Carrier confirms its refrigerant strategy in Europe by choosing HFO refrigerants with low Global Warming Potential (GWP) for most of its commercial heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) product applications.
Carrier is committed to delivering solutions that preserve the environment and comply with the European Union’s F-Gas Regulations. Aside from confirming its move toward low GWP refrigerants, Carrier in Europe has achieved a significant reduction of the refrigerant charge in its products of up to 50% over the last five years. Carrier has been working to select the best candidate to replace the HFC R-134a in screw and centrifugal chillers and HFC R-410A in scroll chillers, heat pumps and rooftop units.
For screw chillers and heat pumps, Carrier chose HFO R-1234ze to replace HFC R-134a. With a GWP less than 1, according to the 5th Assessment Report of the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), R-1234ze(E) is not impacted by restrictions from the EU F-gas regulation or the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol on fluorinated greenhouse gases. It is part of the Carrier PUREtec family of long-term refrigerant solutions. Carrier was the first to launch the newest generation of its AquaForce chillers with PUREtec refrigerant three years ago and it continues to grow with more than 300 units installed in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and more than 2 million cumulated hours and proven reliability that is a core value of Carrier. Products in this range are improving product efficiency by an average of 10%, already exceed Eco-design 2021 requirements and meet today the Kigali Amendment requirements for 2036.
Carrier chose HFO R-1233zd(E) as the preferred long-term refrigerant for centrifugal chillers. With a GWP of 1, it is also not impacted by F-Gas regulations. The Carrier AquaEdge 19DV is a good example of a successful range using this refrigerant.
For scroll commercial chillers and heat pump ranges, currently available compressor technology is not compatible with low GWP HFO refrigerants. Some solutions operate with mid-GWP HFC refrigerants and Carrier is developing a full range of cooling and heating products that will comply with and exceed Eco-design 2021 efficiency requirements and operate with mid-GWP HFC refrigerants. These ranges are expected to launch very soon and are optimized for energy efficiency while offering the same operating temperature flexibility as current units operating with R-410A.
As technology leader in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning industry with its different chillers’ ranges, Carrier is pursuing its technological development for long term solutions with lower impact on the global warming potential and reaffirms its commitment to sustainability.