July 11, 2005—Honeywell has announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved Genetron R-245fa as a replacement for a variety of ozone-depleting refrigerants used in air conditioning and refrigeration for both new and retrofit applications. The notification is part of the EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy, or SNAP, that reviews and approves products used to replace ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) chemicals.
Until recently, explains Honeywell, R-245fa, a non-ozone-depleting hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), was only SNAP-approved for use in new low-pressure centrifugal chillers in the United States. The new approval means R-245fa can be used in a much broader range of new air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, as well as to retrofit existing equipment currently using CFC and HCFC refrigerants, so that owners can comply with the phaseout of ozone-depleting substances. The product has been used successfully for a variety of applications outside the United States, explains Honeywell.
Only 58 percent of the 80,000 CFC chillers in use at the end of 1995 in the US had been replaced or converted as of January 1, 2005, according to a recent survey of chiller manufacturers by an industry group.
For more information, visit the Honeywell Web site.
