New Refrigerants from Honeywell

Chris LaPietra, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Stationary Refrigerants, joins us to talk about some new releases from Honeywell. He also covers refrigerants in general.

As our industry reduces its reliance on R-22 (and eventually R-410A), we have turned to more flammable solutions. There is a tradeoff in safety for the lower GWP, though. However, along with some slightly less flammable A2L refrigerants, Honeywell is releasing two new A1 refrigerants: R-466A and R-515B (N-15). These are non-toxic, don't catch fire, and have a lower environmental impact than R-410A and R-22.

The Montreal Protocol was a groundbreaking initiative to phase out ozone-depleting substances to help slow down climate change. As a result, R-22 has undergone a phase-out. The Kigali Amendment is the next step, which addresses global warming potential and targets substances with high GWP for a phase-down. So, as R-410A will go in a similar direction to R-22, manufacturers have come on the scene; they are developing alternative refrigerants that address the global climate initiative. Instead of creating new HFCs, manufacturers are inventing new blends and HFOs to replace HFCs.

Honeywell wants to avoid creating undue risk in the marketplace. So, they take feedback from their customers and make sure technicians feel comfortable working with their refrigerants. They also keep the best practices pretty similar to those of working with R-410A.

Chris and Bryan also discuss:

• Residential HVAC vs. commercial refrigeration solutions
• The ZE product line
• ASHRAE terms and definitions
• How R-32 is made (and A2L refrigerant blends)
• Global warming potential (GWP) vs. ozone-depleting potential (ODP)
• How Honeywell develops new refrigerants
• Trading off efficiency for lower GWP
• E-cooling and the potential of the electronics market