Cooling - Eppendorf Malaysia

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Cooling

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Eppendorf is committed to the global climate goals. In this context, we have set ourselves targets and signed public agreements such as UN Global Compact and SBTi.

Situation

The European F-Gas Regulation (EU) 2014/517 and its intensification from 2024 ((EU) 2024/573) have the goal to drastically reduce the usage of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) as refrigerants. These HFC have a negative impact on global warming many times greater than CO_2.

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EU F-Gas Regulation 2024/573

The EU F-Gas Regulation (EU) 2024/573 is a contribution to significantly reducing industrial emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. As a result of the regulations, emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases in the European Union fell by 47% between 2015 and 2019 (listed in (EU) 2024/573), which corresponds to around 37% fewer F-gases. The target is still to reduce the use of these substances by at least 80% by 2030 ((EU) 2014/517). A CO₂ equivalent is a unit of measurement that can be used to describe the climate impact of different greenhouse gases. The global warming potential of the individual fluorinated hydrocarbons varies greatly. It is around 100 to 23,000 times higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO₂).

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Use and problem

F-gases are mainly used as refrigerants in refrigeration and air conditioning systems. They are also used for cooling in centrifuges, ULT freezers, and shakers (all refrigerated units). The regulation affects devices and refrigerants with a so-called Global Warming Potential (GWP) of over 150. For classification: CO₂ has a GWP of 1. The F-gas refrigerants currently used in devices may exceed the limit value of 150 with 1,430 (R134a), 2,142 (R452), 3,920 (R404A) and 13,400 (R508B).

Consequences

From 1^st January 2025, products with F-gas refrigerants (GWP > 150) may not be placed on the EU market for the first time, coming directly from production. This will result in a stop of production of affected instruments. Existing stock at the supplier’s warehouses can be sold out

Exception

In October 2024, the EU Commission announced an exception from the F-Gas regulation for refrigerated laboratory centrifuges ((EU) 2024/2729). By way of derogation from Regulation (EU) 2024/573, there is a time limited release for this equipment with a GWP > 150. This special release frame is authorized from January 1^st 2025 to December 31^st 2028 within the EU.

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ULT freezers

In 2008, the first Eppendorf ULT with hydrocarbon cooling (R170/ R290) was available, probably one of the first ULTs with R170/ R290 worldwide.

All current Eppendorf CryoCube® models (except CryoCube FC660 208 V) already use hydrocarbon cooling systems. They are not affected by the F-Gas Regulation.

Refrigerated shakers

Existing stock of refrigerated models will be sold out.

New developments have been started.

Centriguges

Centrifuge 5427 R is the first globally available Eppendorf centrifuge model of a new generation by using R290-cooling.

Special release frame from EU ((EU) 2024/2729), authorized from January 1st 2025 to December 31st 2028 to sell laboratory centrifuges containing cooling liquids with GWP > 150.

Highspeed centrifuges and Ultracentrifuges are not affected as they have a different cooling technology (Peltier)

Further refrigerated centrifuges with alternative refrigeration systems are under development at Eppendorf.

Eppendorf & more sustainable cooling

Eppendorf started to work on hydrocarbons as a sustainable alternative to the existing HFCs already many years ago. Since the HFC cooling liquids of -80°C freezers have a far higher GWP (R404a: 3,922; R508B: 13,396) compared to the liquids used for centrifuges (R134a: 1430), we decided to focus on the freezer business first. In 2008, the Eppendorf freezer R&D team launched one of the world’s first hydrocarbon-equipped ULT freezers. Since then, we have gradually updated our freezer portfolio and now offer a range of CryoCube® freezers, all of which are hydrocarbon driven/ cooled.

HFC-cooling for existing centrifuges

To our understanding, the EU-regulation targets on new production and phasing-out existing equipment in the long-term perspective based on limitations of HFC-refrigeration service supply. Until further notice, there is no limitation for using existing centrifuges or any other equipment in the laboratory with HFC-based cooling. If you are not sure about some equipment, please check with your local sustainability team as well as with the responsible waste management.

Disposal

If HFC-containing equipment needs to be replaced, we kindly ask you to fulfill local requirements for disposal of these instruments. We strongly recommend a certified local recycling partner with experience in instruments with active cooling. Keeping it “local“ reduces the impact of transportation, and the „certified“ aspect is recommended due to the safe and sustainable removal and recycling of the cooling liquids.

Cooling for new centrifuges

In early 2023, we launched our first hydrocarbon refrigerated centrifuge, the Centrifuge 5427 R. The development of this instrument required a lot of time-consuming testing. Our goal is to develop more environmentally friendly centrifuges while fulfilling our own highest standards of safety (after 60 years of experience with centrifuges). Further centrifuge models with HFC-free cooling are in the works.