NEW YORK - Arkema announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to grant the company’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) petition to allow Arkema’s new HFC, Forane® 427A commercial refrigerant, to be used in an array of refrigeration systems as a retrofit for HCFC-22. Forane 427A is a non-toxic, non-flammable refrigerant that has zero ozone-depletion potential (ODP), with performance comparable to HCFC-22.

The refrigerant is a new alternative for end users seeking a non-ozone depleting substitute for existing HCFC-22 applications, such as retail food refrigeration, industrial process air conditioning, chillers, household refrigerators and freezers, residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps, and air conditioning for buses and passenger trains. In addition to having comparable performance to HCFC-22, the company said Forane 427A is one of the lowest GWP HCFC-22 retrofits available on the market today.

Arkema’s Craig Thomas, market manager for refrigerants in North America, said “Forane 427A is another example of how Arkema provides options for our refrigerant customers when transitioning out of HCFC-22 into more environmentally sustainable products.”