Natural, flammable refrigerants in education: future-proof, environmentally friendly and safe to use

Drivers for the use of refrigerants are legal framework conditions. The European regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases and the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol are two examples. Both are united by the goal of reducing the marketing of refrigerants with high GWP (Global Warming Potential).

To achieve this goal, the use of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems with natural refrigerants is increasing. Particular importance is attached to systems with flammable refrigerants, especially in smaller systems. The presentation would like to give a short insight into what to pay attention to when using flammable refrigerants and how to integrate this into education and training programs. Key to the safe handling of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems with flammable refrigerants are prevention against explosive atmosphere as well as protection against ignition and the performance of a risk analysis.

Thus, insights from current learning programs are a combination of asynchronous learning content and face-to-face events. The focus for asynchronous learning content is the possibility of video platforms or easy-to-understand books such as "Brennbare Kältemittel" by Stig Rath and Harald Erös (available from    https://www.ögkt.at/product-page/brennbare-kältemittel   ) The challenge is to convey the complex legal and normative requirements as well as the practical skills. This is also reflected in the face-to-face events. It has been shown that the immediate practical implementation of what has been shown theoretically brings the best learning results. No virtual training can replace this.