LOW GWP HFOs AND HFCs REFRIGERANT BLENDS SUBSTITUTES TO HIGH GWP HFCs

As a consequence of the F-Gas Regulation provisions regarding the HFC phase-down and the equipment use restrictions, producers and equipment manufacturers have worked to introduce a number of lower GWP alternatives, by blending HFCs with HFO-1234yf or HFO-1234ze. Blends compositions have to be fine tuned in order to meet technical and energy efficiency performances expected for each kind of application.

The following alternatives have recently received technical interest.

R-404A (GWP 3,922) alternatives: R-452A (GWP 2,140) has been adopted for transport refrigeration, and R-448A or R-449A (GWP 1,386 or 1,397) have been approved for commercial refrigeration use. These blends have significantly lower GWPs than R-404A, with their compositions and GWPs being influenced by the technical requirements.

R-410A (GWP 2,088) alternative: R-452B (GWP 698) for use in chillers. HFC-134a (GWP 1.430) alternatives: R-513 (GWP 631) is proposed for use in chillers, and R-450A (GWP 600) for use in chillers and commercial refrigeration applications.

Composition for the different blends can be found here.

Note : GWP values are from the F-Gas Regulation 517 (2014), based on IPCC AR4.

See also the Factsheet “'Selecting and Using GWP values for Refrigerants”'