Here’s an interesting news from Spain:

Six persons have been detained by Spanish authorities for offering flammable hydrocarbon refrigerants for sale online as F-gas substitutes.

The detainees, who worked for a Granada-based company, were allegedly selling different kinds of hydrocarbon refrigerant online and providing false usage and handling instructions. They face accusations of fraud, document falsification, risk of destruction, and belonging in a criminal organisation.

Operation Ecogas, a part of the Guardia Civil, involved about thirty tonnes of gas and was conducted in the provinces of Alicante, Granada, Lleida, and Valencia.

The agents started their investigation after they came across sales of refrigerant gases being promoted as alternatives to fluorinated gases for air conditioning and refrigeration on a number of websites.

The Guardia Civil attributes the rise in automobile and air conditioner fires in Spain in recent months on the ban on using this kind of refrigerant.

It is also claimed that “serious errors” in the safety data sheets and incorrect safe storage instructions for these products were found during inspections conducted by Seprona, the environmental police branch of the Guardia Civil.

This story and image were provided courtesy of the Cooling Post page and was slightly edited prior to publication.
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