Airedale Chiller with Low-GWP HFO Refrigerant to Cool New John Lewis Store
R-1234ze Has a Global Warming Potential Lower Than One, Better Than CO2
LEEDS, United Kingdom — The first UK-manufactured chiller incorporating the low global warming potential (GWP) HFO refrigerant R-1234ze is now cooling shoppers visiting the new £15 million John Lewis department store that opened in York.
Airedale’s TurboChill™ TCC R-1234ze based chiller is the first of its kind to roll off the company’s Leeds production line. One of the “fourth generation” refrigerants, R-1234ze is a hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) based refrigerant rated by the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) with a GWP lower than one, better than CO2. This compares with GWPs of 2,088 and 1,430 respectively for more traditional refrigerants such as R-410A and R-134a. HFO refrigerants break down more readily in the atmosphere than their predecessors; in the case of R-1234ze this process takes just 16.4 days, compared with 14 years for R-134a.