ShareCommercial refrigeration: marketing of R471A, a new alternative to R404A
Honeywell recently announced the marketing of R471A, a non-flammable refrigerant with a GWP under 150. It is expected to replace R404A in medium temperature commercial refrigeration applications.
Refrigerant manufacturer Honeywell has launched the marketing of R471A, under the name Solstice N71. This non-flammable refrigerant has a GWP of 148. It could be an interesting alternative to R404A, which has been banned since January 1st in Europe by the F-gas Regulation for several types of new sales units placed on the market. A similar national regulation that may come into force in 2024 is under consideration by the US Environmental Protection Agency. R471A is promoted for medium temperature applications.
It is a mixture of HFOs (78.7% R1234ze(E) and 17% R1336mzz(E)). The fire suppressant HFC227ea, is also part of the mixture at 4.3%. Some hindsight will surely be necessary to assess in particular the energy efficiency of R471A compared to R404A and CO2 in real conditions. In the air conditioning sector, R466A, also marketed by Honeywell, had been presented as a good alternative to R410A but recently showed compatibility problems with certain metals after tests conducted by the University of California.