VATIS UPDATE Article

AGC Asahi Glass (AGC), Japan, has developed a new type of refrigerant for centrifugal chillers and binary cycle generators. The refrigerant is HFO-1224yd, which AGC gave the brand name AMOLEA yd as part of its AMOLEA series. It is non-flammable, has low GWP, and offers excellent theoretical efficiency. The company positions this refrigerant as a low-pressure next-generation refrigerant alternative to HFC-245fa.

While R134a is the mainstream high-pressure refrigerant and R123 is the mainstream low-pressure refrigerant for centrifugal chillers, HFC- 245fa is also used. R134a is adopted in car air conditioners, but its use in new car air conditioners is already banned in Europe in regulations to phase-down HFC consumption. In the United States, use of R134a in chillers is likely to be banned from 2025.

The phase-out of R123 (HCFC) is already set for the end of 2019 in developed countries based on the Montreal Protocol. Like HFO-1233zd(E) and HFO-1336mzz proposed by other manufacturers, HFO-1224yd is non-flammable and has low toxicity, excellent thermal stability, and high theoretical capacity. Other companies are also proposing high-pressure refrigerants such as HFO-1234ze(E) as next-generation refrigerants. All of these refrigerants, however, are mildly flammable.