Recent worldwide efforts to step up climate protection have heightened people’s interest in natural refrigerants, which have been used successfully in refrigeration technology for over 100 years. In the 1950s and 60s, they were displaced in new plants by synthetic refrigerants, touted by the chemical industry as so-called safety refrigerants. Since that time, numerous regulations were passed that unjustifiably restricted competition.
However, thanks to technological innovations and their effectiveness, natural refrigerants have nevertheless become established as an efficient, safe solution for use in a wide range of industries. The most economically relevant among them are ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons – ammonia being acknowledged as the most efficient refrigerant of them all.
Natural refrigerants neither deplete the ozone layer (Ozone Depletion Potential, ODP) nor have a global warming potential (GWP) – like ammonia – or only a negligible GWP. Using natural refrigerants is not only eco-friendly, but also worthwhile from an economic standpoint: The refrigerants themselves are inexpensive and available in vast quantities. Furthermore, they have a positive effect on operating costs due to their great efficiency. Add to that the inexpensive disposal of natural refrigerants once a plant has reached the end of its life – you get a product that is beyond comparison.