Saudi Arabia is moving away from HCFCs. This was the insight Amir Naqvi, Regional Marketing Leader, Honeywell Fluorine Products, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, shared with Climate Control Middle East, based on his observations gleaned from the company’s activities in the country. “Even in the foam insulation sector, polyurethane foam, they will stop that completely next year,” he said. “We are currently working with the local industry who are slowly looking to adapt.”

Naqvi said Honeywell has been working with Integrated Industrial Gases and CGS, a leading contractor for cold rooms, and they have chosen GenetronPerformax LT to help them move away from the traditional R 404A A refrigerant, “which has very [high] global warming potential and poor energy-efficiency performance”. Naqvi further explained, “This allows them to save 10-15% on performance.”

Another interesting application Naqvi said he has observed in Saudi Arabia is related to the service industry. “These big chillers and ACs in the Kingdom,” he said, “require regular servicing, owing to stress of high-ambient conditions, [which leads to] compressor burns. They clean it with a solvent, which was an old HCFC-based solution and not good for the environment.” As such, he said, Honeywell provided an HFO-based solution for the condenser and heat exchanger coil to help enhance a system’s overall performance.