Frequency and Detrimental Effects of Refrigerant Leakage inApartment Complexes

Aaron Waldorf and Eric KightleyDepartment of Evolution and Ecology, the Ohio State University, Columbus OH1 June, 2007

Abstract

Current research in the field of aerobiology suggests that the release of chlorofluorocarbons(CFC’s) into the earth’s atmosphere results in free-radical oxidation of ozone. Alternativerefrigerants (eg. HFC-134a) are non-oxidizing, but contribute to the greenhouse effect. Theglobal contribution to climate change of these coolants will match that of motorized vehicles by2050. In this review we summarize one mechanism by which these pollutants escape into thestratosphere; through common air conditioning units. Leakage during servicing, filling, and useallow for these compounds to escape into the atmosphere. We show that, under certaincircumstances, the personal use of air conditioning within an apartment unit is individually anddirectly contributing to the release of these harmful gases,

relative to the use of the unit

, and thusis environmentally unsustainable. Preliminary data suggest that these circumstances are presentfor a specific apartment complex – namely, the one we live in.

Introduction

Almost all of what we would like to describe as consumer culture has occurred within the lastone hundred years in the United States. Starting with the creation of middle class wealth, thedesire for consumer products has grown without limit and now defines our very lives. Of thesecreature comforts, many of them contribute to an overall greater problem of globalenvironmental alteration. Whether through emissions, pollution, mining, logging, or over hunting, these products have created a negative impact on our planet’s biosphere. Whenfocusing on the condition of the earth’s atmosphere, several culprits come up as vandals of theair. In light of the current attention given to climate change, a discussion of a potentialcontributor to this phenomenon is pertinent. We all know the common ones – cars, coal plants,large grazing fields – but what about air conditioning? Ever since its invention in the 1930s

, a/chas been keeping people cool in areas where mugginess was the norm. It wasn’t long; however,until we realized that all the comfort we were experiencing was coming at quite a detriment toecological health. Since then, we have tried a variety of refrigerant methods so that we mighthave our cake and eat it too, but so far this has proven elusive. This has not slowed our usage of air conditioning, however.

Detrimental Effects of Air Conditioning

Common refrigerant usage in the United States employs compounds called chlorofluorocarbons,or CFCs. These compounds consist of at least one carbon, fluorine, and chlorine atom, but oftentimes more of each. Used in both refrigeration and air conditioning, they comprise the majorityof coolants used in the world. In 1973, and expedition by Lovelock into the earth’s polesrevealed that CFCs were collecting in the atmosphere, most prominently in those locations

.Later, scientists Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina confirmed that the presence of these gaseous

was harming the ozone layer. The long-lived compound oxidizes ozone in the atmosphere,hindering its ability to block harmful ultraviolet radiation. Said radiation causes mutations inorganic material, leading to skin cancer in humans. Banning of CFCs began in 1975 in Oregon,and while it is now permanently banned in aerosol cans, it is still allowed to be used inrefrigeration and air conditioning. The Montreal Protocol of 1987, a treaty between severalnations including the U.S., banned the production of CFCs as of 2000 in developed countries,and 2010 in developing ones

. This does not prevent the continued use of CFCs, which can berecycled, but rather ends only their production.Meanwhile, other less harmful alternatives for air conditioning have been sought. By the 1940s,hydrochloroflourocarbons (HCFCs) were already being used

.HCFCs break down much faster than CFCs, preventing a larger percentage of them from entering the earth’s atmosphere. This produced a false sense of security however, as increased use of HCFCs only chlorinated theatmosphere further. Finally, in the early nineties a chlorine free refrigerant calledhydroflourocarbon (HFC) was developed, which claimed to be completely environmentallyharmless. Seen as a breakthrough, the compound HFC-134a quickly replaced the still commonCFC-22 in automotive air conditioners, which tend to leak the most of any system

.The jubilation proved short however, as studies soon found HFCs are greenhouse gases, witheffects similar to that of carbon dioxide

. Since then, continuous surveys have been taken on theamount of these gases that are entering the atmosphere, and their potential for greenhouse effect.Table 1 shows a presence and increase of greenhouse gases in all refrigerants, including HFCs,from 1988 to 1995

.Currently, there is little doubt as to the harmful effects of the release of these refrigerants into the atmosphere, but the question still remains: How did they get there?

Table 1

Chloroflourocarbonscommonly used inair conditioning100 Year GlobalWarming Potential(1,000 metrictons)Estimated U.S. Emissions of Halocarbons and misc Green House Gases, by year (1,000 metric tons)1988198919901991199219931994p1995CFC-126,650110114112108102997166HCFC-221,3507476828286899191HFC-134a1,3000011361016

Estimated U.S. Emissions of Halocarbons andmisc Green House Gases

020406080100120

1 9 8 8 1 9 8 9 1 9 9 0 1 9 9 1 1 9 9 2 1 9 9 3 1 9 9 4 p 1 9 9 5

Year

1 , 0 0 0 m e t r i c t o n s

CFC-12HCFC-22HFC-134a

Figure 1

p1995 is predicted values for 1995 (the data is from 1994)

Refrigerant Use and Leakage in Air Conditioning

Air conditioning systems are all very similar inhow they operate. The basic system consists of anevaporator, a condenser, a compressor, and anexpansion valve

. The air is cooled bytransferring heat from the inside, via theevaporator, to the outside, in the condenser. Bothevaporation and condensation are common physical reactions, but it is the thermodynamiccomponent that makes them valuable in coolingoff. Think about how our bodies sweat when we heat up. The evaporation of the water is anendothermic process, i.e. it takes heat work. Thus, the heat from your body is transferred to thewater as it evaporates. In a similar fashion, the evaporator in your housing unit takes heat byevaporating Freon (a common name for fluorocarbons) in tubes and passing air over them. Thetubes, cooled by the evaporation of the Freon, cool down the air and thus your living space.Meanwhile, this warmed up gas exits the unit and enters a compressor, located outside. Thecompressor compresses the gas, making it very hot, and sends it through a condenser. As the gascondenses through these series of tubes, it turns back into a liquid and thus cools, passingthrough an expansion valve back into the interior of the complex, as shown in Figure 3.This process of Freon transfer onlyoccurs while the air conditioning unit ison. While idle,Freon remains in anon-pressurized phase within the pipes. Yet, in bothof these operationsthe Freon gas canleak into the air.According toMcCulloch et al, themajority of air conditioning unitsare nothermetically sealed

. This means that they are not airtight, and are frequently subject to leaks.Figure 2 shows a graph of estimated leakage rates over a twenty year period. The white bars areleakage rates of short term systems, like our air conditioners. When compared to thehermetically sealed unites represented by the black bars, they appear to leak far more, however both exhibit similar leakage rates by the 20

year. Average refrigerant life in air conditioningunits with these leakage rates is estimate at four to five years

Figure 1

Cumulative emission function for CFC-22 or HFC-134a from refrigeration; open bars represent emissions from commercial air conditioning units and refrigeration systems,while dark bars represent emissions from hermetically sealed systems.