Honeywell has announced that leading global compressor manufacturers Emerson Climate Technologies, Bitzer and Frascold have approved its Solstice N40 (R-448A) and Solstice N13 (R-450A) refrigerants for use in their commercial refrigeration compressors following an extensive evaluation.

Solstice N40 and N13 are replacements for widely-used, high-global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerants used in supermarkets, condensing units and commercial refrigeration equipment. The new products, which are based on hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) technology, have global warming potentials that Honeywell says are at least 60 per cent lower than the refrigerants they are designed to replace, which are based on hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) technology. The new refrigerants are also more energy efficient.

Managing director for Honeywell Fluorine Products in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, Julien Soulet, said: 'We are very pleased that Emerson, Bitzer and Frascold have completed their testing and approved Solstice N40 and N13 for use in their commercial refrigeration compressors. We see this as a major step forward in helping the industry comply with the European Union’s F-Gas regulation. Both of these HFO blends have already been tried and tested in many different applications and are commercially available throughout Europe.'

Solstice N40 (R-448A) is a HFO blend for low- and medium-temperature refrigeration equipment including supermarket freezer cases or transport refrigeration. It is designed to replace R-22 and R-404A for both new equipment and retrofits and offers a GWP that is 66 percent lower than R-404A.

Solstice N13 (R-450A) is a HFO blend for chillers, medium-temperature applications such as supermarket display cases and self-contained refrigeration units that require a non-flammable refrigerant solution. It is designed to replace R-134a and offers a GWP that is 60 per cent lower than the GWP of R134a.