During the last few years, globally the environment-conscious HVAC-R community has meticulously taken up the challenge of developing new refrigerants that are expected to drastically reduce the harmful effects on the earth’s environment. Several new products have already hit the market and many are on the verge of launch.
Owing to the new laws that governments are implementing, the old refrigerants are being phased out, thus the demand for new ones is increasing fast. According to the ResearchAndMarkets’ recent report,global Next Generation Refrigerants Market is anticipated to witness robust growth in the forecast period, 2024-2028 due to the increased concerns about global warming around the world. In 2020, the earth’s surface temperature was around 0.98 degrees Celsius warmer than the 20th century average.
Next-generation refrigerants with little to no Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) include ammonia and tetrafluoro propene. Due to the growing demand for environmentally friendly production processes, the need for next-generation refrigerants is growing rapidly. The two next-generation refrigerants with zero ODP and GWP are natural refrigerants and hydrofluoroolefins and others. These factors are expected to boost market expansion.
Growing uses of next generation refrigerants
The use of Next Generation Refrigerants in a wide range of end-user industries, for instance, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, personal care, and industrial, is expected to increase the growth of the overall market at a substantial rate. Moreover, HFCs are frequently used as refrigerants because they are more effective at cooling and heating than other refrigerants. HFCs don’t include chlorine; hence, they impact the ozone layer less. In addition, HFCs produce polymer foams as blowing agents, fire retardants, solvents in cleaning products, and plasma etching to manufacture semiconductors. All these factors are propelling the growth rate of the market.
Mergers & acquisitions
In 2021, Honeywell and Trane Technologies launched the eco-friendly next-generation refrigerant N41, an alternative to the highly flammable and toxic R-410A. N41 has the same efficiency level as R-410A, while it also reduces the global warming impact by 65%. N41 has widespread applications like commercial air conditioning in variable refrigerant flow, rooftops, and residential air conditioning in unitary ducted equipment.
Recent developments
A new technology called Life-Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP), developed by the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) in collaboration with the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Technology Institute (AHRTI) can estimate the effectiveness and performance of a typical commercial refrigeration system with alternative refrigerants and minor system modifications to provide lower-GWP refrigerant solutions with improved LCCP in comparison to baseline systems.
New product launches
Daikin introduced the first R-32 refrigerant-powered residential air conditioner. R-32 transfers heat at a much higher rate and can reduce energy consumption by up to 10% compared to R-22 and R-410A. Moreover, R-32 reduces global warming and the carbon footprint and has a significantly lower environmental impact. They have only 1/3 of the GWP of R-410A and an ozone depletion of 0.
Koura recently developed two refrigerants, Koura Klea 473A and Koura Klea 456A. Koura Klea 473A can reduce at an overwhelming rate of +85% GWP and perform efficiently even in adverse conditions like low temperatures. In contrast, Koura Klea 456A is economical and a substitute for 134a, which can reduce GWP by up to 50%.
Key market players
Honeywell International, Zhejiang Juhua, Arkema, Daikin, Chemours, SRF Limited, TazzettiS.p.A, ASPEN Refrigerants, The Chemours Company, and The Linde Group are some of the key players operating in the market.
Very recent initiatives
Chemours: The Chemours Company (Chemours), a global chemistry company with leading market positions in Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials, has recently announced its roadmap for next-generation thermal management solutions at the 2023 AHR Expo. This three-horizon plan includes commercial product adoption, new blend development collaboration, and next-generation product development – all of which are currently underway.
Horizon one, commercial product adoption, includes continuing the company’s commitment to supporting the adoption of its current product offerings including its Opteon™ XL and XP series of zero ODP, low GWP refrigerants, which offer the optimal balance of performance, sustainability, cost, and are classified as none or mildly-flammable refrigerants. Horizon two is focused on collaborations with customers to identify the most promising development blends with lower-GWPs to meet the coming phase downs and to support Chemours’ already robust portfolio of ultra-low GWP products such as Opteon™ YF.
Building upon the performance, safety, and sustainability profile of its Opteon™ portfolio, horizon three is the investment in the development of next-generation thermal management solutions. Chemours expects this novel fluorinated technology to balance critical properties from GWP to flammability to degradation profile and performance to meet customer needs and the evolving regulatory landscape. It is the company’s intention to have these innovative and sustainable solutions available for customer qualification in 2025.
Honeywell: The newest addition to Honeywell’s proprietary low-GWP line of Solstice solutions for various applications, Solstice N71 (R-471A) is the supermarket industry’s first non-flammable and energy-efficient solution with a GWP of less than 150.
Solstice N71 expands Honeywell’s line of Solstice products, which includes Solstice N40, the most widely adopted replacement refrigerant for R-404A for the supermarket industry. Solstice N40 has been adopted by more than 60,000 supermarkets globally since its release in 2015. With Solstice N71, Honeywell has engineered the next generation solution that meets increasingly stringent regulations that combat climate change and is accelerating the industry’s ability to achieve carbon neutrality. The new addition to the Solstice line builds on Honeywell’s track record of sharply reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations and facilities as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals.
The arrival of Solstice N71 will provide a timely lifeline to supermarkets, helping them comply with new standards, including those in California and the European Union that restrict refrigerants with a GWP greater than 150 in new systems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is also considering a similar national regulation that may take effect in 2024. These restrictions follow guidelines established by the California Air Resource Board (CARB), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s AIM Act, and the pre-established F-Gas regulation in the EU stemming from the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons.
Sources: ResearchAndMarkets, Chemours, Honeywell
