Technology advancements enable us to import and export goods across the world through the use of four types of transportation: trucks, trains, planes, and ships. Each of them is equipped with refrigeration systems, which means they use compressors and refrigerants. You may be curious about what refrigerants are used in logistics these days. Find out about the current trends of refrigerants used in shipping and transportation in this episode.
In general, refrigerant applications are classified according to their pressure. Refrigerants used in water transportation, for example, uses low-pressure, whereas land transportation uses medium-pressure. High-pressure refrigerant is not widely used because rapid vibration during transportation demands a complicated design structure for vibration and high-pressure resistance pipes.
Since refrigerants are used differently in each country, to make a clear explanation, they will be sub-categorized according to the using stage. First is the stage of HFC phase which applies to some countries that are still using R134a as low-pressure refrigerants and R404A as medium-pressure refrigerants. Second is the stage of HFO phase, mainly regarding European countries that are complying to the EU F-gas legislation, as well as the US that is in a phasedown of HFC refrigerants. They use R513A and R1234yf as low-pressure refrigerants and R407H, R452A, R454A, and R454C as medium-pressure refrigerants. For many countries, they are in the transition period to stage two. In other words, the world is transitioning from HFC to HFO. The third stage is the transition to the hydrocarbon stage, where we use flammable but low-GWP refrigerants such as R1270 and R290. Carbon dioxide is also included in this stage, but it is not widely used due to its high pressure. However, this stage is still in the works. In the future, technology and time may bring about significant changes.
Now, we realize that HFCs has high GWP, and it is so contributive to the greenhouse effect that only a few amounts of it can make the rising of global temperature. SCI, as a compressor manufacturer and developer, continues in developing greener solutions for transportation and makes a move to use new and lower GWP refrigerants to help protecting our planet and creating a more sustainable future.
