4 Chillers and heat pumps with water heat sink, indirect systems . 9
4.5 Air to air air conditioning and heat pumps . 9
4.6 Transport applications . 10
5 Current practice in the sector . 10
6 Design measures for flammable refrigerants . 12
6.1 General. 12
6.2 Design measures . 13
7 Assessment of the way risk analysis is used . 17
7.1 General. 17
7.2 Risk assessment techniques . 17
7.3 Risk acceptance criteria . 18
7.4 Assessment of the use of risk-analysis in existing standards . 19
7.5 Review of available risk assessment and potential additional research needs . 20
7.6 Analysis of relationship between risk and increased charge . 20
7.7 Acceptability of increased risk. 21
7.7.1 General. 21
7.7.2 Method of assessing risk in other applications . 22
7.8 Additional mitigation requirements . 23
7.8.1 General. 23
7.8.2 Options for additional mitigation requirements . 23
8 Relevant Legislation and Standards . 24
8.1 Relevant legislation. 24
8.2 European legislative framework . 25
8.3 Relevant standards . 25
8.3.1 General. 25
8.3.2 Risk assessment standards . 26
8.3.3 Safety standards . 27
8.3.4 Other standards . 27
8.4 Review of work programmes . 30
8.5 Identify standards that should be further developed or updated . 30
8.5.1 General. 30
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8.5.2 High priority . 31
8.5.3 Medium priority . 31
8.5.4 Low priority . 32
9 Assessment of safety-related barriers . 32
9.1 European Directives . 32
9.2 Competence of service personnel – EN13313 . 32
9.3 National and regional regulations . 33
9.4 EN 378 . 33
9.5 IEC 60335-2-40 . 34
9.6 IEC 60335-2-89 . 34
9.7 Transport refrigeration . 34
10 Options . 34
10.1 Options for additional mitigation requirements . 34
10.2 Options for performance based requirements . 38
10.3 Options for risk minimisation . 38
10.4 Options for installation, operation, service, and decommissioning . 38
10.4.1 Charge size limits . 38
10.4.2 Associated risk mitigation requirements . 38
10.4.3 Design of rooms . 39
10.4.4 Marking of installation . 39
10.4.5 Additional measures to ensure ongoing risk mitigation . 39
11 Recommendation . 39
Annex A (informative) Risk analysis. 41
Annex B (informative) Segmentation of the industry sector . 88
Annex C (informative) Assessment of safety-related barriers to adoption . 94
Annex D (informative) Design measures . 99
Annex E (informative) Relevant Standards and Legislation used in this sector . 101
Annex F (informative) Review of work programmes . 105
Annex G (informative) Assessment of the way risk analysis is used. 110
Annex H (informative) Transport refrigeration . 130
Annex I (informative) Calculations and assumptions for section G.6 - Air conditioning and
heat pumps . 143
Annex J (informative) AREA CLASSIFICATION . 153
Bibliography . 155

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European foreword
This document (CEN/TR 17608:2022) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 182
“Refrigerating systems, safety and environmental requirements”, the secretariat of which is held by
DIN.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
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Introduction
CEN and CENELEC implemented standardisation request M/555 - IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 14
November 2017 on a standardisation request to the European Committee for Standardisation and to
the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation as regards use of flammable refrigerants
in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment. CEN/TC 182 took the lead and established
a liaison with CENELEC/TC 61.
The two European Standardization Organizations CEN and CENELEC have responded positively to
standardisation request M/555 regarding use of flammable refrigerants in refrigeration, air
conditioning and heat pump equipment.
CEN/TC 182 and CENELEC/TC 61 were tasked to address the standardisation request. A new working
group (WG12) was set up under CEN/TC 182 with active participation of experts nominated by
CENELEC/TC 61.
The technical information was gathered by six ad hoc groups two of which were led by CENELEC/TC 61
experts. The ad hoc groups analysed the current status of risk assessment in general, commercial
refrigeration, transport refrigeration, industrial refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps, and
chillers. Each of the groups finalized their summary with conclusions about existing barriers and
recommendations for additional options.
The Technical Committee reviewed guidance for the risk assessment in general and for refrigeration
appliances in particular. This includes reviews of guidance and standards that apply for flammable
gases in general. Also, the risk assessment was reviewed of global organisations like the risk approach
of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation, Development and United Nations Development
Programme and United Nations Environment Programme.
The requirements of the Standardisation Request M/555 were reviewed carefully. Having reviewed the
documentation, the working group agree that, responding to the standardisation request, the following
deliverables were to be prepared:
1) A Technical Specification for the installation of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump
equipment containing flammable refrigerants, complementing existing standards.
2) A Technical Specification for the operation, servicing, maintenance, repair and
decommissioning of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment containing
flammable refrigerants, complementing existing standards.
The recommendations about transport refrigeration are beyond the standardisation request M/555.
CEN/TC 413 will develop of a specific EN standard dedicated to transport refrigeration risk assessment.

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1 Scope
This document provides the results of a comprehensive assessment of the state of the art on the use of
flammable refrigerants, in particular from class A3.
Refrigerants from class B (toxic) are excluded from this scope.
This document includes the following elements:
• A segmentation of the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump market, making use of existing
studies and research, including an assessment of safety-related barriers to the uptake of flammable
refrigerants in particular from class A3 across all relevant applications;
• An assessment of the way risk assessments is used in existing standards for refrigeration, air
conditioning and heat pump equipment and in other standards and a review of available risk
assessment research to be taken into account including identification of potential needs for
additional research;
• Analysis of:
• the relationship between risk and increased charge;
• the acceptability of increased risk compared to the risk presented by other technologies;
• the options for additional mitigation methods if the risk increase is unacceptable;
• Review of existing standards and work programmes and identification of standards that should be
further updated under existing or future standardisation requests based on relevant product safety
legislation, in particular with regard to allowable charge sizes of flammable refrigerants, taking into
account available technology as well as emerging research and development;
• Identification of options for performance based requirements that result from risk assessments to
enable the use of all flammable substances;
• Identification of options for risk minimisation and for offering flexibility in application of mitigation
measures.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
No terms and definitions are listed in this document.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
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4 Segmentation of the Industry Sector
4.1 General
The refrigeration industry produces a wide range of products and applications. Commercial and
professional refrigeration, industrial refrigeration, chillers and air conditioning, transport refrigeration,
and heat pumps were investigated. The main results are reflected in this clause. The complete result of
the review is provided in Annex B.
4.2 Commercial applications
4.2.1 Commercial Refrigeration
Commercial refrigerated cabinets are used for storage, display, production, or sales of foodstuff. Some
of these products are fixed and movable appliances.
Commercial refrigerated cabinets are cooled by a refrigerating system which enables chilled and frozen
foodstuffs placed therein for display to be maintained within prescribed temperature limits.
Commercial refrigerators and freezers cover a large variety of products; and they are used in diverse
environments such as supermarkets, grocery stores, service stations, restaurants, hotels, pubs, and
cafés. Commercial Service Cabinets are mainly horizontal refrigerated display cabinets which requires
that a person serve the customer with fresh-cut or packed foodstuffs; and the appliance have one or
more side facing the customer for display of fresh cut of food in a supermarket. As a sub-category some
of these cabinets are also available as Self Service version.
Commercial refrigeration equipment can take many forms and combinations:
• ‘self-contained (or plug-in or integral) appliance’ means a factory made assembly of refrigerating
components that are an integral part of the refrigerated equipment and consists of a storage space,
one or more refrigerant compressors, refrigerant evaporators, condensers and expansion devices,
eventually accompanied with additional heat exchangers, fans, motors and factory supplied
accessories;
• remote display cabinets work with a remote refrigerating unit which is not an integral part of the
display cabinet (e.g. condensing units, cooling packs);
• semi plug-in cabinets are cabinets with an integral condensing unit, where the heat is rejected with
a secondary water or brine loop;
• refrigerating system with secondary fluid (e.g. chillers).
4.2.2 Professional Refrigerated Products
Professional refrigeration equipment can take many forms and combinations, very similar to those for
commercial use. Professional service cabinets are designed for dispensing or storage, but not the sale, of
chilled and frozen foodstuff like professional storage cabinets, blast chillers, cold rooms, ice cream
makers, etc. A professional service cabinet is a refrigerated enclosure containing goods which are
accessible via one or more doors and/or drawers. The sizes of the products are typically based on the
standard tray and are used in a commercial environment. They are largely used in foodservice
establishments, such as restaurants, hotels, and cafeterias. A very small fraction of “professional”
service cabinets contain glass in their doors, drawers, or lids (as opposed to “commercial” service
cabinets that display food and hence frequently incorporate glass).
Blast cabinets use a blast of cold air to bring down the temperature of hot food rapidly so it can be
stored safely avoiding bacteria growth, and can be chilled or frozen. Blast cabinets are similar in
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construction to service cabinets. However, they rely on relatively larger refrigeration systems in
comparison to service cabinets, some even using up to two compressors per cabinet. Blast cabinets also
contain additional fans which blast cold air over food to cool it rapidly.
4.2.3 Commercial versus professional cabinets
Both commercial and professional cabinets rely on compression technology (more than 90%): i.e. all
components supporting the refrigeration cycle are included in the cabinet.
The main difference between commercial and professional is not related to installation environment,
but to the user: a “commercial” refrigerator is used by a customer (shopper), and will display products,
while a “professional” refrigerator is used by trained staff, and will store the products before use.
Frequently existing definitions refer to “commercial” service cabinets, when in fact “professional” use of
the products is done one side of the appliance, while the other side is for display or collection of product
from the shopper that could access a side of the appliance. Therefore, it is noted that terminology varies
for identical products.
4.3 Industrial applications
Industrial systems are characterized primarily by the size of the equipment, both physical size and heat
transfer capability, and the temperature range covered by the sector. In addition to Industrial
Refrigeration, this sector includes Industrial Heat Pumps (heating systems similar in scale and
application to Industrial Refrigeration systems) and Industrial Air Conditioning (systems for controlling
air temperature in production factories, computer centres and other process areas). Other sectors
mainly focus on comfort and food, the industrial sector also includes refrigerating systems for process
related activities, example temperature controls in in chemical processes.
Industrial Refrigeration systems are characterized by heat extraction rates in the range 100 kW to
10 MW, typically at evaporating temperatures from – 50 °C to + 20 °C. There is some overlap at the
lower end of the capacity scale with commercial refrigeration for shops, restaurants, and institutions.
Industrial systems in this sub-sector are characterized by the complexity of the design and the nature of
the installation. Systems at lower temperatures, typically down to – 120 °C, and in capacity ranges from
1 kW to 200 kW are a specialized sub-sector including laboratory equipment for pharmaceutical,
chemical, and medical applications and test stands for automotive, aerospace and space development
facilities. These ultra-low temperature systems are often also required to operate at high temperatures
up to + 250 °C to provide a complete temperature test cycle.
Industrial Heat Pump systems have heat delivery rates from 100 kW to over 100 MW, with the heat
source usually at ambient temperature or the waste heat temperature of an industrial process. These
systems are usually required to deliver higher temperatures than domestic or commercial heat pumps
used for space or water heating. Typical temperatures are in the range 60 °C to 90 °C, although if the
recovered heat is to be used for steam raising then it needs to be at least 120 °C. Heat recovered from
large industrial systems is usually transferred to water or a heat transfer fluid and used for process
heating or for supply to district heating systems.
Industrial Air Conditioning systems cannot be differentiated from commercial systems on size alone, as
many commercial office buildings have large cooling loads. In addition to size of installation the
distinguishing traits of Industrial Air Conditioning systems are that the cooling is not purely for human
comfort, the load is not primarily seasonal, and the operation of the facility would be jeopardized by
failure of the cooling equipment. Such systems are sometimes called “Mission Critical” and have special
design requirements, including the need for uninterrupted service, which are not typically provided by
traditional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning practices. In some cases, the mission-critical part of
a total cooling load may be supplied in conjunction with a comfort cooling system, configured so that, in
the event of partial failure of the system, the mission-critical cooling is maintained at the expense of the
comfort of the occupants of the rest of the building. Other Industrial Air Conditioning systems are
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primarily required to maintain acceptable processing conditions for equipment such as computer
servers in data centres.
4.4 Chillers and heat pumps with water heat sink, indirect systems
Chillers and heat pumps with water heat sink are used in domestic, commercial, professional, and
industrial applications. Chillers and heat pumps with water heat sink include units with a refrigerant to
water heat exchanger on the use side. Capacity range is from about 1 kW up to 2 000 kW.
The units are air to water heat pumps self-contained, water to water heat pumps self-contained, brine
to water heat pumps self-contained, air to water heat pumps split, chillers and domestic hot water heat
pumps.
The products are used in all market segments. The overall market is 800 000 units per year.
4.5 Air to air air conditioning and heat pumps
Domestic air conditioning products and domestic heat pumps are used in households and similar
locations for cooling and heating applying air conditioners and heat pumps. This application category
also includes similar applications like care homes, retirement homes and other facilities with nursing
services.
Air conditioners generally fall into several distinct categories, based primarily on capacity or
application: small self-contained air conditioners, such as window-mounted and through-the-wall air
conditioners; non-ducted split residential and commercial air conditioners; ducted, split residential air
conditioners; and ducted commercial split, multi-split including variable refrigerant flo
...

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