As part of Arkema’s on-going commitment to provide safe, efficient, and environmentally sustainable refrigerants to the industry, Arkema is participating in the Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerants Evaluation Program (Low-GWP AREP) managed by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
The research program was launched as an industry-wide cooperative effort to identify and evaluate promising alternative refrigerants with low global warming potential (GWP) for use in residential air conditioning, refrigeration, heat pumps, chillers, and other HVACR applications. “Arkema is developing low-GWP solutions to eventually replace higher GWP refrigerant products in most stationary market sectors,” said Brett Van Horn, Arkema’s Global Project Leader for Low GWP Research for Forane refrigerants.
“As part of that long-term effort, we submitted several next-generation refrigerant candidates to AHRI’s Low-GWP AREP. Arkema’s candidates were designed to balance a lower GWP with safety and efficiency in different stationary applications,” Van Horn explained. “For example, Arkema’s ARM-42, with a GWP less than 150, is a low-GWP refrigerant under development for use in chillers.” “We’re also developing lower GWP refrigerant options to retrofit existing stationary systems,” said Van Horn. “ARM-32, for example, is a non-flammable blend designed to replace R-22 or R-404A, having a GWP of only about 1500 compared to 3900 for R-404A – a more than 60% reduction in GWP.
“Looking farther down the road, we are working on low-GWP options for stationary air conditioning,” said Van Horn. “R-410A, widely used in these applications, already provides an excellent environmental profile, so the challenge will be finding lower GWP options that still provide an acceptable balance of safety and efficiency.”
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