As the cost of refrigerant has increased dramatically during the past several years, leak detection, prevention and reducing refrigerant emissions have become a high priority for supermarkets, large chilling plants, food processing plants, cold storage facilities and large air conditioning installations. In order to do this, refrigerant management through effective leak detection and refrigerant tracking is essential.
Since 2017, the cost of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants has increased between 275-700%, especially in Europe with the FGas regulations based on the global warming potential (GWP) of these gases, according to Öko-Recherche, Germany. The older refrigerants with a high GWP are being gradually phased out in favor of newer compounds with a lower GWP. These newer compounds carry a CO2 equivalent much lower than the compounds they replace. As a result, refrigerant prices have skyrocketed over the past year, with this upward trend expected to continue worldwide.