The lifecycle of refrigerants: Leaks, lifespan and recovery

Refrigerants are integral to the working of commercial equipment such as heat pumps. But it’s not a case of just putting a refrigerant into your system and leaving it there forever.

Rather, you’ll typically lose 5-10% of your refrigerant every year due to leaks (according to industry figures).

Here, we’ll delve into the ins and outs of a refrigerant’s lifecycle – including refrigerant leaks, refrigerant recovery and the typical refrigerant lifespan. But first…

What role does a refrigerant play?

Refrigerants – also known as working fluids – define the performance of equipment such as refrigeration systems and heat pumps.

These fluids are compressed into liquids with very low boiling points.

When they absorb heat, they boil and turn into gas. Then, as they release this heat, they condense back into fluids.

This process is known as the vapour compression cycle and is what allows heat pumps to keep buildings warm, and refrigerators to stay cool.

The impact of refrigerants

There are several different kinds of refrigerant gases, which largely fall into two groups: chemical (synthetic) and natural.

While the refrigeration sector in the UK transitioned to natural refrigerants around 12 years ago, the heat pump sector still relies heavily on synthetic refrigerants.

Unfortunately, these manufactured chemicals, known as HFC and HFOs, are harmful F-gases that pose significant problems for the environment.

They have a high global warming potential (GWP) – often in the thousands. And they also release toxic ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS into the environment, which pollute groundwater, poison wildlife and can even endanger human health.

Not only is manufacturing these refrigerants a polluting activity, but the reality is that refrigerants commonly leak. Which brings us onto…

The lifecycle of refrigerants

So, what exactly does the lifecycle of a refrigerant look like? Here’s what you can usually expect.

Refrigerant manufacturing

First things first, the manufacturing of chemical refrigerants is a nasty process that’s polluting in itself.

The process will vary depending on which refrigerant is being made. But generally, it involves mixing together various chemicals to create reactions and produce the desired compounds.

HFOs are energy and resource-intensive.

According to the EIA, HFO-1234yf produces at least 13.5 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions per single kilogram of refrigerant produced. This means a system using 35 kg of refrigerant would have associated manufacturing emissions of at least half a tonne of CO2e.

In this way, chemical refrigerants are a problem before they even reach your heat pump.

In contrast, the natural refrigerant ammonia produces just 1 kg CO2e of emissions for every 1 kg manufactured and refrigerant grade CO2e produces 0.5 kg CO2e for every 1 kg manufactured.

Refrigerant leaks

The refrigerant isn’t supposed to leak out of your equipment, but the reality is that it does – even with the tightening standards for leak prevention set out in F-gas regulations.

When chemical refrigerants are released into the atmosphere they stay there for many years, trapping heat and accelerating global warming.

The problem is exacerbated by intentional or unintentional release by service people – and is especially relevant to commercial heat pumps where the systems are bigger and more complicated.

It’s also bad news for businesses that install a heat pump as part of a green initiative, as they have to add chemical refrigerant losses to their carbon footprint for the whole 20-year life of the heat pump.

Refrigerant recovery

Finally, at the end of your refrigerant’s life, you have to dispose of it. This isn’t straightforward when it comes to chemical refrigerants either!

You must get a technician with the right qualifications to recover F-gases from your equipment and use a registered waste carrier to send the recovered refrigerant to a licensed waste facility that accepts waste F-gas and ozone-depleting substances (ODS).

Here, the refrigerant will often be destroyed. However, you can also look into getting it reclaimed or recycled.

Recycling a refrigerant involves cleaning it for reuse in your own equipment, while reclaiming a refrigerant involves reprocessing it to the standard of virgin (unused) F-gas so that it can be used by a new owner.

How long does refrigerant last?

In a perfect system, your refrigerant could last forever.

Contrary to popular belief, refrigerant doesn’t ‘go bad’ or expire. Rather, in a well-maintained system, it could last for over 10 to 15 years – or even the full lifespan of your heat pump!

So, when does a refrigerant typically reach the end of its lifespan?

Well, when your refrigerant levels start to run low due to leaks!

Remember, you’ll lose on average around 5-10% of your refrigerant every year. And major leaks can lead to low refrigerant levels much sooner.

This can impact your heat pump’s performance and even lead to higher energy bills.

Some refrigerants can be recharged, which basically means replenishing your refrigerant levels after losses.

But a lot of chemical refrigerants are blends of gases with a critical proportion of each constituent.

These can’t be topped up without affecting the refrigerant balance, so they need to be replaced completely. Not only is this wasteful and potentially polluting, but it also costs more!

How natural refrigerants can help

Almost all of the problems we’ve touched upon in this article can be solved by turning to natural refrigerants instead of chemical ones.

Natural refrigerants, such as CO2 and propane, are widely available, non-toxic, low GWP and have an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of zero.

With that in mind, they won’t pollute the environment with harmful forever chemicals or contribute towards global warming.

At Clade, we use the natural refrigerants propane (R290) and CO2 (R744).

As pure refrigerant gases, they have the added benefit of not needing to be fully replaced after losses. Instead, levels can be topped up without affecting the refrigerant balance, reducing waste and saving you money.

They achieve all this without sacrificing performance or efficiency. In fact, when it comes to heat pumps, natural refrigerants actually achieve higher coefficient of performance (COP) at low ambients and higher flow temperatures than synthetic refrigerants – making them a no-brainer!

Get in touch with our team of experts here at Clade to learn how we can help your business with a natural refrigerant heat pump that meets your needs perfectly.