Milk Cooling Tank Compatible with Revised F-Gas Regulation Introduced by Wedholms

HELSINKI - May 8, 2024 - PRLog --

• Natural refrigerants, such as CO2, will be required under the revised F-gas Regulation, signed into EU law on March 11 this year
• From January 2025, all new self-contained refrigeration equipment, except chillers, installed in the EU must use refrigerants with a GWP (Global Warming Potential) value of less than 150

The first milk cooling tank in the European market to use CO2 as refrigerant in standard cooling systems of the direct expansion cooling type has been introduced by Wedholms. The tank is compatible with the revised F-gas Regulation that will be mandatory in European Union from January next year.

The DFC 953 range of milk cooling tanks is available for robotic milking with 1-8 robots and with capacity ranging from 3,200 litres to 30,000 litres.

Synthetic refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons, are currently being phased out by European Union. According to the revised F-gas Regulation, recently signed into EU law, all new self-contained refrigeration equipment, with the exception of chillers, installed from January 2025 must use refrigerants with a GWP (Global Warming Potential) value of less than 150. Existing systems may still be used and repaired for the remainder of their economic life. However, effective from 2032, refrigeration systems using refrigerants with a GWP value above 750, apart from chillers, can no longer be refilled during maintenance and service.

From 2027, further restrictions on the maximum amount of synthetic refrigerants that can be placed in the EU market will be introduced, capping the amount at around 20 million tonnes CO2 equivalent per year. This will increase price of synthetic refrigerants, making milk cooling tanks with outdated technology more costly to purchase and operate, thus incentivising investments in milk cooling tanks using technology that is more modern and environmentally sustainable.

"Refrigerants that are environmentally friendly are being introduced across the board and milk cooling tanks is no exception. Refrigeration is an essential process in farming and dairy industries and we need to use processes that work in harmony with the natural environment that we depend on," says Stefan Gavelin, managing director of Wedholms.

https://wedholms.com/en/