New R134a drop-in refrigerant replacement
USA: Honeywell has announced it will be selling Solstice R456A, a new lower GWP drop-in replacement for R134a in car air conditioning systems.
While Honeywell makes no mention of its chemical components, other than it being “HFO-based”, the gas is assumed to be R456A, the refrigerant blend developed and previously announced by rival company Koura.
Koura has so far failed to respond to requests for clarification. Honeywell said it did not publicly disclose information about licensing or sales agreements.
Honeywell, which holds patents on R1234yf, the refrigerant adopted for use in all new vehicles, says that Solstice 456A will be commercially available to the European automotive aftermarket later this year.
Following its successful passage through the ASHRAE classification process, R456A was unveiled by Koura as its new lower GWP refrigerant alternative to R134a in existing automotive air conditioning systems in the UK and Europe in January.
R456A is a non-flammable blend of R32 (6%), R134a (45%) and R1234ze(E) (49%). It has a GWP of 626. Trials are said to have proven both its compatibility and performance match with R134a in existing automotive air conditioning systems.
In its press release, Honeywell says that Solstice R456A “provides an easy-to-use, economical, drop-in service solution for vehicles manufactured before 2017”.
Announcing its forthcoming availability, Honeywell’s automotive refrigerants vice president and general manager, said: “With more than 200 million cars on the roads in Europe still using R134A, there is a need in the market for a sustainable and economical product to support auto repair shops servicing these vehicles.”
Koura’s new lower GWP option for existing R134a systems
USA: Refrigerant manufacturer Koura has unveiled its new lower GWP refrigerant alternative to R134a in existing automotive air conditioning systems in the UK and Europe.
Branded Klea 456A, the new R456A refrigerant is a non-flammable blend of R32 (6%), R134a (45%) and R1234ze(E) (49%). It has a GWP of 626, a reduction of 46% compared to R134a.
Trials are said to have proven both its compatibility with existing R134a automotive air conditioning systems and its performance match with R134a.
Koura is working with Texa SpA, the Italian imanufacturer of air conditioning recharge stations, to obtain EU (CE) and UK certification for the refrigerant.
Stefano Menghel, product manager at Texa said: “Klea 456A refrigerant represents another advancement in the automotive aftermarket and we are delighted to be working with Koura to help bring this product to market.”
Koura is currently engaging with distributors to bring Klea 456A to market within the UK and EU.
Ongoing research
Brad Hooper, Koura’s commercial director EMEAI, maintained that the company was committed to innovation. “Our ongoing research and development programme has been a key focus for over 15 years, with product development part of the company’s ongoing evolution,” he said.
Colleague Dave Smith, Koura vice president product management & strategy, promised more innovations in 2022. “Koura has shown that many of these innovations can make a real difference to businesses, to the environment, and to people’s lives, and so we are focused on rolling out these innovations into new applications and giving them real effect.”
In January last year Koura launched R473A, a refrigerant with a significantly lower GWP than existing HFCs currently being used in ultra-low temperature cooling applications. The following month, the Cooling Post revealed that Koura was developing an alternative to CO2 in mobile air conditioning systems and domestic heat pumps with better efficiencies and lower operating pressures.
Background to R456A
Developed by Koura under the development name AC5X, R456A follows a line of innovative Koura refrigerants developed as potential automotive refrigerants but never made it to market.
Under its former Mexichem name, Koura developed a blend refrigerant, AC6 (R445A), as a replacement for R134a in MAC systems. It received very positive reviews, and was said to be less flammable than R1234yf, but, coming after yf, it could not gain a foothold in the market.
A sister product AC5 was said to closely match the performance of R134a whilst having similar flammability characteristics to R1234yf.
AC6 was a blend of R1234ze(E), R134a and CO2 (85%/9%/6%). AC5 (R444A) blended R1234ze(E) with R32 and R152a (83%/12%/5%).
Source: Coolingpost