The Chemours Company (Chemours) announced the successful installation of Opteon refrigerant at Pepsi Center, home of the Colorado Avalanche. Opteon, the official refrigerant solution of the NHL, is a sustainable, reliable and cost-effective refrigerant offering for ice refrigeration chiller systems. Trane, one of the world's leading heating, ventilation, air conditioning and cooling (HVAC) equipment manufacturers, provided the turn-key chiller solution for the arena's rink operators.
Opteon refrigerants provide an optimal balance of performance, safety, and cost efficiency compared to other alternatives, while providing sustainable solutions for ice rinks. Opteon XP10 (R-513A) refrigerant is a non-ozone depleting potential, low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant for new equipment and retrofit of existing systems. As demonstrated by the successful chiller conversion at Pepsi Center, Opteon XP10 offers an excellent cooling capacity and energy efficiency match for R-134a that is easy serviced and environmentally sustainable.
"KSE and Pepsi Center are committed to creating a superb gameday experience for players and fans, alike," said, Doug Ackerman, Senior Vice President, Venues at Kroenke Sports Enterprises. "From puck movement to the traction of skate blades, ice quality can have a significant impact on the quality of play, and I am pleased that the recent transition of Pepsi Center to an Opteon based refrigerant system has met that challenge and demonstrated top quality ice production."
"We share our customers' commitment to sustainability by providing environmentally responsible products without compromising safety, performance or efficiency," said David Gauvin, Strategic Manager, Ice Rinks North America, Trane. "Pepsi Center has set a leading example for the sports community with its forward-thinking innovative approach in their operations."
As part of the Montreal Protocol, production of broadly-used HCFC refrigerants has been phased out. HFCs are expected to be phased down over the next several years due to proposed state and federal regulation of high GWP refrigerants. As many of the rinks in North America, particularly in the USA, currently use these refrigerants, the NHL and Chemours are committed to working with ice rinks owners and operators across North America to help them navigate the refrigerant landscape and identify cost-effective, safe, environmentally-preferable alternatives that make sense for them.
