Please be informed that as of 1 January 2015 (1 June 2015 in Poland), Regulation (EU) No. 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council was enforced in the entire European Union, which combined with the new regulations relating to F-gases, imposes particular legal requirements on Operators and servicing companies in relation to the obligatory leak tightness tests and storage of documentation according to the following regulations: EU 1516/2007 and EU 517/2014.
The Regulation specifies the principles of preventing F-gas emissions as well as its use, recovery and disposal. It also determines the conditions of marketing products and equipment containing or relying on HFC as well as the quantitative limits for introducing F-gases to trade on the territory of the EU.
What does the Regulation mean in practice for users of mobile refrigerators?
- Leak tightness inspections
The frequency of performing leak tightness inspections will depend on the amount of filling the device with a refrigerant specified in the value of the CO2 equivalent (and not kilograms as was the case before). Similarly to the previous version of the Regulation, three threshold values have been specified:
a) Devices containing HFC refrigerant in the amount from 5t EqCO2 to maximum 50t EqCO2 – will have to be subjected to inspections at least once every 12 months (above 3.0 kg);
b) Devices containing HFC refrigerant in the amount from 50t EqCO2 to maximum 500t EqCO2 – will have to be subjected to inspections at least once every 6 months (refrigeration systems with own drive system and R404A refrigerants above 12 kg);
c) Devices containing HFC refrigerant in the amount equal to or more than 500t EqCO2 - will have to be subjected to leak tightness inspections at least once every 3 months.
Installing a permanent system for detecting leakages will enable to extend the frequency of leak tightness inspections to 24, 12 and 6 months respectively.
