Honeywell’s Solstice® N40 (R-448A) refrigerant for supermarket refrigeration has been named a finalist for the R&D 100 Awards. The R&D 100 Awards, sponsored by R&D Magazine, honor the 100 most innovative technologies and services of the past year. Solstice N40 was nominated by the publication in the Mechanical Devices/Materials category.

“This was a particularly strong year for research and development, led by many outstanding technologies that broadened the scope of innovation,” said R&D Magazine Editor Lindsay Hock. “We are honored to recognize these products and the project teams behind the design, development, testing, and production of these remarkable innovations and their impact in the field.”

Solstice N40 is designed to replace high-global-warming refrigerants in supermarket applications.

“Naming Solstice N40 a finalist for this award recognizes more than a decade of research and investment that resulted in new solutions to help end customers lower their greenhouse gas impact while complying with new and anticipated regulations,” said George Koutsaftes, refrigerants business director, Honeywell Fluorine Products. “In addition to its lower environmental impact, Solstice N40 is highly energy efficient, giving supermarket owners an added benefit.”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations effective July 2016 will require supermarkets, the largest consumers of the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant R-404A in the U.S., to discontinue its use as a retrofit refrigerant. R-404A will also not be permitted for use in new supermarkets beginning Jan. 1, 2017.

According to Honeywell, Solstice N40 refrigerant has a global warming potential (GWP) that is 68 percent lower than R-404A. In supermarket trials conducted in the U.S. and Europe, Solstice N40 demonstrated at least 3 percent lower energy consumption in low-temperature applications and 5 to 16 percent lower energy consumption in medium-temperature refrigeration compared with R-404A. Solstice N40 is nonflammable (ASHRAE A1) and non-ozone-depleting.

Honeywell’s other Solstice refrigerants that are approved under the EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program include: Solstice yf (R-1234yf), a low-global-warming replacement for R-134a, commonly used for automotive air conditioning; Solstice zd (R-1234zd) and Solstice ze (R-1234ze), which can be used in chillers and a wide range of other end uses; and Solstice N13 (R-450A), which can be used in new and retrofit vending machines.