R449A retrofit brings 8% energy savings

NETHERLANDS: The retrofit of 175 Ahold supermarkets to lower GWP refrigerant R449A has brought the added benefit of an 8% increase in energy efficiency.

Developed and sold by Chemours as Opteon XP40, R449A is suitable as an alternative to R404A/R507A in new and existing commercial and industrial medium and low temperature refrigeration systems. Having a GWP of 1397, its global warming potential is 65% lower than these existing refrigerants.

Ahold began the retrofit project in September 2014 as part of a programme to dramatically cut their CO2 emissions by 20% relative to 2008 levels by 2015.

The decision to transition their refrigeration systems to R449A was made after an initial trial in which the new refrigerant was shown to provide a distinctly higher energy efficiency than the previously used R407F and R507A.

When Ahold and its consultants, PW Vlaskamp of Dordrecht, subsequently ran a series of tests on the effectiveness of the retrofit, the results showed an 8% boost in energy efficiency. It was also determined that due to the lack of abatement costs, the entire capital expenditure of the retrofit would pay for itself in under five years.

“To see these results has completely validated our decision to retrofit to Opteon XP40,” said MMA de Rooij from Ahold. “We knew that XP40 would provide the environmental benefits as a low GWP refrigerant, but the cost savings and return on investment made it so that we could meet the increasing regulations while actually improving the performance of our refrigeration systems.”

Opteon XP40 is Chemours flagship non-flammable replacement for R404A refrigerant and is approved by major equipment compressor manufacturers. Based on current orders and customer product testing, Chemours recently announced that XP40 is predicted to be in over 1,000 supermarket and commercial refrigeration systems worldwide by the end of this year.

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https://www.coolingpost.com/features/dutch-retailer-converts-200-stores-to-r449a/