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Konfort Series 700R Service Manual
CHAPTER 1 – COMPARISON BETWEEN R1234yf AND
R134a REFRIGERANTS
1.1
Introduction to the Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is the natural principle that refers to the ability
of a planet's atmosphere to retain the heat from the Sun. Thanks to the
greenhouse effect, the development of life on Earth is possible, because
the typical temperature imbalances of the celestial bodies with no
atmosphere are avoided.
The atmospheric gases which are responsible for this natural phenomenon
are called greenhouse gases, and they have the property of being
transparent to incoming solar radiation on the Earth but
in a consistent manner, the infrared radiation emitted by the Earth's
surface, by the atmosphere and by the clouds.
Water vapor (H
2
methane (CH
) are the main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere.
4
Ozone (O
), which is often listed as a greenhouse gas, is not exactly one
3
of them: its action in the atmosphere, in fact, is mainly "cooling",
because it acts as a filter against the solar UV rays.
The air pollution, due to the continuous and increasing combustion of fossil
fuels, the emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs) leads to an increase of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
(especially CO
, N
2
ozone layer. This leads to an abnormal increase in global temperature,
with consequences in the medium/long term which are still unpredictable
(extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes, storms and floods).
The refrigerants used in cars' air conditioning systems can also contribute
to this abnormal increase of the greenhouse effect. In order to quantify
the impact of each type of refrigerant on raising global temperatures, a
number of parameters are used, including the GWP (Global Warming
Potential). As benchmark for the calculation of this parameter, the CO
taken into account (namely, the GWP value for each gas is defined with
reference to that of CO
1.2
The Directive 2006/40/CE
With the Directive 2006/40/EC the European Community requires that,
starting from January 1
have the chance
approvals for vehicles which are equipped with air conditioning systems
designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a GWP> 150.
Copyright © 2014 – TEXA S.p.A.
O), carbon dioxide (CO
O and CH
) and, at the same time, a thinning of the
2
4
).
2
st
, 2011, all the Member States will no longer
to grant EC type-approvals or national type-
TEXA Technical Assistance
), nitrous oxide (N
2
4
they can hold,
O) and
2
is
2
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