Saturday, July 20, 2013

Refrigerant Gases

Open email to Environmental Protection Agency Director Gina McCarthy:

Dear Director McCarthy,
    For those other persons who may also be reading this email, I explain that refrigerant gases are those gases which are used in mechanical heating and cooling devices, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, and heat pumps. While some naturally occurring gases, such as ammonia, can be used for this purpose, chemical companies have developed synthetic materials which are more efficient. The synthetic materials are usually methane modified with chlorine or fluorine.
    An article in the January 1 issue of Chemical & Engineering News is concerned with the the so-called threat of the synthetic refrigerant gases to the environment.
    In the manufacture of desired HFC-22, byproduct HFC-23 is also formed. Through the system of international "carbon credits", the manufacturers were paid to destroy the byproduct HFC-23, rather than release it into the environment. That profitable trading system involving destruction of HFC-23 has now ended, and it is supposed that manufacturers in China and India will now release HFC-23 to the atmosphere, rather than continue to destroy it.
    The concern is that HFC-23 is estimated to be a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
    As you know, being part of the Obama Administration,, the party line is to relate greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, to global warming. There is no satisfactory mechanism suggested by which there is a connection between these two, but that seems to be irrelevant with respect to the Administration's desire.
    Since HFC-23 is considered a powerful greenhouse gas, which will also lead to global warming, the fear mongers are wringing their hands with respect to this new development. However, since there is no clear indication that global warming is related to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, it appears to me that we should not be concerned about any increase in atmospheric concentration of HFC-23, with respect to global warming.
    There
is another factor that bears some consideration. That is, the effect of synthetic gases in the atmosphere with respect to ultraviolet density at the Earth's surface. The upper atmosphere contains a high concentration of ozone. Its purpose appears to be to react with incoming ultraviolet light (UV) from the sun to reduce the concentration of UV reaching the Earth's surface. Excessive concentrations of UV at the Earth surface are a physical danger to humans.
    HFC-22 has been found to be an ozone depletor, which means that by its presence in the atmosphere, less ozone will be available in the upper atmosphere, and more dangerous UV will arrive at the year's surface. While I am not inclined to believe that there is any effect of carbon dioxide relating to global warming, I tend to believe that the ozone/UV problem is real.
    Fortunately, HFC-23 is considered NOT to be an ozone depletor.
    The net result is that I anticipate no adverse effects on global warming nor increase in UV concentration at the Earth's surface by the fact that synthetic refrigerant manufacturers will no longer be destroying HFC-23 and will release it to the atmosphere. However, I do find it objectionable from the general point of view that we don't know what other damage HFC-23 will do to the environment. We do know that is a very stable compound and will tend to accumulate in the atmosphere. The good news is that according to the C&E News article, manufacture of HFC-22 (and HFC-23 as byproduct) is being phased out in developed countries starting this year.


Sincerely,
Arthur C Sucsy PhD