VATIS UPDATE Article

Honeywell, the United States, has announced that its Solstice ze (HFO1234ze) refrigerant is being used in a new supermarket application that combines several systems to improve energy efficiency. The refrigerant is being combined with CO2 in a new supermarket cascade system designed to deliver heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration in one comprehensive, low-carbon solution.

Refrigeration specialist Tecnologie Del Freddo (TDF), Italy, worked with Honeywell to design a cascade system capable of satisfying all of the cooling, heating and air conditioning needs for a new Unes/U2 supermarket in Italy. This solution replaces conventional boiler and air conditioning units, using a heat exchanger to capture the energy generated by the refrigeration system to heat the store, provide hot water, and cool the store in the summer.

This system is expected to achieve energy savings of approximately 35 per cent per year, compared with stores with three separate refrigeration, heating and air conditioning systems. The company noted that Solstice ze is non-ozone-depleting, has a GWP of less than 1 and complies with the European F-Gas regulation. It is mildly flammable according to ASHRAE class 2L and nonflammable below 30°C.