Abstract
Although scrap domestic refrigerator is regarded as a major source of HFC-134a, little information is available for its emission characteristics of HFC-134a. This paper addresses the fugitive emission factors of domestic refrigerator at usephase and disposal-phase. The residual quantities of Korean-made forty three scrap domestic refrigerators were weighed using a commercial recover of refrigerants to determine the emission factors at the disposal-phase. On the other hand, the emission factors at use-phase were estimated from the residual quantities and operating times. The average residual rate of forty three scarp domestic refrigerators is determined to be $75.1{\pm}5.2%$. The emission factor at the use-phase is estimated to be $2.4{\pm}0.5%/yr$ as a result of using average age of 12.3 years and the average residual rate determined here. The emission factor at the disposal-phase is determined to be 31.9% after adopting 38% of the recycling rate of refrigerant reported by Recycling Center. We estimate 2.9 g/yr for the average emission quantity of HFC-134a per operating refrigerator, while 33.5 g for that per scrap domestic refrigerator. Since the chemical compositions of refrigerant of scrap domestic refrigerator were the same as those of new refrigerant, it is expected that the HFC-134a recovered from scrap domestic refrigerator can be reused for refrigerant.
