Working group to: Address A2 and A3 refrigerants for IEC 60335-2-40 IEC/TC61/SC61D/WG16 Working group to: Address A2 and A3 refrigerants for IEC 60335-2-40

Domestic and Light Commercial A/C and Heat Pump Systems WG16 works on the safety standard: IEC 60335-2-40: Household and similar electrical appliances - Safety - Part 2-40: Particular requirements for electrical heat pumps, air- conditioners and dehumidifiers This standard is applicable to heatpumps, air-conditioners and dehumidifiers: Domestic and Commercial HVAC systems, including Chillers up to 600 V The standard is adopted with minor modifications by several countries. For instance as EN 60335-2-40 or AS/NZS 60335.2.40.

How IEC 60335-2-40 is Limiting Flammable Low GWP Refrigerants IEC 60335-2-40 limits the use of flammable low GWP refrigerants by limiting the amount of charge. The amount of charge is related to the cooling or heating capacity of the system, and therefore what applications can be served using flammable low GWP refrigerant There are two working groups addressing this: WG9 addresses A2L refrigerants WG16 addresses A2 and A3 refrigerants Higher flammability A3: Hydrocarbons B3: No refrigerants Flammable A2: R152 B2: Seldomly used Lower flammability A2L: Most HFO‘s, R32 B2L: Ammonia No flame propagation A1: CFC, HCFC, most HFC‘s B1: R123 Lower toxicity Higher toxicity

Official TOR of IEC/SC61D/WG16 Background of WG16 Official TOR of IEC/SC61D/WG16 Explanation SC61D set up a working group with terms of reference to: IEC/TC61/SC61D is officially responsible for IEC 60335-2-40 standard on household and light industrial A/C and HP safety. evaluate the work of WG9 (e.g. 61D/257/DC, 61D/285/INF) with respect to A2 and A3 refrigerants. WG9 is a working group for A2L refrigerants, and WG16 is asked to consider their work. review 61D/303/DC and the national comments on this document. 61D/303/DC is the proposal from the Great Britian, which triggered SC61D to create a new working group WG16. Develop additional requirements for A2 and A3 refrigerants: Charge limits Dilution, circulation, ventilation requirements Additional mitigation measures WG16 is specifically asked to consider A2 and A3 refrigerants, and guided to specifically consider charge limits and related mitigation measures to further enable A2/A3 refrigerants. Based on a request from the UK, it was decided to start work on flammable and highly flammable refrigerants.

WG16 activity to date 25 experts from 12 different member countries 89 committee documents shared on the collaboration site 4 meetings held London, UK - September 2015 Frankfurt, Germany.- December 2015 Shenzhen, China - March 2016 Copenhagen, Denmark - June 2016 The next two meetings are planned for: London, UK - September 2016 China - December 2016.

Status of WG16 WG16 has been discussing the concepts to allow higher amount of flammable A2 and A3 refrigerants than currently allowed based on certain conditions and mitigation measures. Proposals for text have been circulated within WG16, but most discussions are still on the conceptual level: Realistic leak scenarios Air ciculation to avoid high local concentrations Minimizing amount of refrigerant which can leak Test methods to determine the possible leakage of refrigerants Only refrigerant charges up to 1 kg of propane, or equivalent, are currently being considered.

Time Scale Optimistic Less optimistic 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 WG16 started working in Sep 2015 Document for Comments (DC) circulated; more than one may be needed Committee Draft for Vote (CDV) circulated; more than one may be needed Passing from CDV to publication takes at least a year, but more likely two years Addoption in national standards normally takes several years Less optimistic 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Notes: 1) Before sending out the CDV, the project of WG9 on A2L refrigerants needs to be finished. 2) Standardisation work is based on consensus, and timing is very difficult to predict; the worst case is much longer than the above.