Honeywell announced Uwajimaya, one of the largest Asian grocers in the Pacific Northwest, has adopted its Solstice N40 (R-448A) lower-global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerant for its flagship Seattle location to modernize the facility and grow its sustainable practices.
Uwajimaya retrofitted its commercial refrigeration system at the Seattle store with Honeywell’s reduced-GWP alternative, replacing high-global-warming-potential refrigerant R-22. The retailer selected Solstice N40 over potential low-GWP alternative CO2 for its ease of conversion and reduced costs.
“Our refrigeration system using R-22 was 20 years old, and we needed to upgrade to a solution that is not only better for the environment but also energy-efficient, reliable and affordable,” said Miye Moriguchi, Real Estate and Facilities Manager of Uwajimaya. “Solstice N40 provided everything we were looking for in an alternative solution. It met our goals for sustainability and energy efficiency and allowed us to design a completely new system that simplified monitoring and control.”
Based on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology, Solstice N40 offers a GWP that is approximately 68 percent lower than legacy hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants like R-404A. When using Solstice N40, refrigeration systems also consume less energy than their counterparts that cool using HFCs. In U.S. and European supermarket trials, in comparison to R-404A, Solstice N40 demonstrated an average of between 5 to 15% lower energy consumption in refrigeration applications. It can be used in new installations and to retrofit existing systems using high-GWP refrigerants like R-404A and R-22.
Food retailers around the world have adopted Solstice N40 to help them comply with current and proposed regulations, including the internationally adopted Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, with the aim of reducing the use of high-GWP HFCs. Solstice N40 is the most widely accepted, lowest GWP, nonflammable replacement for R-404A, with more than 60,000 installations globally since its release in 2015.
“Solstice N40 is already a leading choice for supermarkets worldwide and its expanded adoption globally is a sign of growing awareness and action against global warming as customers move away from legacy refrigerants such as R-404A and R-22,” said Ken West, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Fluorine Products. “Switching to this environmentally-preferable solution will not only help Uwajimaya with sustainable practices, it will assist in accelerating the industry’s conversion to alternatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
