VATIS UPDATE Article

Developed by The Chemours Company, the United States, ‘Freon™ 134a’ is a non-ozone depleting HFC refrigerant replacement for R-12. It is the standard for mobile air conditioning and can also be used to retrofit existing R-12 mobile air conditioning systems. Freon™ 134a is also used in new medium- and high-temperature stationary commercial refrigeration, as well as chiller systems and home appliances. In addition, it can be used to retrofit existing R-12 refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

While HFC-134a has been the standard mobile air-conditioning refrigerant, it will not meet the EU F-gas Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) Directive. Opteon™ YF (HFO-1234yf) is a low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant candidate for use in mobile air-conditioning. Opteon™ YF has a GWP of 4 based on a 100-year time horizon, and will meet the EU MAC Directive. Opteon™ YF has physical properties similar to HFC-134a and, therefore, Opteon™ YF has the potential to be used in current HFC-134a systems with minimal system modifications.