Ready for the future: BITZER training courses

For decades, BITZER has been optimising compressor development with a focus on refrigerants with low global warming potential (GWP) and has now created a new training course that addresses this topic. During the one-day training course, BITZER experts explain key details of the F-gas Regulation, compare refrigerants based on their specific characteristics, and show how planners and technicians can choose these for a future-proof solution. Following the theoretical part, participants work in small groups on existing systems and learn how to convert refrigeration systems from R404A to eco-friendly refrigerants such as R448A and R449A.

‘Systems planned today have to conform with the stringent regulations of tomorrow,’ explains Volker Stamer, director of the SCHAUFLER Academy. ‘At the same time, you also need to ensure the operation and service of existing systems.’ It’s not only the rapid increase in the price of refrigerants with high GWP that reveals just how important the topic is, but also a lack of availability resulting from the quota regulation. There’s increased economic pressure on system operators, planners and technicians to search for new solutions.

‘But additional knowledge is required to convert and operate systems, as the new refrigerants often have unique thermodynamic characteristics and, in some cases, demand more stringent safety precautions. At the SCHAUFLER Academy, we show technicians and planners what the alternatives to R404A are and how to convert existing systems – so that in the future refrigeration systems will not only be safe, but also reliable, efficient and eco-friendly.’

Dramatic effects this year

The EU’s F-gas Regulation has serious implications for the industry, drastically reducing the volume of F-gases that can be used this year. Calculated using CO₂ equivalents (based on GWP and amount of refrigerant), the quota sinks to just 63 per cent of average consumption for the years 2009 to 2012. If you take into account those devices imported from outside the EU and filled with refrigerant, this means an actual reduction of around 44 per cent. The use of F-gases has to be reduced gradually by 79 per cent by 2030. ‘A reduction of this magnitude is only possible with low-GWP refrigerants. The SCHAUFLER Academy is one of the few training centres which teach specialists who have to overcome these challenges on a daily basis,’ says Stamer. ‘BITZER not only supports its partners with modern compressors, but also with practical training courses.’