"The DuPont™ ISCEON® 9 Series refrigerant line has been well received by customers since its global debut at IKK in Germany last November, and is now available through the extensive DuPont distribution network in the United States and Canada," said Jim Bachman, national sales and marketing manager, DuPont Refrigerants. "With this new line, DuPont can meet the needs of end-users and contractors for easy-to-use, cost-effective, mineral oil compatible retrofit refrigerants."

Bachman added, "DuPont refrigerants stands ready to help the North America supermarket industry meet its next big challenge - to complete the move away from ozone-depleting refrigerants." The reference was to HCFC-22, which still remains a popular refrigerant in supermarket applications.

Specifically, the retrofit at the unidentified supermarket used HFC-422A, which DuPont is marketing as ISCEON MO79. Bachman said the refrigerant "offers capacity and energy efficiency comparable to R-404A, while dramatically improving miscibility with mineral oil." He said it could be used to replace R-22, -502, -402A, -408A, -404A, and –507.

R-404A and -507, both of which require POE oil, are the most commonly used HFCs by OEMs for new low and medium temperature refrigeration systems in supermarkets and convenience stores. Bachman said, "The ISCEON series refrigerants offer 20 to 40 percent lower global warming potential than either R-404A or R-507."

"We've made it easier to move away from R22 with the ISCEON 9 Series refrigerants," said Mark Baunchalk, global business manager, DuPont Refrigerants. "The idea of providing our customers with more sustainable cooling solutions is fundamental to our vision for this business we call the Science of Cool."

The company also noted that information on the ISCEON refrigerant blends and Suva® HFC refrigerants are accessible on a newly enhanced DuPont Refrigerants Website (http://refrigerants.dupont.com), which the company said "has been redesigned and customized for key user groups."

MORE HFCS WITH MO

While DuPont was offering R-422A, it also announced it was seeking an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SNAP listing for a refrigerant it is labeling ISCEON MO29 with a pending American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) number of R-422D. At the same time, ICOR International (www.icorinternational.com), which also markets R-422A under its One Shot brand name, announced that it was planning to launch R-422B under the brand name NU-22B.

(All R-422s have the same blend of refrigerants. The letters after the numbers signify slightly different percentages of the refrigerant mixes.)

The 422s are currently primarily targeted for retrofits of R-22 systems, with the latter refrigerant in the midst of a phase out and rising prices.

ICOR officials said its R-422B (NU-22B) could be used in a wide range of applications typically using R-22. "It is a dead-on match to R-22," said one official.

Also entering the alternatives to R-22 developments was Refrigerant Services Inc. (www3.ns.simpatico.ca/refrigerant) with R-424A that it is marketing as RS-44. The company from Nova Scotia said the product could be used in "commercial air conditioning, commercial and industrial refrigeration, appliances and others."

MORE REFRIGERANT NEWS

The Honeywell refrigerants sector (www.honeywell.com/genetron) used the expo to show its wide range of products and to announce that David Diggs has been named global business manager for Honeywell's Specialty Materials refrigerants business. He previously had worked on new product development and most recently served as global product manager for refrigerants. He has a degree in chemical engineering from Princeton and a master in business from MIT.

Publication date: 02/13/2006