Refrigerant manufacturer says decision will help accelerate transition to lower-GWP gases
Honeywell has announced that it will exit the sale of R404A and R507 in the EU by 2018 in order to meet the deadline set by the EU’s F-gas regulations and in anticipation of severe reductions in quota for the higher-GWP refrigerants. In their place, Honeywell will be offering its low GWP alternatives such as Solstice N40 (R448A) and Genetron Performax LT (R407F).
Julien Soulet, managing director for Honeywell Fluorine Products in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India said: “Given the upcoming targets set by the F-Gas Regulation, customers will soon encounter reduced availability of high-GWP products. We encourage refrigeration customers to work closely with Honeywell’s Authorised Distributors to accelerate the transition to near drop-in replacement products that are available now and fully comply with F-Gas regulations.”
The F-gas regulations include a ban on servicing of larger refrigeration systems containing R404A and other high-GWP regrigerants in 2020.
The company said it is taking this action ’in anticipation of the expected scarcity of high GWP products due to the F-gas Regulation phase-down schedule.’
In a statement, the company said: ”The F-gas Regulation states how much refrigerant can be placed on the European market each year, based on GWP. It requires significant and increasingly larger and faster reductions of the highest-GWP HFCs well ahead of 2020. Due to the large, mandated reduction in quota to be implemented on January 1, 2018, it is expected that an accelerated phase-out of high-GWP products will be required in order to cope with the phase-down timing. This means that customers need to convert now to more environmentally preferable solutions in order to prepare for the scarcity of high-GWP products anticipated in 2018 and to fully meet the F-gas requirements by the end of 2019.”
The manufacturer said the replacement refrigerants can be serviced long-term, beyond any of the F-gas ban dates and are commercially available now.
R448A has a GWP of 1273 and demonstrates 3 per cent lower energy consumption in low-temperature applications such as freezer display cases, and up to 16 percent lower energy consumption in medium-temperature applications such as supermarket supermarket-display cases, the firm said. Solstice N40 can be used in new installations, as well as to retrofit systems currently using R22, R404A and R507 and interim blends.
R407F has a GWP of 1674 and is already being used in over 15,000 supermarkets worldwide, Honeywell added. During a long-term test conducted by Asda, Genetron Performax LT consumed 9 per cent less energy than systems using R407A, and 14 per cent less energy than systems running R404A in medium-temperature. It is specifically designed to replace R404A, R507 and R407A refrigerants, and can be used in retrofits as well as new installations.
Source: https://www.racplus.com/news/honeywell-to-stop-sale-of-r404a-and-r507-by-2018/10018992.article
