HFC (HydroFluoroCarbons) is the name for various substances, which have been produced by placing a number of fluoride atoms on hydrocarbons. However, some hydrogen atoms will be left in the molecule. The most common HFC substances are:

Substance	Chemical Formula	Boiling point (C)	GWP (100 yr)	Atmospheric life time (yr)
HFC-23	CHF3	-82.1	11700	264
HFC-32	CH2F2	-51.7	650	5.6
HFC-125	C2HF5	-48.4	2800	32.6
HFC-134a	CH2FCF3	-26.5	1300	14.6
HFC-143a	CF3CH3	-47.5	3800	48.3
HFC-152a	C2H4F2	-24.2	140	1.5
HFC-227ea	C3HF7	-17.3	2900	36.5

The indication R-134a which is commonly used, means R for Refrigerant. The indication HFA-134a, which corresponds to HFC-134a, is also used. HFC substances are often used in refrigerant mixtures, which are provided with the R- 400 or the R-500 serial number. In annex A an overview of refrigerants and refrigerant mixtures is provided.

The HFC substances are used in Denmark mainly as refrigerants in refrigerators and as blowing agent of polyurethane foam. The HFC substances are also used for a number of minor purposes, for instance as propellant agent in special aerosol cans. Abroad, HFCs are used for special fire extinguishing purposes.

This chapter is divided in sections according to main consumption areas. In section 3.1 the refrigeration industry is discussed and the chapter is further divided, e.g. for domestic refrigerators and freezers, commercial refrigerators etc.

3.1 Refrigeration industry

There are 6 Danish manufacturers of refrigerators and freezers, i.e. the companies of Vestfrost, Gram, Caravell, Derby, Frigor and Elcold. Annually, these companies produce app. 1.5 million units and most of them are exported. App. 1 million units are household refrigerators and almost half a million units are commercial refrigerators.

The annual sales in Denmark of domestic refrigerators and freezers has for years ranged between 250,000 and 300,000 units, among which a significant number of refrigerators are imported from Germany, Italy and Sweden in particular.

An estimated 5.000 people are employed within the production of refrigerators, freezers and components. Obviously, this industry is very important to Danish economy and employment.


Until 1993, domestic refrigerators and freezers were produced with CFC substances in the cooling circuit and in the insulation foam. App. 100 - 200 gram of CFC-12 was used in the cooling circuit and app. 500 gram of CFC-11 was used in the insulation foam.

In the following years the refrigeration industry went through a rather turbulent period due to a number of technologies being introduced as substitutes for CFC. At first, HCFC substitutes were used in replacement of CFC-11 in the insulating foam.
Danfoss developed compressors that could use HFC-134a as refrigerant.
These technologies were introduced by Danish and foreign manufacturers of refrigerators in replacement of the CFC technology. From an environmental point of view the advantage was significant. The Danish manufacturers of refrigerators were some of the first deliverers of non-CFC refrigerators, which made them competitive on the European markets where restrictions on CFCs in refrigerators had been introduced. As a result of this, the production at Vestfrost in 1994 was more than 700,000 units.
After that time, demands also appeared to the phasing-out of HCFC substances. Some companies introduced HFC-134a as blowing agent of the insulating foam. This was additional environmental progress compared to previous methods, as the refrigerators were now completely nondependent on any form of ozone depleting substances.

The environmental organisations started to question the environmental impact of the HFC substances. Certainly, the HFCs are not depleting the
ozone layer, however they are potent greenhouse substances which will contribute to an increased greenhouse effect when released in the atmosphere. Thus, finding alternatives to the HFCs would be advantageous.

It should be mentioned that the CFC and the HCFC substances are potent greenhouse gases as well.

In 1992, Greenpeace Germany joined forces with the previous East German producer of refrigerators, FORON, and produced a refrigerator (called "Greenfreeze") operating on a refrigerant mixture of propane and butane. The mixture had pressure and temperature conditions, corresponding to CFC-12, and the system was provided with a CFC-12 compressor. The entire system worked satisfactorily. By these means Greenpeace contributed effectively in breaking down a psychological barrier against the use of a flammable refrigerant.

Danfoss started up development of compressors running on the hydrocarbon isobutane, and German manufacturers of refrigerators, among others Bosch/Siemens, started to use these compressors. Shortly after, 35 types of refrigerators using isobutane as refrigerant were introduced by Electrolux. Thus, a comprehensive selection of refrigerators using isobutane as refrigerant was available.

At the same time it was discovered that the hydrocarbon cyclopentane could be used advantageously as blowing agent for polyurethane foam in refrigerators. This discovery was used in some German refrigerators and in many Electrolux factories. Both isobutane and cyclopentane have a very small direct impact on the greenhouse effect compared with the HFC substances. The GWP value of these hydrocarbons is app. 3, whereas HFC-134a accounts for a GWP value of 1300 (time frame = 100 years, GWP for CO2 = 1).

After this an avalanche started to slide, which in a few months forced the German refrigeration industry to convert to hydrocarbons. Also foreign manufacturers, who wanted to sell refrigerators in Germany, were forced to deliver refrigerators with hydrocarbon technology. This step was necessary, if they wanted to contribute to the selection of goods in warehouses and consumers magazines. More than 95% of the new refrigerators on the German market use hydrocarbons in the cooling system and as blowing agent for the insulating foam.

However, many people feared that an explosion accident might happen in some of the refrigerators due to the explosive mixture of hydrocarbons and air, which might appear in the cabinet. The danger that a spark from thermostat, door contact or lamp might ignite such explosive mixtures was imagined and debated.

This problem was solved by placing various potential spark-generating components outside the cabinet and to take preventive measures against any refrigerant leakage inside the cabinet.

At present, more than 20 million years of operation have been registered in Germany. According to available sources of information no accident has been registered so far.

Some people believe that the safety condition of the refrigerators has improved. Still, some people store lighter gas (for lighter refilling) in refrigerators. Unfortunately, this has caused explosion accidents in some old refrigerators where gas leaking from the gas dispenser was ignited by the thermostat or by the door contact.

In addition, people were worried about the perspectives of increased electricity consumption after the new types of refrigerators had been introduced. This might have increased the contribution to the greenhouse effect caused by an increased CO2 emission from fossil fuels utilized at power plants. Also this anxiety proved non-relevant. The energy efficiency of the new hydrocarbon-based refrigerators is at least as good as the efficiency of the old system based on HFC substances.

Refrigerators using isobutane as refrigerant are less noisy than refrigerators using HFC-134a, among others because of reduced pressure conditions in the compressor.

Another problem with HFC-134a is that it requires synthetic ester oil. It is very absorbent and it can be a problem that the oil sucks water from the air.

In Denmark the company Vestfrost quickly introduced hydrocarbon technology in the insulation foam and that i.a. took place with support from the Danish EPA.

In 1993-94, the Danish company A' Gramkow in Sørnderborg developed a hydrocarbon charging station also supported by the Danish EPA. The company is now among the largest manufacturers of hydrocarbon refrigerant charging equipment for refrigerators in the world.

Danfoss is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of hydrocarbon compressors for refrigerators and freezers. App. half of the production, which takes place in Flensburg, Germany, is laid out for isobutane application.

Hydrocarbon technology is making progress in Europe and certain developing countries, including Argentina and China. To achieve EU's environmental label it became a demand in 1996 that refrigerators should not contain potent greenhouse gases in the refrigerant or the insulating foam. This means in practice that hydrocarbons are necessary to obtain the label.

In 1998, Vestfrost was awarded the EU environmental label for a combined refrigerator/freezer and as far as we know it is the first refrigerator that has received the EU environmental label.

As far as we know, Vestfrost is the only Danish manufacturer who has converted to cyclopentane in the insulating foam. However, several other manufacturers have invested in equipment enabling the application of cyclopentane. For some of the other companies this means investments in factory rebuilding due to compulsory precautions against fire.

DTI Energy knows of another Danish manufacturer who has partly converted to cyclopentane.

The smaller Danish manufacturers use HFC as blowing agent for insulating foam. HFC is used because it still is less expensive than cyclopentane as it requires an increased amount of plastic when used. However, this aspect is being levelled by new plastics definitions.

Tonnes	HCFC-22	HCFC-141b	HCFC- 142b	HFC- 134a	HFC- 152a	R-404A
Insulating foam	0	0	7	264	0
Refrigerant				298		8

The consumption of HCFC and HFC substances (in tonnes) for the production of refrigerators and freezers in Denmark in 1997. The figures cover both domestic refrigeration units and commercial plug-in refrigerators and freezers. The figures are from 'Ozone depletion substances and certain greenhouse gases', the Danish EPA, 1998.

Vestfrost is the only Danish manufacturer who can charge isobutane on all production lines.

In September 1996, Greenpeace Denmark carried out a survey on hydrocarbon refrigerators and discovered that there are more than 108 designs in the Danish market. Several refrigerators are imported from Germany, Sweden, Slovenia and Italy. Greenpeace is currently busy carrying out a new survey and the temporary results show that the number of hydrocarbon refrigerators has increased to app. 271. That corresponds to app. 41% of all models in the market.

It is DTI Energy's impression that all Danish manufacturers realise that certain restrictions will be introduced in Europe as the Kyoto protocol has included HFC substances on the list of greenhouse gases that have to be reduced. The restrictions will comprise the future use of HFC substances and also that "it might become necessary to change to hydrocarbons". However, Danish manufacturers still want to produce units with HFC substances for countries demanding these and in particular for the USA, where distribution of refrigerators charged with a flammable refrigerant is not possible for the time being.

Non-HFC technology is available. In Denmark it is purely economic considerations that restrict the introduction of their use. These economic barriers mainly consist of investments in factory buildings, as rebuilding often will be necessary to secure fire-protecting areas in connection with the foaming process and charge of refrigerant. Furthermore, the investment in a hydrocarbon charging system and training of personnel will be necessary. Finally, approval of products together with accomplishment of laboratory tests for energy consumption measurements must be carried out.

It should be mentioned that new technology is being introduced in compressors. Danfoss has developed a compressor range for domestic refrigerators. These operate on isobutane and have variable speeds, which generate considerable energy savings of 30 to 40%.

The energy savings are not achieved because of the refrigerant, but rather because of the possibility of optimising control of the device. The new compressors are included in the Danfoss product range and a sales increase is expected for the next years. The price is currently somewhat higher than the price of traditional compressors.

At DTU (the Technical University of Denmark) and Aalborg University tests on a similar compressor for refrigerators have been carried out together with Danfoss and Gram. Isobutane was used as test refrigerant and also in this case energy savings of 30 - 40% were measured. In this case it was decisive to use isobutane as refrigerant, as application of HFC-134a would create a too large cooling capacity. This compressor has not yet been put into production.

Additionally, it should be mentioned that at present no hydrocarbon compressors applicable for direct current (12 V or 24 V) exist. HFC-134a is used as refrigerant in small refrigerators and freezers for trucks, yachts and other applications without main voltage. Development of direct current compressors for isobutane should be possible, but an investment from the compressor producer is necessary, which demands a market potential for these compressors.

A number of serum coolers for application in e.g. India are produced in Denmark. Sales of these coolers are co-ordinated by WHO and UNICEF, who demand the use of HFC-134a as refrigerant. A considerable number of direct current compressors are used in these coolers, which are often run by solar cells (photovoltaric).

3.1.2 Commercial refrigerators and freezers

Commercial refrigeration systems are systems that e.g. are used for cooling purposes in supermarkets, speciality shops, hotels and restaurants and computer rooms. They can also be smaller refrigeration systems for industry.

Typical commercial refrigeration systems are for instance used in supermarkets, where direct cooling has been used so far. The cooling compressors are placed in a machine room separated from the place of cooling.

Refrigerant is transmitted in long tubes into the retail shop, where evaporation takes place in the heat exchangers of refrigerators and freezers inside the shop. The refrigeration gas is sucked back to the compressors.

This principle occurs in numerous variations and sizes, from small bakery shops or butcher shops to computer offices, from hotels and restaurants to very large warehouses with more than 50 refrigeration systems.

In section 3.1.7 air conditioning systems are described, however it should be mentioned that there is no distinct difference between commercial refrigeration systems and air conditioning systems. Systems with several refrigeration locations, including air conditioning, are often seen.

Previously, CFC or HCFC based refrigerants like R-502, HCFC-22 and CFC-12 were used. In recent years many systems have been changed to HFC based refrigerants like HFC-134a or R-404a. New systems, built in recent years, are charged with HFC refrigerants as well.

In Denmark and abroad some new systems have been built recently. See more information later in this section.

HCFC-22	R-404a	Other HFCs
600	102	66

Consumption of HCFC and HFC substances in commercial systems in 1997 in tonnes (Ozone layer depleting substances and certain greenhouse gases, Danish EPA, 1998). It must be specified that consumption is classified as 'Refrigerant (other areas)' which is evaluated to be mainly commercial cooling and air-conditioning systems.
In addition, 54 tonnes of HFC-134a is used as 'refrigerant (other areas)'. The 66 tonnes of 'Other HFCs' are 26 tonnes R-401A, 14 tonnes R-407C, 10 tonnes R-402A and 16 tonnes other HFCs.

The commercial refrigeration area is the most heterogeneous one within the refrigeration industry. A large number of enterprises are involved in selling and installing refrigeration systems. The refrigeration systems are composed of standard components provided for the purpose. Tubing is often quite extensive, earlier resulting in a significant rate of leakage per year, i.e. 20 -25% of the refrigerant charge.

AKB (Authorized Refrigeration Installers Association) has contributed considerably to quality improvement by securing that the systems remain tight. Nobody knows the exact leakage rate but AKB has prepared a policy about reducing the rate. However, there are limits to how tight the systems can become and that is especially the case for direct cooling in i.a. supermarkets.

On the other hand, if indirect cooling is applied, then refrigerant filling and leakage rates can be reduced drastically.


There are many commercial refrigeration systems and therefore their commercial value is considerable. Still many old systems are operating on CFC refrigerants because a change to HFC based refrigerant would be a cost out of proportion with their age. Mainly, the newer refrigeration systems have been changed to HFC refrigerants.

It has been attempted to convert one particular system to propane, however the conclusion was that changing a CFC/HCFC or HFC system to propane is not realistic, as the required information for approval by the National Inspection of Labour in Denmark is seldom easily obtained.

Thus, it would be reasonable to continue operation with the existing systems but take appropriate precautions for leak proofness. When ready for scrapping, recovery of refrigerant is necessary for further treatment at the KMO (Danish refrigeration industry's recovery and recycling scheme) for purification and reclamation or sending to destruction.

KMO is a voluntary arrangement within the refrigeration trade and has been supported by the Danish EPA.

Natural refrigerants are substances that are already included in nature's own cycle, for instance ammonia, hydrocarbons, CO2, water and air.

Systems for natural refrigerants to be used in supermarkets have been built in Denmark and abroad. Either ammonia or hydrocarbons are used as refrigerant. As these are not permitted in the shop itself, indirect cooling must be used, i.e. a secondary refrigerant (brine).

For many years, secondary refrigerants have been used in certain refrigeration systems, among others in water/glycol mixtures or water/saline mixtures. Recently, it has been mentioned that ice slurry or CO2 under high pressure could be used. Systems with indirect cooling are more expensive that systems with direct cooling as investments have to be made in an extra pump and a heat exchanger. In return, there will be less refrigerant leakage down to app. 5% per year. Refrigerant charge is also much smaller than for corresponding direct systems.

In Sweden, there are demands for using indirect cooling. According to Svensk Kylnorm indirect cooling has to be applied if the refrigerant charge in the primary refrigerant system exceeds 30 kg. If the charged amount is between 10 and 30 kg the system has to be partly indirect which in practice means that the refrigeration of cold stores will be indirect while the refrigeration of freezers will be direct.

The Danish Energy Agency and the Danish EPA have financially supported the construction of a new refrigeration system at Schou-Epa (now called Kvickly), which is the biggest supermarket in Roskilde near Copenhagen. An ammonia refrigeration plant is used, placed in a container on the roof of the building. A water/saline mixture is cooled in the ammonia refrigeration system, which is then pumped into the shop at two temperature levels to allow cooling or freezing.

The project is carried out by Sabroe + Sarby in co-operation with DTI Energy. The system replaces more than 30 old CFC or HCFC-based refrigeration systems and energy savings amount to app. 35%.

However, energy savings in relation to a new, parallel coupled HFC refrigeration system would be insignificant and perhaps it would have a somewhat greater energy consumption.

Refrigeration systems, using ice slurry (a pumpable mixture of water, alcohol and ice, resembling thin sorbet ice) have been tested abroad. Ice slurry is a secondary refrigerant, which advantageously can be used for refrigeration purposes of up to 0/C.

Some of these plants exist in Germany, Norway and England. However, this technology does not seem to be fully developed, as some teething problems have appeared.

Commercially accessible German and Canadian ice slurry generators are now on the market. The generator functions by means of ice that is generated inside a vertical or horizontal cylinder. Afterwards a mechanical scraper scrapes off the ice. The generators are rather expensive.

DTI Energy has developed a new principle for ice slurry generators without mechanical scrapers. Pumping the ice through a traditional heat exchanger with a special surface coating generates ice slurry. The generator has been developed with financial support from the Danish EPA, and at the moment tests are being carried out at DTI Energy in co-operation with Sabroe Refrigeration.

A new "Ice Slurry Centre" has been founded and various companies are involved in the project including Sabroe, Grundfos, tt-coil, Swep, Texaco, Georg Fischer, Hans Buch, Sunwell and Institute for Applied Chemistry, DTU. DTI Energy is involved in all development activities and carries out secretariat functions and administration of the centre.

The main objective of the centre is to develop and produce components for ice slurry. Knowledge and competence are transferred through the centre to products, thus ensuring functionality of the products and optimum interplay between them. The following products are to be developed: ice slurry generator, equipment for measuring ice concentration, pumps, pipe systems and valves, heat exchangers, storage equipment etc.

The centre is supported by the Danish Agency for Development of Industry and Trade and a user group is also connected, comprising FDB (the Danish Co-operative Union), the Danish Meat Research Institute and the Danish Fishermen's Association.

Ice slurry is expected to become important to future refrigeration systems with indirect cooling in commercial refrigeration systems. Ice slurry will probably also be used for new refrigeration purposes such as direct contact freezing.

Pressurised CO2 can advantageously be used as refrigerant for freezing applications. Laboratory tests have been carried out in Denmark and systems exist abroad that use the same principle.

In the Programme for Natural Refrigerants (included in the Cleaner Technology Programme) DTI Energy is currently carrying out 2 subprojects called "Introduction of ammonia in smaller refrigeration systems" and "Information to the Danish refrigeration trade concerning the use of ammonia in smaller refrigeration systems".

The objective of the subprojects is to investigate and clarify problems in connection with the use of ammonia in small and smaller split-plants, to give advice and assign methods for plant design and to ensure that know-how is passed on to the refrigeration trade and realised in practice.

The projects include market research; description of fields of application and types of application; the preparation of safety measures, dimensioning rules, service and maintenance procedures; problem analyses regarding plant components, pipes and assembling methods; the development of laboratory equipment and tests with the same; construction and measurements carried out on demonstration plants, and reporting and participation in one-day conferences and seminars. The projects also include the formulation of a course programme and the preparation of information and instruction material.

The experimental work connected with the laboratory has become more extensive than planned. So far it has revealed that the problems against expectation not only have to do with the materials and assembly methods of the pipe system, but also in making the components operate satisfactorily with regard to refrigeration technology and acceptably with regard to energy consumption.

DTI Energy has carried out a demonstration project that was financially supported by the Danish Energy Agency. The objective of the project was to develop and demonstrate an ammonia based refrigeration plant for milk cooling at farms with reduced energy consumption and environmental impact.

In February 1998, the cooling system was put into operation at an ecological farm and it has functioned satisfactorily for 7 months. The complete installation comprises a system for cooling and storing milk as well as facilities for milk pre-cooling, drinking water heating, cooling accumulation and the utilisation of the condenser heat for preheating domestic water. Measurements have shown that the consumption of energy due to a low compressor efficiency was higher than expected, but lower than in connection with previous systems. Using ammonia and ice water as brine means that there will be no halogen-containing refrigerant leak detrimental to the environment. The plan is to change to an improved compressor. That will reduce energy consumption further.

Experience has been gained from the project that gives rise to believe that the concept can be developed to a competitive product programme. The project should be followed by new activities ensuring that the experience gained combined with innovation and new experiences from abroad are utilised for product development of future milk cooling systems in agriculture with environmental refrigerants and low energy consumption.

Various projects are being planned including a project about solely using natural refrigerants at a large city hotel.

In the course of the past couple of years, app. 75 new cold storage plants using hydrocarbons as refrigerants have been built in Sweden. They are based on a concept developed by Bonus Energi AB. An example is a new supermarket with a cooling system utilising hydrocarbons. The cooling capacity is 240 kW (for cooling) and 140 kW (for freezing). 7 semi-hermetic compressors are used. The refrigerants are a mixture of propane and ethane (Care 50") and the charge is 35 kg. As secondary refrigerants propylene glycol (for cooling) and CO2 (for freezing) are used. Bonus Energi AB was taken over by Sabroe A/S and the concept is now being marketed throughout Scandinavia, in Germany and the UK. Appendix E contains a reference list of the hydrocarbon cooling plants that have been erected by Bonus Energi AB. Linde AG in Germany has a similar concept.

It is now possible to purchase compressors for propane or propene. Bitzer compressors are used in the Bonus plants. In addition, AirCon A/S sells corresponding compressors from Dorin.

So far, no larger commercial cooling systems with hydrocarbons as refrigerants have been installed in Denmark, although several project reports have concluded that according to current Danish legislation there should be nothing against using hydrocarbons as refrigerant.

One of the reasons might be that in a discussion paper called "Without cooling most things get too hot" published by AKB in 1998, Mr. Flemming Jørgensen from Danfoss A/S warns against using hydrocarbons. FJ i.a. writes: 'Within our trade in general we do not have enough know-ledge or experience and our education and not least supplementary education of the service sector must be supplemented with knowledge, rules, legislation and ordinary common sense when using and handling hydrocarbon-based refrigeration systems'.

Therefore, it is necessary to explain if actual problems exist and if so, what the problems are by means of planning and installation of a medium size commercial cold storage plant with propane.

A demonstration project should include planning, installation and operation of a plant with 100-150 kW cooling output and with propane charge greater than 7 kg. All relevant authorities ought to be involved. A measurement programme should be carried out to determine output, operating conditions and energy consumption. Afterwards instructions concerning how to carry out the programme and who has to be asked and to whom application should be sent etc. should be prepared.
A project should also include development of a basis for qualifying (supplementary) education for refrigeration fitters and service staff.

A project proposal concerning the above has been prepared.

It must be concluded that more experience is required by means of experimental tests with commercial refrigeration systems using indirect cooling. Especially, tests with ice slurry and CO2 as secondary refrigerants are necessary.

It is important that the safety aspects are fully considered and that regulations issued by the Danish National Labour Inspection are fully observed. In that connection it is important that light is thrown on the regulations needed.

The energy efficiency of new refrigeration systems is of great importance, and the energy consumption must not exceed the consumption of new HFC refrigeration systems.

It is important that the costs of refrigeration systems using brine systems (secondary refrigeration systems) are reduced to facilitate a wider use in the future.

It should be mentioned that the application of free cooling i.e. from outside air or harbour waters also is a possibility. Such measures might reduce energy consumption for refrigeration systems during some months of the year, as outside air e.g. can directly cool a room or harbour water can directly cool process water.

Evaluation of possibilities for using natural refrigerants within commercial refrigeration:

For future refrigeration plants the following can be stated:

The plants can be designed for ammonia as well as for hydrocarbons according to the safety measures required. In public premises it will normally be possible to use indirect cooling while indirect cooling can be used in many other cases.

	In the future large commercial refrigeration plants can be designed as ammonia or propane refrigeration plants using indirect cooling. Regarding fields of application large supermarkets could be mentioned.
	To some extent very small commercial refrigeration systems could be systems using hydrocarbons or ammonia with direct expansion. However, it is demanded that certain safety rules and firm procedures are issued/developed. Among others, the safety rules include a maximum amount of charge, e.g. 1.5 kg (for direct expansion). Suggested field of application is small refrigeration stores and refrigeration furniture in delicatessens, etc. Direct cooling can be used in connection with storage rooms with no public access.
	- The intermediate sized area is where the most important problems exist. Because of economic and safety reasons it might be a problem to build refrigeration systems using indirect cooling. Small everyday stores could be mentioned. As previously described, a number of development projects are presently in progress and they aim at developing new technology to narrow this rather grey zone area. Likewise, direct cooling can be used in connection with storage rooms with no public access.

3.1.4 Industrial refrigeration plants

 

	HCFC-22	HCFC-141b	HCFC-142b	HFC-134a	HFC-152a
Insulation in refrigerators	0	0	7	264	0
District hearing pipes	0	0	0	0	0
Other insulation material	0	440	4	0	0
Other rigid foam	0	145	6	0	0
Jointing foam	0	0	0	44	5
Flexible polyurethane foam	0	0	0	40	10

Consumption of HCFC and HFC for production of polyurethane foam for various applications.
Consumption is stated in tonnes, and the figures have been taken from Cowi's survey: Ozone depleting substances and certain greenhouse gases 1997, Danish EPA, 1998.

As it appears quite an amount of HCFC is still used for foaming polyurethane foam. Especially HCFC-141b is in question. In the autumn of 1998, (according to trade sources) that lead to a shortage of the substance as several countries (including Denmark) has encountered a HCFC cap which has been laid down in the EU. Therefore, there is a limited amount to be used in the final part of 1998 and there has been a substantial price increase.

3.2.1 Insulating foam

 

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