On November 1, Honeywell Japan (President: Eric Wagner) started to sell a new low-GWP refrigerant which substitutes R22/R404A for freezer refrigerators for business use. The new product “SOLTICE N40” is a new mixed refrigerant which has been delivered by some sectors for the sampling purposes for demonstrative verifications, with refrigerant No. R448A registered in ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air –conditioning Engineers). It is a mixture of HFC and HFO which include five refrigerants of R32, R125, R1234yf, R134a and R 1234ze (Z). The gas has been developed as an alternative refrigerant of R22 or R404A to be used for a variety of freezer refrigerators for the cold show cases or business use which are widely prevailing for use in supermarkets and convenience stores. The main features are low GWP value, non-flammable properties and energy-saving nature. The GWP value is 1387 attaining a lower value of 3922 by 65% for 3922 of R404A, but its ODP (ozone depletion potential) is zero same as R404A.

With regard to the energy-saving potential, the company says, “We could confirm a cutting of power consumption of maximum 3% in freezing appliances and 5 to 15% in refrigerators comparing with R404A.” It is based on the results of verification tests in European and American supermarkets.” However, the energy saving potential in Japan is now on the way of verification.

In our country the CFC discharge control law enforced last April determined a target to reduce GWP to 1500 or less by 2025 on the refrigerants for freezer refrigerators for business use, and this product meet a standard. In addition, it is defined to satisfy the conditions to be included as inert gas designated in the freezer safety regulations in Japan, while in the United States of America they say that it is registered as an alternative refrigerant for all freezer refrigerators in the SNAP (Significant New Alternatives Policy) program in the measures against global warming.

The domestic sales is limited only to NRC (non-rechargeable cylinders). Katsuyuki Takise of Honeywell’s Division Manager in charge of Japan said, “As SOLTICE N40 can be also used by near-drop-in for the existing R404A cylinder, it enables to transfer to a low-GWP refrigerant at substantially low cost. We are expecting a wide variety of applications.”