Articles Tagged with ''HFO refrigerant''

Honeywell announced that it has started full-scale commercial production of a low-global warming potential (GWP) material used as an aerosol propellant, insulating agent, and refrigerant.

This past year I was working on a story in which I asked contractors to comment on trends in refrigerants. I was doing so because so much of my writing in 2014 related to new directions for such gases. I start 2015 with the same theme: Continue to work with familiar refrigerants, but be prepared to shift to newer kids on the block.

HFO refrigerants are actually unsaturated HFC refrigerants and are widely recognized as the next generation of refrigerants because of their environmental friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and great energy efficiencies.

It’s one thing to announce new refrigerants. It is another thing to figure out how they will work in real-life situations. With the industry facing an apparent shift to low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, the performance of those gases is being carefully studied.

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.

AHRI representatives said the HVACR industry is committing $5 billion over the next decade to research and develop new refrigerants and equipment to help accomplish the phasedown.

Contractors hoping for a final word on the newest refrigerants will have to wait — but maybe only a bit longer. Research continues and most of the studies are focusing on low-GWP HFCs and HFOs. But the good news is that what is currently being worked on could well represent the last generation of refrigerants.

Contractors hoping for the final word on the newest refrigerants may not have to wait much longer.