AHRI Initiates Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerant Education Campaign

　　The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) began researching alternative refrigerants in 2011. AHRI’s Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerants Evaluation Program was implemented in two phases with the support of manufacturers, suppliers, and testing labs. In the first phase, sixty-nine test reports were produced over a four-year testing period, which evolved into a second phase of research on flammable refrigerants, jointly funded at $5.6 million by AHRI, ASHRAE, the California Air Resources Board, and DOE.

　　美国空调供暖和制冷工业协会（AHRI）于2011年启动了一项替代制冷剂的研究计划。此“低GWP替代制冷剂测评计划”（AHRI Low-GWP AREP）在制造商、供应商和实验室的共同参与和支持下，完成了两个阶段的分步实施。第一阶段是为期四年的测试期，期间完成制冷剂测试并产生69份测试报告；第二阶段为研究阶段，是以第一阶段测试数据为基础的可燃制冷剂研究，由美国空调供暖和制冷工业协会（AHRI）、美国采暖制冷与空调工程师学会（ASHRAE）、加州空气资源局（CARB）以及美国能源部（DOE）共同出资560万美元支持完成。

　　AHRI’s research has determined that the low-GWP alternatives refrigerants best suited to meet the HFC phase down requirements have varying degrees of flammability. As such, this month AHRI will begin a series of outreach efforts in California to educate members of the California Building Officials Association, California Fire Prevention Institute, as well as other fire protection associations and code officials about the results of the research so that building codes can be changed to allow the safe use of these refrigerants. These events follow on the Flammable Refrigerant Research and Planning Conference, hosted late last year by AHRI’s research arm, the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Technology Institute (AHRTI). More than 120 attendees from manufacturing sector, codes and standards committees and working groups, national laboratories, non-profit organizations, and government agencies attended to learn about the results from the AHRI-led collaborative flammable refrigerant research. Sixteen presentations from AHRTI and other collaborative organizations covered a range of key issues related to the safe use of flammable refrigerants, including relevant regulations, codes and standards, whole room scale and component testing, as well as technician and first responder training.

　　根据AHRI的研究结果，能够最大程度降低HFC气候变暖潜能值的低GWP替代制冷剂具有不同程度的可燃性。 针对于此，AHRI计划于本月在加利福尼亚州启动一系列相关培训活动，为加州建筑从业协会、加州消防研究所和其他消防协会的成员，以及法规执行官员等提供研究结果的相关培训，提出针对此类制冷剂的安全使用方面的建筑规范修改意见。 这一系列的活动是对去年“可燃制冷剂研究和规划会议”的后续延伸。该会议由AHRI下属研究机构--美国空调供暖和制冷技术研究所（AHRTI）于去年年底主办举行，有分别来自制造厂商、法规和标准委员会及工作小组、国家实验室、非营利组织以及相关政府机构的120多名与会者参与了此次会议，共同了解了由AHRI主导的可燃制冷剂联合研究成果。此次会议邀请了十六位来自AHRTI以及其他合作机构的演讲者，话题涵盖了可燃制冷剂安全使用的各个关键问题，包括相关法律法规和行业标准、测试环境和测试方法，以及技术人员和紧急救援人员培训等。

　　The standard revision and code adoption processes are relatively slow while the demand for these refrigerants is increasing. This is due in part to a lack of publicly available knowledge about the safe use of these refrigerants. Fortunately, AHRI’s research program is guided by a group of industry experts, many of which are in the relevant safety standards committees and working groups responsible for revising these standards. This group identified knowledge gaps on flammable refrigerants among 46 relevant safety committees, and initiated projects to better understand issues related to flammability risk, refrigerant charge quantity, refrigerant detector technologies, mitigation effectiveness, and equipment installation. AHRI then shared project reports with the standard communities and the public to substantiate changes to safety standards.

　　尽管安全制冷剂使用需求日益增加，但标准和法规修订过程相对缓慢，造成这一问题的原因之一是由于公众缺乏如何安全使用此类制冷剂的相关知识。因此，AHRI的此项研究计划是由一批行业专家指导实施，其中很多都是负责修订相关标准的安全标准委员会和工作小组成员。工作小组指出了46个相关安全委员会中关于可燃制冷剂的知识差距，启动了相关培训计划，以宣传可燃性风险、制冷剂充注量、制冷剂检测技术、减缓效果和设备安装等相关知识；并由AHRI向标准制定群体和公众发布项目报告，以证明安全标准变化的必要性。

　　The industry is taking a systematic and conservative approach to ensure safe use of flammable refrigerants with a great effort to understand any potential risks. Several whole room scale refrigerant leak and ignition tests were conducted for air conditioning and refrigeration products under the worst-case scenarios. Further residential experiments demonstrated that many household ignition sources, such as a burning cigarette, or sparks from common household appliances and tools, cannot ignite mildly flammable refrigerants.

　　整个行业正努力发掘潜在风险，以系统而保守的方式推进可燃制冷剂的安全应用。我们在最严重情况下，对空调和制冷剂进行了多次全室规模的制冷剂泄漏和点火试验。 进一步的住宅实验表明，多数的日常生活火源，如点燃的香烟或常见家用电器和工具的火花，无法使轻度可燃的制冷剂致燃。

　　AHRI is committed to helping the industry meet HFC phase down requirements and safely implement these low-GWP refrigerant alternatives. Our members have been committed to energy efficiency and the environment for decades – long before these regulations were in place – because they believe that consumers deserve products that are environmentally responsible, safe, and reliable.

　　AHRI的使命驱动我们不断推动行业内对于HFC的淘汰，逐步推进低GWP制冷剂替代品的安全应用。基于同样的使命，自相关法规还未出台前，AHRI会员企业几十年来一直注重高能效和绿色环保，致力于为用户提供环保、安全、可靠的产品。