The Chemours Company (Chemours), a chemistry company with leading market positions in titanium technologies, fluoroproducts, and chemical solutions announced that to support the market transition driven by the European Union F-Gas regulation to lower GWP alternatives and prepare for the next quota phase down in 2021, the company will be suspending supply of high GWP refrigerants R-404A (GWP 3922) and R-507A (GWP 3985) in the European Union as of January 1, 2020.
The F-Gas Regulation mandates specific prohibitions of use, as outlined in Annex III of the legislation. As of January 1, 2020, there will be a prohibition of the use of stationary refrigeration equipment that contains, or whose functioning relies upon, HFCs with GWP of 2,500 or more (except equipment intended for applications designed to cool products to temperatures below -50C).
In addition, the regulation reduces the amount of HFCs placed on the market over a 15-year period with the next quota phasedown taking effect as of January 1, 2021. This can be achieved by transitioning away from high-GWP refrigerants such as R-404A and R-507A to lower-GWP refrigerants such as those in the Opteon portfolio. Chemours offers several options for a smooth and effective transition: Opteon XP40 (R-449A) and Opteon XL40 (R-454A) and XL20 (R-454C).
Opteon XP40 (R-449A), an A1 class refrigerant with a GWP of 1397 by AR4 measurement, is currently the refrigerant of choice among supermarkets, retailers, contractors, distributors and end-users in the EU for retrofit. It delivers improved performance and energy efficiency with a more sustainable environmental footprint and offering over 65 per cent reduction in GWP compared to R-404A. n
