Dubai, UAE, 12 November 2018: The global reception for Honeywell’s Solstice N41 has been exceptional, said Sanjeev Rastogi, Vice President and General Manager, Fluorine Products, who added that a number of OEM providers have expressed interest in working with the refrigerant. “Historically the AC market had a really tough time finding a non-flammable, low GWP refrigerant,” he said. “N41 is just that, it’s energy efficient and there are very limited changes in design required, for the OEM to implement the solution. Also, because it is almost a drop-in solution, the entire contractor and after-market can continue operating as if there was no change in the refrigerant.” The United Arab Emirates, Rastogi emphasises, is the perfect candidate for N41, as the refrigerant is more energy efficient, even if the temperature is higher. Non-flammability is also of paramount concern to local stakeholders, he added.

Another aspect that will lower resistance to N41’s adoption, Rastogi said, is the fact that from a training perspective, the use of the refrigerant will not be an issue, as there will be no dramatic changes in terms of training and, with regulations emerging in favour of low-GWP refrigerants, N41 will be the easiest for OEMs to implement. “We go through a lot of effort to make sure the amount of redesign required is minimal,” he said.

Rastogi added that since Solstice N41 will be of lower cost than HFCs in Europe, the region will be more willing to adopt the solution. “In addition to just the cost per unit of the refrigerant,” he said, “the alternative is to go to a flammable refrigerant, where the cost of adoption is very high, not just in designing the equipment and making it safe but also in training the entire channel to deal with it, and the risk is very high as well.”

Rastogi said Honeywell plans to commercialise Solstice N41 in 2019. While testing will be done globally, he said, the company will target countries where there are regulations to phase out R-410A, where the price of HFCs are high, such as in Europe, and where energy efficiency is a desirable attribute, such as in the Middle East.

Hannah Jo Uy is Assistant Editor at Climate Control Middle East magazine. She may be contacted at hannah@cpi-industry.com