Worldwide ban on disposable cylinders needed to discourage fakes

Disposable cylinders represent a significant risk to port workers and support a black market in counterfeit refrigerants.

In 2011, several refrigerated, reefer containers exploded, killing three port workers. While there has been no further tragedies since then, counterfeit refrigerants remain in circulation and still represent a significant safety risk.

Counterfeit refrigerant cylinders typically consist of a dangerously unstable cocktail of gases, blended to roughly mimic the most common refrigerant, R-134a. These cylinders are often loaded with rogue gases such as R-40. Though similar to R-134a, R-40 reacts with aluminium to form trimethylaluminum, a highly volatile substance that, when exposed to air, can explode. At best, these fake refrigerants perform poorly, are energyinefficient and are likely to damage hoses, seals and compressors. At worse, they are highly toxic, and in the case of the fatal accidents in Vietnam, China and Brazil in 2011, highly volatile.

According to international insurer TT Club, R-40 contamination accounts for 0.2 percent of the world’s reefer container fleet, affecting about 2,500 reefers. However, other counterfeit refrigerant mixtures, such as those containing R-50, R-744, R-22 or R-170, are also considered unsafe, so the number of reefers affected could be far higher. precautions, such as holographic seals or cylinder stamps, are easily copied in days rather than months. For Jacobsen, the only way to put an end to this illegal and dangerous market is to ban disposable cylinders.

“If the legitimate refrigerant suppliers no longer provided refrigerants in disposable cylinders, the counterfeiters would be out of business,” he says, noting that WSS does not offer refrigerants in disposable cylinders. “We don’t support their use and we believe a worldwide ban is far overdue.”

Whether or not a global ban on disposable cylinders will come into force anytime soon is unclear. In 2007, the European Union (EU) banned disposable refrigerant cylinders in the EU and on EU flagged vessels. Similar bans are also in place in Canada, India and Australia. However, disposable refrigerant cylinders are still in use elsewhere in the world. More recently new EU legislation, introduced in January of this year, may only exacerbate the issue. The new EU regulation applies to the use of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) R-134a. HFCs are fluorinated greenhouse gases (f-gases) with a relatively high Global Warming Potential (GWP). So while R134-a is an ozonefriendly, chlorine-free, energy-efficient, low toxicity refrigerant, its use accelerates climate change. The EU regulation (EC517/2014) calls for the total supply of HFCs across the EU to be reduced to just 63 percent of the 2009-2012 baseline quantity by 2018, measured as the total tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This sustained reduction in capacity will continue until it reaches just 21 percent of the original baseline figure by 2030.

Jacobsen applauds the EU’s move but says the new regulations may inadvertently create a strong market for suppliers of counterfeit refrigerants. “It is likely that the reduction in the supply of EU HFCs will lead to shortages and a sharp spike in costs, meaning some operators will be tempted to purchase lower-price refrigerants,” he says. “This regulatory change will create an ideal market for counterfeiters. Despite numerous warnings, accidents and fatalities, many operators will be more willing to take a chance on gases packaged in disposable cylinders by unregistered suppliers. We anticipate that the counterfeiters of R-134a are going to be very busy in the years ahead.”