As has been widely discussed, the impact of the F-Gas regulations is expected to be a decline in the availability of the most commonly used refrigerants in reefer containers today, leading to price increases and supply issues.

In today’s connected world, news travels fast, but so does misinformation. Earlier this year, the CEO of the UK’s Food Storage and Distribution Federation (FSDF) was quoted by FoodManufacture.co.uk as saying that replacing high
global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants was now a matter of urgency, as the cost of both R404A and R134a had increased by 60% since January 2015. 

The reefer industry, however, has seen no evidence of such an increase. Ed Goh, director of marketing, Global Container Products at Carrier Transicold, noted: “In that same timeframe, we observed that pricing of R134a on a global basis was virtually flat, and we have seen some modest increases this year, but nothing extraordinary”. Other reefer suppliers agreed, noting any increases have not been more than 10%.

Dermott Crombie, vice president strategic initiatives, Climate Solutions, Ingersoll Rand, observed that local costs of refrigerants will vary, and other servicing charges have to be considered. If the refrigerant needs replacing, it is 
“invariably one step of a bigger problem”, with total repair costs including labour and parts.

MCI notes that a steep increase might not have happened just yet, “but certainly the pricing for refrigerants will increase. One could also question availability for the high GWPs. Due to the quota system in the EU, as an example, 
the higher the GWP, the higher the price”. 

The price of refrigerant does not seem to be affecting new reefer prices at the moment either. Refrigerants are a minor part of the total cost, but they are certainly not unimportant. Goh noted that, across production of thousands, or
hundreds of thousands of reefers, refrigerants are not an insignificant expense.

“Prices for refrigerant vary by region but, generally speaking, the cost of CO2 refrigerant is the lowest of those refrigerants presently used in container applications, followed by R134a, then R404A and finally R452A,” said Goh.
Of course the bigger issue is that Carrier’s CO2 reefer has different components than its R134a units, and these impact the cost more than the refrigerant.

This is also an issue for MCI to consider as it moves towards launching a propane reefer. The company said the cost of an R290 driven reefer machine “will be close to the same level as an R134a-driven reefer machine. But how
will that look in 5-10 years?” 

15-year lifespan

The position in the market today appears to be that the F-Gas regulations have not yet impacted reefer purchasing behaviour. As summarised by Crombie: “F-Gas does not currently directly impact the marine container industry, 
though that may change.” 

Change, it should not be forgotten, is what the regulators are trying to achieve, and the longer reefer owners continue to stick with refrigerants that are not regarded as low GWP products, the greater the risk they will face price and availability problems servicing reefer containers as they age. This uncertainty could be behind some of the decline in demand for new reefers this year.

Carrier, for its part, is gently pushing reefer owners to look ahead and avoid these issues. “Time will tell what happens to the price of HFC refrigerants based on potential changes in production related to phase-downs. CO2  , on
the other hand, with its GWP of 1, is protected against phase-outs, taxes and F-Gas regulations,” noted Goh.

The longer reefer owners push back the transition to low GWP natural refrigerants, the greater the need for ‘dropins’ with a lower GWP than R134a and R404A will become. Last year, Thermo King announced its “next generation 
refrigerant”, R452A, for both the road transport and marine segments.

“Thermo King was the first to offer road transport units with R452A and, as of 1 January 2016, the first to make this standard across its entire range of trailer, truck and small vehicle-powered units sold throughout Europe,” said Crombie.

This refrigerant has roughly half the GWP of R404A, yet uses the same lubricant, provides similar performance, and requires no changes beyond perhaps an adjustment to the thermostatic expansion valve. “Within those countries subject to F-Gas regulation, the move to R452A in Road Transport has been dramatic, with over 90% of Thermo King’s production of road transport refrigeration units switching to R452A. Since then, R452A has also been adopted by our competitors, as their successor to the current industry standard of R404A”.

R452A has not yet been widely deployed on reefers, but Thermo King argues it is already playing an important role. “For now, R452A serves the very useful function of supporting residual values of existing and new R404A charged equipment. As marine equipment does move through the EU, and should it require service, the operator now has a choice of refrigerants, based on availability, local legislation, and taxes, which will ultimately determine which is most suitable.” 

MCI has now introduced a lower GWP drop-in that is compatible with its current production, offering R513 as a drop in for R134a (see page 29).

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This complete item is approximately 1000 words in length, and appeared in the August 2016 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 27. To access this issue download the PDF here.