WILMINGTON, Del. — DuPont Fluorochemicals has announced the introduction of three new refrigerants in its DuPont™ Opteon® family, based on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology. The company said these refrigerants have far lower global warming potential (GWP) than the products they are designed to replace and will enable compliance with a growing number of regulations that limit the use of high-GWP refrigerants.
DuPont is introducing the new refrigerants, developed for commercial refrigeration applications, under the names Opteon XP40, Opteon XP44, and Opteon XP10. Opteon XP40 is designed to effectively replace the refrigerant R-404A, which has one of the highest GWPs of the common HFCs and is extensively used in commercial refrigeration. In addition to providing a more than 60 percent reduction in GWP, said DuPont, testing has shown that Opteon XP40 delivers superior energy efficiency compared to R-404A.
Opteon XP44 is a lower GWP replacement for the refrigerant R-404A and has been designed specifically to meet the demanding operating conditions of transport refrigeration. Opteon XP10 is a lower GWP replacement for R-134a for refrigeration and other applications.
DuPont also has additional Opteon products in its pipeline, including high-performance fluids for targeted applications such as chillers, high-temperature heat pumps, and organic rankine cycles.
“We anticipate that our new family of products will reduce greenhouse gas content of refrigerants by some 245 million tons CO2 equivalent worldwide by 2025,” said Thierry F.J. Vanlancker, president, DuPont Chemicals & Fluoroproducts. “The new Opteon refrigerants enable the industry to meet regulatory demands without giving up efficient, safe, and cost-effective refrigeration and air conditioning.”
The company noted that a number of regulatory drivers are demanding a transition away from hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) toward alternatives with lower global warming potential. The European Union has passed regulations that drive this transition in commercial refrigeration and air conditioning as well as in automotive air conditioning. This summer the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new rules to limit the use of certain HFCs and announced a number of actions and agreements to accelerate the transition away from HFCs. In addition to such actions by specific governmental authorities, there is growing support for an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to create a framework for global action to phase down HFCs.
“Our new products will enable the air conditioning and refrigeration industry to comply with a number of climate change regulations that have been passed or are under development,” said Kathryn K. McCord, global business director, DuPont Fluorochemicals. “We are offering solutions that not only meet new regulatory requirements, but also perform well against a range of performance, sustainability, and safety criteria.”
For additional information, visit www.dupont.com.
Publication date: 10/20/2014
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