Paulo Nevedar, president of the Brazilian HVAC&R association ABRAVA, says that Brazil is the third largest consumer of HCFCs. Consequently, substituting HCFCs presents a significant challenge. However, at a seminar organised last year to commemorate International Ozone Day, many of the participants saw R600a as the solution to be adopted in the domestic refrigeration sector.

 

 

Whilst the market for hydrocarbons remains “complex” for the commercial and industrial refrigeration sectors, in the domestic market, R600a is rapidly becoming the preferred refrigerant.

 

“In my opinion the trend for South America will be to follow in the steps of the European market, where 80% of fridges already use R600a,” said the Commercial Director of Milano Técnica, the company that brought the Nevada isobutane brand, bottled by Mariel, to Brazil.

 

According to André Eduardo Corrêa Oliveira, Technical Supervisor at Vulkan Brazil Ltd., “The arrival of these new fluids [R600a] presents good business opportunities for us and also for other HVAC&R professionals”.

 

Bosch was one of the first companies to enter the Brazilian market with an R600a fridge. The switch to the eco-friendly refrigerant is seen as relatively easy, the fridge being overall very similar to R134a or even R12 models. The main difference is the compressor. R600a compressors work with much lower pressures, 7.5 bar for isobutane in comparison to 15 bar for R134a, which means the mechanical resistance of the components can be lower. In contrast, the diameter of the compressor pistons must be larger to displace a larger volume of refrigerant. This in turn increases efficiency by 3%.

 

 

The new Continental R600a water fountain has both hot water and cold water taps and features automatic temperature control that maintains the water either at 5 or 95°C. The water fountain has a safety lock that prevents the accidental opening of the hot water tap by small children. Other features include:

 

 

 

2013 will see the return of the biennial FEBRAVA trade fair, one of the largest HVAC&R events in South America. The 18th edition is organised in Sao Paulo on 17 – 20 September. Other important events for the commercial and light commercial refrigeration sectors include Technoalimentos, organised from the 8-10March, Fispal Food Service and Tecnosorvetes, both organised from the 25 - 28 June 2013.