Implementation of
Alternative Refrigerants in Japan- Safety assessment and legislation for
the use of A2L refrigerants Tetsuji Okada
The Japan Refrigeration andAir Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA)
18 July, 2016
Vienna, Austria© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

Who is JRAIA?
The Japan Refrigeration andAir conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA) Established in 1949.
 164 member companies including the associate members.
(as of 1st of June 2016) The business fields of the member companies are :- Air conditioning (residential, commercial, automotive)- Refrigeration (commercial, industrial, transport)- Ventilation- Chiller- Heat pump system (HP water heaters)- Refrigerants- Parts© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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0. Contents

1. Background
2. Requirements for the alternative refrigerants

3. Key Activities in Japan
4. Legislation in Japan
5. Consideration points for the risk assessment
6. Conclusion© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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1. Background

WHY A2L refrigerants NOW?
 In order to tackle the mitigation of global warming, there is a callfor alternative refrigerant with lower GWP than currently used in
non-A5 countries.
 However, most of the refrigerants proposed as the alternatives
are classified as lower flammability class (A2L).
 In Japan, the government, academic sectors and industry swiftly
cooperated together for the safe use of A2L refrigerants andgreater contribution to the mitigation of global warming as soon aspossible.
 Today, we would like to present the current status in Japan.
© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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2. Requirements for Alternative Refrigerants
Actions to phase down HFCs have been started
sector by sector in Japan by considering not only
environment performance but also safety, energy
efficiency and economic feasibility.
S+3E
Safety (precondition)

・Low Toxicity
・Low Risk of Flammability

EnvironmentPerformance・Ozone Depletion Potential =0
・Low Global Warming Potential

EnergyEfficiency

・Superior for LCCP* value
・Similar performance at high load cooling

EconomicFeasibility

・Reasonable Cost
・Acceptable level in Developing Countries

LCCP*：Life Cycle Climate Performance© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan: Basic Procedure for RA
START[A] Set the tolerance level of the risk ：probability of the accidents (ignition)
Consideradditional safetymeasures

Minimize the risk
Dispersing fan,
Ventilation,
Isolation valve,
Alarm

Estimate the risk
[B1] Estimate of the leakage probability[B2] Estimate of the probability of generatinga flammable area
[B3] Probability of the fire source

ＮoIs the risk within
the tolerance level?

Ｙescommercialization,market research

COMPLETION

Extract the flammability risks
including source of the fire andrefrigerants leakage
Clarify the difference ofintended-use and predictable
miss-usage- Set the product range for therisk assessment- Selection of the risk
assessment procedure andthe stage of the life-cycle

Decisive quality criteria:[A] > [B1] × [B2] × [B3]
→ guidelines・manuals→ standard , legislation© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan：Key Partners
Lower-flammable
refrigerants risk project(NEDO project)

IndustryGovernment
Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry（METI)Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Industry Association (JAMA)
Japan Refrigeration andAir Conditioning
Industry Association (JRAIA)[Aim]
1. Acquire base data

New Energy and Industrial TechnologyDevelopment Organization（NEDO)(flammability, ignition, gravity of the accident)

2. Review of risk assessment
3. Issue of the report

National Institute of advanced
industrial science and technology(AIST)Japan Society of Refrigerating and
Air conditioning Engineers (JSRAE)
Safety committee within JSRAE

Tokyo University
Kyushu University
Tokyo University of Science, Suwa

Academic sector© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan：Timescale
2011
MiniSplitSplit

2012

Residential

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Residential A/Cs with A2L have been in
the Japan market from 2014 onward

Commercial

VRF
ChillerOthers

Refrigeration equipment: Reporting Risk Assessment for more complicated large AC products andrefrigeration equipment will be concluded by the end of 2016.
 Implementation of safety measures for these products
will follow soon.
© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan：Base case [Mini-split]
Select the life-cycle-stage for risk assessment
Production
Stages forrisk assessment

Logistics
Installation

riskassessment
safetyUseServiceprobability

calculation(collateral)

Disposal© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan：Base case [Mini-split]
START

Basic procedure[A] Set the tolerance level of the risk ：probability of the accidents(ignition)

Estimate the risk
Minimize the risk

[B1] Estimate of the leakage probability[B2] Estimate of the probability of generatinga flammable area
[B3] Probability of the fire source

ＮoIs the risk withinthe tolerance level?

Decisive quality criteria:[A] > [B1] × [B2] × [B3]Yes
COMPLETION© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan：Base case [Mini-split][A] Set the tolerance level of the risks： probability of the serious accidents
 Acceptable number of fatal accident; Once (P) in the estimated periodamong the number of product units within each life-stage period Fatal accident means “ignition”.
 Number of product units (N) within each life-stage：
During use： 10 million units ｘ 10 years (product life )During storage / transport / maintenance / disposal：
10 million units ｘ１year
 Estimated time period (T)：
100 years ：mini-split , VRF (estimate by the use without maintenance)
 Tolerance level of the risk： (= P / (N x T) )During use： 10－１０ units /year
During storage / transport / maintenance / disposal ：10－９ units /year© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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4. Key Activities in Japan：Base case [Mini-split][B1] Estimate of the leakage probability Rapid leakage probability in Japan market : 0.023％
Calculation of leakage probability for HVAC servicing companies (JRAIAmember) is averaged by market shares of each company.

[B2] Estimate of the probability of generating a flammable area
 Leak rate and amount from the equipment :Entire charged refrigerants in 4 min.
(refer to IEC60335-2-40)
 Assumed room size and equipment :Set severe condition with small room
- Leak space： floor area 7m２ ｘ height 2.4m
- Wall mounted AC 1.8m above the floor
 Formula :Flammablearea

Generated volume of flammable area x Duration
Probability of generating＝ ────────────────────────────────
a flammable area
Space-volume x Total time

© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan：Base case [Mini-split][B3] Probability of the ignition source Evaluation of the ignition sources
Test result : Refrigerants did not ignite by tobacco or gas lighters, butignited with open mild flame by candles and matches.
 Probability of the ignition source
Probability was estimated from statistic data of gas fire accidents,
the number of residences and residential floor areas in Japan.

© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Key Activities in Japan：Base case [Mini-split]
Test result of the Risk Assessment
Safety criteria (Use) Ignition probability ≒ 10-10 , (Others) Ignition probability ≒ 10-9Life stage

Ignition probability( R32 (A2L))

Logistic

4.1×10-17

Installation

2.7×10-10

Use (Indoor)

3.9×10-15

Use (Outdoor)

1.5×10-10Service

3.2×10-10

Disposal

3.6×10-11

 After safety criteria was determined,risk assessment over the total life
cycle was conducted.
 If the risk level exceeds the safety
criteria, additional safety measures
must be taken to satisfy the criteria.
They are to be applied to the safety
manual and guideline. Required
practices should follow depending on
the necessity.

In this risk assessment, wall mounted ACs were proven to be within thetolerance level for ignition possibility, even without additional safety measures
The details of activities and the progress reports are available in the following website:
http://www.jsrae.or.jp/jsrae/committee/binensei/risk_eng.html
Source: JSRAE© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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4. Legislation in Japan：Measures and Act
The equipment over the tolerance level of risk (Decisive quality criteria)must adapt safety measures below ;ⅰ Design to prevent pooling : Dispersing fan, Ventilation, Isolation valve
to minimize flammable area

ⅱ Set detector / alarm“High pressure gas safety act” covers flammability as well as toxicity.
Currently the revision of classification in this act is under consideration
by adapting the safety measures stated above. In addition tointernational standards such as ISO5149 and IEC60335-2-40, Japan isconsidering to add the safety obligation set for each equipment toprevent the fire during gas leak by adapting two JRA standards below ; JRA GL-20 ： JRAIA guideline
 JRA 4068 ：JRAIA standard© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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4. Legislation in Japan ：Revision of Classification
1. What is “High Pressure Gas Safety Act” ?
This act is the regulation for high pressure gas, but covers toxicity and flammabilityof the refrigerants, and applies to HVAC equipment of the size above certain
refrigerant volume.
2. Step toward revision of classification for A2L refrigerants(legislations to assure safety）
RiskAssessment

JRA standard& guideline

3. Review System
1) Risk Assessment

Legal action
HighPressure Gas
Safety Act
reference
Revision ofclassification

Building Act
Fire Service Act

Market launch
Including
product andinstallation, etc.

2) Revision of classification⇒ collaboration of government , academic sectors and industry© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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4. Legislation in Japan ：Comparison

Global Legislation/ Act for flammable refrigerants(mainly for the refrigerants with lower flammability)
U.S.

EuropeJapan

Legislation/Act

Clean Air Act
SNAP

F−Gas Regulation,
Act

Act on Rational Use and Proper
Management of Fluorocarbons
High pressure gas safety act

Nationallegislation

Building Code
IMC, UMC, etc.

Building CodeHigh pressure gas safety act

Internationalstandards
Standard /regulations

ISO817（refrigerant classification）

ASHRAE34

Relevant standards
based on ISO

High pressure gas safety act

ASHRAE15
UL60335-2-40
UL484, etc.

EN378
EN60335-2-40

High pressure gas safety act
JIS C9335-2-40
JRA standards, etc.

(define ref types)

Standard /regulations(safety)

ISO5149（safety）© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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4. Legislation in Japan ：Target GWPs
Act on Rational Use and Proper Management of
Fluorocarbons sets target GWP and its schedule (plan) for
each designated product
Designated ProductTarget GWP（Weighted Average GWP）

Target year

Room air conditioning (Mini-Split)

750

2018

Commercial air conditioning (Split)

750

2020

Mobile air conditioning

150

2023

Condensing unit andrefrigerating unit

1500

2025

Cold storage warehouses

100

2019

Urethane foam

1002020

Dust blowers

102019© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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4. Legislation in Japan : Phasedown(Unit: 10,000 CO2 ton)
Reduced volume of new-use by product transition(in 10 thousand ton)
Reduced volume of maintenance-use by producttransition
Reduced volume of maintenance-use by inspection

BAU shipment equivalent
Estimate of the use of F-gas

Estimate volume for maintenance-use
Estimate volume for the new shipment

approx. 40%
decrease

Estimate use in2020:approx.
43 millionCO2 ton

approx. 52%
decrease

Estimate use in2025: approx.
36 million
CO2 ton© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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5. Consideration Points : for Other Countries
In case of other countries to adapt similar risk assessment, the factors
below should be taken into account;[A] Set the tolerance level matching each country:⇒ the minimum tolerance level is stated as 10-8 in ISO/IEC guide 51
In Japan, strict tolerance level was adopted considering the probability ofserious accident[B1] Set leakage probability matching each country:⇒Skill level of installers and product qualities may have the affect on refrigerantleaks.
[B2] Set the estimate of the probability of occurrence of flammable area
matching each country:⇒ In HAT (High Ambient Temperature) area, due to the equipment size(= refrigerants volume) to match the load, the risk may be higher[B3] Set probability of the fire source matching each country:⇒ Probability should be estimated based on the research data of gas fire
accidents, number of residences, and residential floor area data of eachcountry.
© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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5. Consideration Points : A2L and A3
Note that refrigerants’ ignition probability changes by its flammability.
When compared with A2L, A3 has extremely high ignition probability
at the preliminary discussion. JRAIA starts the risk assessment for
A3 refrigerants.
Ignition probabilityLife Stage

R32 (A2L)(ref. Propane (A3))

Logistic

4.1×10-17

1.9×10-8 ~ 5.0×10-6

Installation

2.7×10-10

1.5×10-5 ~ 1.7×10-5

Use (Indoor)

3.9×10-15

5.9×10-9 ~ 1.1×10-4Use (Outdoor)

1.5×10-10

9.7×10-13 ~ 1.9×10-8

Service

3.2×10-10

9.3×10-6 ~ 1.7×10-5

Disposal

3.6×10-11

1.8×10-5 ~ 1.3×10-4© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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6. Conclusion
 In Japan, the conversion to A2L refrigerants started in the small
sized ACs, with careful examination for its safety (sold over sevenmillion units in 2015).
 The selection of alternative refrigerants must be made carefullyby considering 「S＋3E (Safety+ Environment performance,Energy efficiency, Economic feasibility)」 Countries that are in the process of selecting alternativerefrigerants should assess the risks of the candidates. We
believe that the result done by Japan can help develop the wayfor the safe use of alternatives.
 Guideline, manuals and legislations in each country must beplaced to take safety measures matching the risk levels toprevent accident and to encourage the use of A2L refrigerants.

© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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Thank you for your kind attention.

11More Information！！
http://www.jsrae.or.jp/jsrae/committee/
binensei/risk_eng.html

http://www.jraia.or.jp/english/symposium/index.html© 2016 JRAIA The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

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