The sale of water-cooled chillers that use refrigerants with a GWP of more than 15 are to be prohibited in Singapore under a new bill to reduce HFC emissions.
The Singapore government has introduced a range of mitigations measures to reduce HFC emissions in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector.
The measures are included in the Environmental Protection and Management (Amendment) Bill which was passed in parliament on 13 September, 2021.
From 1 October, 2022, household air conditioners that use refrigerants with a GWP of more than 750 and water cooled chiller that use refrigerants with a GWP of more than 15, will be banned.
“The ban would effectively phase out the sale of household air-conditioner models using the R410A refrigerant (GWP of 1,924), and refrigerator models using the R134a refrigerant (GWP of 1,300). In comparison, R32 (for air-conditioners) and R600a (for refrigerators) have GWPs of 677 and 3 respectively,” the bill said.
It also includes changes to training and certification for technicians pointing out that the improper handling of refrigerants can lead to HFC gases escaping into the atmosphere.
“To minimise HFC emissions, under the EPM (Amendment) Bill, servicing work that involves refrigerant handling and spent refrigerant recovery must be supervised or carried out by at least one certified technician,” the bill said.
“The requirement will initially apply to work carried out on water-cooled chillers where at least one certified technician must be present on site.”