February, 2017, Vol.7

AHPNW
NEWSLETTERCONTENTS
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Hot Issues in 2016 from KOREA
Topic from Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency
Energy development Thirteen-Five-Year Plan of China
Latest Refrigerant-related Activities in Japan~ Risk Assessment of Mildly Flammable Refrigerants for Proper Utilization ~Relaxing Regulations, Japan Builds Momentum for Mildly Flammable Refrigerants~Report of the Kobe Symposium 2016~
Comments on Impact of HFC Phase-down from Global Association Leaders~JRAIA~
Current Market news in Japan
HPTCJ Starts Joint Project to Expand the Use of Heat Pumps

From Korea■Hot Issues in 2016 from KOREA
In 2016 there were some hot issues raisedin the heat pump industry of KOREA ; Air
source heat pump as renewable energy
application, the use of natural refrigerants,
and alternative refrigerants, Chiller using
low-GWP refrigerant, and so on forth.
Heat pump industry forum of KOREA, a
non-profit
organizationhas
beenestablished 2014 in order to support heatpump industry and encourage heat pumptechnology approved by the Ministry ofTrade, Industry and Energy, held an annual
seminar at BEXCO, Busan, 1st September
2016 to present hot issues in 2016.
This seminar has provided the hottest 5
topics in a heat pump industry of KOREA ;△ Air source heat pump can be recognized
as renewable energy application in Korea,
Dr. Jun Young CHOI, KTL△ Development of new refrigerant andglobal regulations of existing refrigerants,
Mr. Gichul YU, Honeywell Korea△ National and International trends of LowGWP refrigerants, Dr. Yook Joong KIM,
KIMM
△ Economic analysis and empirical resultsof air source hybrid heat pump forresidential application, Dr. Noma PARK, LG
Electronics△ CO2 heat pump technology and Case
Study, Mr. Seongcheol HAN, Dewar Korea△ Air source heat pump can be recognized
as renewable energy application
Dr. CHOI presented the status of new andrenewable energy application for air source
heat pump in major economies around theworld.
Germany, United Kingdom, France.

Sweden and the EU have recognizedgeothermal, hydrothermal, and air source
as renewable energy sources in 2009. EU
had set up a new and renewable energy
development
plan
for
heat
pump
applications and the guidelines for the
calculation of renewable energy using heatpump in 2013.
Japan established a multi-layered anddiversified energy supply and demand
structure as its basic plan and recognizes
utilization of thermal difference energy.
They has built a multilayered energy supply
structure that takes advantage of eachenergy source and complements its
weaknesses.
China plans to increase the share of nonfossil
energyinprimaryenergyconsumption to 15% by 2020 and form anenergy open-market and competitivemarket. Currently, local governments such
as Zhejiang Province, Fujian Province,
Handan City and Hebei Province haverecognized all heat sources including air
source as renewable energy. The central
government, which has recognized only
geothermal heat pump as renewableenergy application so far as, fulfilled a new
project "Research and analysis oftechnology for air source heat pump as new
and renewable energy application" toconsider air source heat pump as therecognition of new and renewable energy
application.
He said, "In Korea, it is urgent to recognize
various renewable energy sources such as
overseas major countries. To do so, it isnecessary to establish a reasonable
standard for COP and to develop a reliableverification method."△ Development of new refrigerant andglobal regulations of existing refrigerants
Mr. YU, Honeywell presented 'Global
Refrigerant Regulation Trends and New
Refrigerant Development Status' andintroducedchangesinrefrigerant
regulations and global refrigerant
regulations.
At present, the world is tightening
regulations on HFC with high GWP. In 2015
the US, EPA started to restrict the use of
HFCs in automobiles, air conditioners,
commercial refrigeration systems, blowing
agents and aerosols. In March 2016, they
expanded the limits to chillers andrefrigerators. Canada has banned HFCs for
specified sectors in 2016, and Europe istightening overall regulations for certain
sectors such as under GWP 2,500 by 2020and below GWP 150 by 2022.
Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Spain andother countries also pay indirect taxes to
HFC. Since 2016 Korea has been
regulating HFC as an incentive for
automotive air conditioning systems.

which consists of sub tasks such as
development of heat exchanger design
technology, the development of generalcycle analysis program, the evaluation andanalysis of candidate refrigerant and oil,and the development of heat exchanger forturbo refrigerator. The second task consistsof the development of 500RT class highefficient refrigerator with using low GWP
refrigerant, the development of high efficientturbo compressor, system integration andperformance
evaluation,
andthedevelopment of turbo refrigerator control
system.
△ Economic analysis and empirical resultsof air source hybrid heat pump forresidential application

In line with this trend, Honeywell has
developed new refrigerants that can replace
refrigerants used in various industrial
sectors. There are currently available
alternatives refrigerants ; R123 to HFO1233zd, R134a to R450A and R515A,
R410A to R452B and R447B. These
alternatives refrigerants provided lower
GWP than regulated, offering similar
efficacy to existing refrigerants.

Dr. PARK, LG Electronics presented‘Demonstration of monitoring and economic
analysis of air source hybrid heat pump forresidential application’, unifying the energy
source of the home with electricity, andusing all the high- efficiency heat pump toprovide space heating and hot water supply.
Based on this case, it raised the necessityof introducing electric energy housing in
Korea. In addition, the results of theeconomic analysis of the heat pump for
space heating and hot water supply in the
Korean type electric energy house wereobtained through an empirical test.

△ National and International trends of LowGWP refrigerants△ CO2 heat pump technology and Case
Study

Dr. KIM, KIMM presented 'National andInternational
trendsof
Low-GWP
refrigerants’ and introduced F-gas emission
status, refrigerant regulation plan and low
GWP refrigerant application in the world.

Mr. HAN, Dewar presented a new heatpump system using CO2 refrigerant
developed by Dewar, and introduced one
case study in Korea. Due to the growthtrend of the hot water heat pump market, it
is expected that the application range of CO
₂ heat pump capable of leaving hot water at
110 ℃ is also expected to expand. He said,"Companies will continue their efforts to
reduce energy costs, and it is expected thatthe market will expand using CO 2
refrigerants in accordance with the policy
benefits associated with the GHG

Particularly, he introduced the national
research project 'Development of originaltechnology for low-GWP (≤100) refrigerantsystem’, which has been fulfilled by KIMM
and consortium. There are two basic tasks,
the first task is the development of originaltechnology for low GWP refrigerant system,mitigation."(source: 2017/1/20, KHARN, “2016 Heat
Pump Industry Forum Seminar”,
BEXCO, Busan, )From Thailand■Topic from Department of
Alternative Energy Development andEfficiency
Department
of
Alternative
EnergyDevelopment and Efficiency (DEDE) grants
Matching Fund provides matching fund to
government hospital about $ 2.1 million for
one hospital. The aim of program is toimprove and/or change the existing
equipment, devices or material to higher
energyefficiency
equipmentthatsignificantly decrease energy consumption
in the hospitals. The proposed measures
should be focused in district cooling system,
variable speed water pump/ air handling
unit, smart control for air conditioning,
ventilation, and lighting system, energy
management, waste heat recovery from air
conditioning system and other energy
saving measures. The saving from themeasures must be returned within 7 years.
The proposal must be submitted to DEDE
until July 29, 2016. For more information,
see the DEDE Matching Fund website(source: 2016/12/29, DEDE, Thailand)From China■Energy development Thirteen-FiveYear Plan of China
In accordance with the requirements of theOutline of the Thirteen-Five-Year Plan, themain objectives of energy development in2020 are put forward, comprehensively
consider factors such as safety, resources,
environment, technology and economy.

- Total energy consumption. The totalenergy consumption will be controlled within
5 billion tons of standard coal, the total coalconsumption will be controlled within 4.1
billion
tons.
The
total
electricity
consumption is expected to
6.8 to 7.2 trillion kWh.
- Energy consumption structure. The
proportion of non-fossil energy consumption
will be increased to 15% or more, theproportion of natural gas consumption willreach 10%, the proportion of coalconsumption will be reduced to 58%. Coalfor power generation accounted for the
proportion of coal consumption will be
increased tomore than 55%.
- Energy environmental protection. Carbon
dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will bedecreased by 18% compared with 2015.
The environmental protection level of theenergy industry will be significantly
improved. The emission of pollutants fromcoal-fired power plants will be significantly
reduced, and the coal-fired generating units
with the transformation conditions willachieve ultra-low emissions.
(source : 2016/12/30,National Energy
Administration, China)

From Japan■Latest Refrigerant-related
Activities in Japan~ Risk Assessment of Mildly
Flammable Refrigerants for Proper
Utilization ~In the air conditioning and refrigeration(AC&R) industry, a shift from the existingtypes of refrigerants to next-generation
types of refrigerants with low global
warming potentials (GWPs) must be
implemented as soon as possible.
However, since many of the nextgeneration types of refrigerants are mildly
flammable, they must be subjected to risk
assessment based on scientific findings.
Responding to this situation, the New
EnergyandIndustrial
Technology
Development
Organization(NEDO)
launched a project called `Technology
Development of High-efficiency Nonfluorinated Air-conditioning
Systems.'
Working side by side with this project, theJapan Society of Refrigerating and Air
Conditioning Engineers (JSRAE) createda Research Committee on Risk Assessment of Mildly Flammable Refrigerants,
and the Japan Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA)
set up a working group that performs risk
assessment for each product category
including room air conditioners (RACs),
packaged air
conditioners(PACs),
variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems,
and chillers.
Additionally, JRAIA and JSRAE have
set up a risk assessment deliberation
system based on government, industry,
and university collaboration including the
University of Tokyo that participated in
the NEDO project, and submitted areport on the results of risk assessmentof R32, R1234yf, and R1234ze(E) by
March 2016.
In September, the 'Risk Assessment ofMildly Flammable Refrigerants for
Proper Utilization' won the Minister Prizeof Economy, Trade and Industry, which isthe highest honor among the 19th Ozone
Layer Protection and Global Warming Prevention Awards in Japan, since it wasrecognized that this project formulated
highly valuable safety measures, anindustry standard and a guideline for
mildly flammable (A2L) refrigerants basedon government, industry, and university
collaboration.
In this project, methods for measuring
various flammability characteristics ofrefrigerants were established, and various
types of data such as the frequency ofoccurrence of a flammable volume when
refrigerant leaked indoors or outdoors
were collected. As a result of trial
calculation of the fire breakout probability
for each accident scenario, i.e. during air
conditioner transportation, installation, anduse, the fire breakout probability in all
scenarios was demonstrated to be below
the allowable probability. Thus, it was
confirmed that R32, R1234yf, andR1234ze(E) can be used safely. However,since it was found that there is a probablerisk in certain large products or installation
spaces, additional countermeasures weredeveloped, such as driving a fan in theindoor unit when a leak has been detected
in order to reduce the concentration of
leaked refrigerant gas by agitating it
indoors, and industry guidelines were
formulatedforrespective
product
categories.
Since there had been no regulations
concerning mildly flammable refrigerants
in the Refrigeration Safety Regulation that
stipulates the safety of refrigerant use,charge, collection/recovery, transport, andstorage, and also in the High Pressure
Gas Safety Act, mildly flammable
refrigerants have been subjected tosevere regulations as in the case ofstrongly
flammablehydro-carbon
refrigerants. However, reflecting theresults of risk assessment publicized thistime, it has been decided that theregulation on mildly flammable refrigerants
should be relaxed and mildly flammable
refrigerants should be positioned as a typeof inert gas provided that measures betaken to prevent the refrigerant fromremaining during leakage etc.

At present, in the Japanese market,
R32 is adopted in RACs and PACs. Dueto the relaxation of regulations under theHigh Pressure Gas Safety Act, it has
become possible to use R32 in VRF
systems from now on. If VRF systems
adopting R32 emerge, the Japanesemarket will exert a great impact on a
global scale. While the timing of thelaunching of R32 VRF systems into themarketdependsupon
each
manufacturer's decision, since legal
proceedings have been completed to alarge extent, they are ready for shipment.
Tetsuji Okada, president of JRAIA,
stressed the strengthening of information
dissemination capability abroad as one of
the global strategies Japan should
implement. The relaxation of theregulation thanks to the current project issurely an example of information to be
publicized overseas. Venues for suchinformation dissemination are overseas
expositions and international conferences.
At the Chillventa exhibition held in Octoberin Nuremberg, Germany, Mr. Okada madea presentation titled `Implementation of
Alternative Refrigerant Management inJapan Latest Activities for Safety.' In thispresentation, he explained the backgroundbehind the choice of A2L refrigerant by
Japanese manufacturers as an alternative
for air conditioning products to facilitate
the prevention of global warming. The
latest activities in Japan include theJapanese government's policy andlegislation for safer use, side by side withprojects conducting risk assessment.
JRAIA also emphasized the key factors
which must be taken into account whenother countries also adopt similar steps
for risk assessment of mildly flammable
refrigerants.
In reply to JARN's interview, Mr.
Okada gave the following insight. "Aheadof other countries in the world, JRAIA isproceeding with various activities toward
the prevention of global warming. At thesame time, we are attaching importanceto safety as one of the aims to which toppriority should be given. To realize this,
JRAIA regards it an important mission topromote safety-guaranteed products bystrictly checking the safety when using
flammable refrigerants by performing risk
assessment."
JRAIA intends to make the final reporton the results of A2L refrigerant risk
assessment
attheInternational
Symposium on New Refrigerants andEnvironmental Technology 2016 (Kobe
Symposium) to be held in Kobe in
December.
Through joint government, industry, anduniversity collaboration, Japan is resolved
to deploy products by emphasizing not only
advanced technologies but also top-levelsafety.
(source : 2016/11/25,JARN)■Relaxing Regulations, Japan
Builds Momentum for Mildly
Flammable Refrigerants~Report of the Kobe Symposium
2016~
Held once every two years and organizedby the Japan Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA),
the International Symposium on New
Refrigerants and Environmental Technology
2016 (Kobe Symposium 2016) successfully
concluded on December 2 in the port city of
Kobe in Japan. A number of researchfindings
werepresented,
andtheSymposium posted record attendance ofnearly 600 air conditioning and refrigeration(AC&R) industry professionals.
(source : 2016/12/25,JARN)■Comments on Impact of HFC
Phase-down from Global Association
Leaders~JRAIA~
Following the Paris Agreement reached at
the COP21 event in December last year,
HFC phase-out was agreed upon as theKigali Amendment at the MOP28 event heldin October this year with the participation ofrepresentatives of many nations in theworld. While the Paris Agreement aims atfurther improvement of energy efficiency

and requires further reductions in HFCemissions, the Kigali Amendment requires
step-by-step reductions in HFC production
and consumption from a long-term point ofview. Both the Paris Agreement and theKigali Amendment pursue the replacementof refrigerants now in use by refrigerantsthat are friendly to the global environment.
However, since most refrigerant : that arefriendly to the global environment haveflammability to some extent, JRAIA has
taken the lead it the field of risk
assessmentofmildlyflammable
refrigerants, starting about five years ago.
JRAIA also have been urging theJapanese Government to relax regulations
on mildly flammable refrigerants, resulting
it the recent Japanese regulation
relaxation. In this manner, conditions to
introducing mildly flammable refrigerants
for commercial uses into tlu market are
being prepared in Japan From now on,
education and instructions concerning
safety will become an important issue.
Toward that end JRAIA is ready to extend
cooperation to the greatest extent possible.
(source : 2016/12/25,JARN)■Current Market news in JapanThe Japanese economy is continuing toshow a gradual upswing reflecting theimproving employment/income environment,
dropping crude oil prices, and other factors
influenced by the implementation of
economic and fiscal policies. However, thereal GDP in 2015 showed only 0.8% growth.
The main cause was a drop in private
consumption expenditures.
According to a breakdown of domestic
chiller shipments in fiscal year 2015 (endMarch 2016) from the Japan Refrigeration
and Air Conditioning Industry Association(JRAIA) data, centrifugal chillers showed a
12.5% increase, absorption chillers showed
a 7.4% increase, and positive displacement
type chillers showed a 3.6% increase, thus
showing a marked upturn.
From now on, it is predicted that domestic
chiller shipments will continue to show amild upturn. Among underlying factors
supporting this prediction, ongoing largescale urban redevelopment in view of theTokyo Olympics in 2020, the replacement ofexisting equipment, and 17 projects in theSpecial Economic Zone in Tokyo dominate.
Domestic chiller shipments during the runup to the Tokyo Olympics will very likely
peak in 2019.
(source : 2016/11/25,JARN)

efficiency heat pump systems in theseregions will be confirmed.
In addition, a workshop will be held
annually among the countries participatingin the AHPNW, and the above-mentioned
research results as well as measures andrecommendations for the expansion of theuse of high-efficiency heat pump systems
will be shared by government officials of the
AHPNW member nations and industry
representatives.
(source : 2016/12/25,JARN)■HPTCJ Starts Joint Project toExpand the Use of Heat Pumps
The Heat Pump and Thermal Storage
Technology Center of Japan (HPTCJ) has
been promoting the understanding of heatpumps and thermal storage systems inSoutheast Asia joining with the International
Copper Association (ICA) and the Japan
Copper Development Association (JCDA)
through the activities of the Asian Heat
Pump Thermal Storage Technologies
Network (AHPNW).
With the Paris Agreement coming into effect,
HPTCJ, ICA, and JCDA taking into accountthat preventing global warming is an urgent
issue facing every Asian country, reached
an agreement to implement a joint project
aimed at expanding the use of heat pumptechnology to an even greater extent. On
October 13, 2016, the three organizations
signed up for a project prospectus titled'ICA Project Proposal'. By implementing thisproject as a new activity of the AHPNW,
heat pump systems, which include air
conditioning and refrigeration equipment
and water heaters, will be widely used in
Asia, thus contributing to CO, emissions
reductions.
The ICA Project Proposal will carry out
research into the heat pump market in
Japan, Korea, and Taiwan from January 1,
2017 to December 31, 2019 to find out towhat extent high-efficiency heat pumpsystems are penetrating the markets and to
examine their future potential. Then, tasks
and measures for further growth of high-Asian Heat Pump Thermal Storage Technologies Network
To promote energy savings and combat global warming, there is an urgent need to spread efficientheat pump and thermal storage technologies on the demand side. Countries in Asia, which areenjoying rapid economic growth, should coordinate with one another to spread this technology.
Five to ten years from now, Asia will become a global economic powerhouse and heat pumptechnologies will play a considerable role in all sectors. Asian countries will therefore need toaddress common issues and problems that have already been faced in Europe and North America.
Concerning the building of connections and networks among countries, it is essential to share
information on diffusion policies, technology trends, applications, etc., and then to make incremental
improvements. Further, situations which can or should be handled through collaboration should be
handled flexibly, on a case-by-case basis, with the collaboration of all countries.
In order to encourage the use and development of heat pump and thermal storage technologies in
Asian countries we have established AHPNW in 2011.

Participating Countries and Entities
CHINA: China Academy of Building Research (CABR)INDIA: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)JAPAN: Heat Pump and Thermal Storage Technology Center of Japan (HPTCJ)KOREA: Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL)VIETAM: Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST)THAILAND: King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT)INDONESIA: Heating, Cooling & Thermo Fluids Technology Indonesia (HCTFTI)

Please visit our website for more information.
⇒http://www.hptcj.or.jp/e/ahpnw/tabid/571/language/en-US/Default.aspx

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