Page 44 - Climate Control News Magazine

Opteon cold storage solution
hits sweet spot
WITH SO MANY BUSINESSES REVIEWING REFRIGERANT USE AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE NEXT DECADE, THIS TIMELY CASE STUDY EXAMINES THE CHALLENGES SURROUNDING LOW GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL (GWP) HFO-BASED REFRIGERANT BLEND TECHNOLOGY.
siderable development costs and there was also only limited equipment available.
“Equipment does exist but the cost is signifi- cantly higher than fluorocarbon-based refriger- ant technology and the performance and relia- bility has yet to be proven for this type of application,” a Chemours spokesperson said.
“Hydrocarbons are also widely used but there are charge limitations, and costly re- quirements must be taken to ensure their safe use as they are ASHRAE flammability Class 3 (i.e. highly flammable).
“The final option was an alternative, low GWP fluorinated refrigerant. Chemours has de- veloped a very low GWP (239) HFO-based blend for use in non-hermetic equipment.
“Opteon XL40 is intended for use in specifi- cally designed new equipment and although it
IT COVERS THE very first commercial installation of Opteon XL40, to replace R- 404A, at a new logistics and storage facil- ity owned by Park Cakes Ltd.
The successful implementation was undertaken by Chemours and DawsonRentals temperature control solutions, a UK-based sup- plier of cold storage solutions for temperature- critical products.
The European Union phasedown of HFCs has led to the reduced availability of products such as R-404A, R-410A, R-407C and even R-134a. End-users are therefore seeking alternative re- frigerants with a low GWP.
Park Cakes, which is a retailer of premium desserts began by considering a range of op- tions including carbon dioxide.
Unfortunately, carbon dioxide required con-
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
44