REPLACEMENT OF R-404A BY A MORE EFFICIENT HFC-HFO BLEND FOR AN ITALIAN SUPERMARKET

An Italian supermarket has replaced the medium-temperature refrigerant R-404A (GWP = 3,922) of a R-404A/CO2 cascade refrigeration system by the lower GWP refrigerant blend R-449A (GWP = 1,397) – composition HFC-32 /HFC-125 /HFO-1234yf /HFC-134a, 24.3/24.7/25.3/25.7 % by weight.

The replacement of R-404A allows the supermarket not to be concerned by the F-Gas Regulation No 517 (2014) provision prohibiting the use of virgin HFCs with a GWP > 2,500 from January 2020 in systems having a charge size greater than 40 tonnes CO2-equivalent (Table 2 of The Commission document).

Comparing the energy consumption before and after the conversion revealed that power savings up to 9 % had been achieved.

Source: ACR - Heat Pumps today