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Honeywell partners with DunAn on R466A

USA/CHINA: Refrigerant manufacturer Honeywell says that Chinese refrigeration and air conditioning components manufacturer Zhejiang DunAn Artificial Environment is to develop components compatible with its A1 refrigerant R466A.

Branded by Honeywell as Solstice N41, R466A was first announced in 2018 and created huge interest in the air conditioning world by promising to be the industry’s first A1, non-flammable lower GWP refrigerant replacement for R410A in stationary air conditioning systems.

Since then, Honeywell reports that R466A has undergone extensive analysis by over 15 OEMs and leading compressor manufacturers, accumulating more than 100,000 hours in different air conditioning applications. 

Honeywell has previously announced partnerships with US component manufacturer Sporlan and Chinese supplier Sanhua. In 2019, air conditioning manufacturers Toshiba Carrier and Midea both reported “promising” test results with R466A and Trane is known to be carrying out extensive testing but, so far, no major OEM has introduced models using the new refrigerant.

Strategic manufacturer

DunAn Environment is a leading enterprise in the global refrigeration components industry, and a strategic partner for global air conditioning manufacturers. The company has R&D centres and manufacturing plants in the USA and Thailand, and companies or sales organisations in North America, South America, Europe, Japan, Korea, Thailand, India, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Its products include refrigeration valves, heat exchangers, and pressure vessels for household and commercial air conditioners, heat pumps and refrigeration and freezing. In addition, DunAn provides components for thermal management of new energy vehicles and equipment manufacturing, including commercial air conditioners, special air conditioners and cold chain equipment for nuclear power, purification and rail transit.

“The non-flammability and reduced-GWP properties of Solstice N41 provide real breakthroughs for the HVAC industry,” said Shan Yukuan, deputy director of Technology Center, DunAn Environment. “DunAn is glad to partner with Honeywell to carry out evaluation and certification of key HVAC components for Solstice N41 use and promote the widespread application of this innovative technology.”

“By working with leading air conditioning and refrigeration manufacturers and component suppliers such as DunAn, we can move towards industry adoption and help customers meet overall sustainability goals,” commented Honeywell vice president and general manager, Ken West.

Gree involvement

In the past few days, it has been announced that Chinese air conditioning manufacturer Gree is to invest around US$470m to buy a nearly 40% stake in DunAn. The deal will make Gree DunAn’s controlling shareholder.

Related stories:

Honeywell partners with Sporlan on R466A refrigerant – 19 September 2019
USA: The Sporlan Division of controls and components manufacturer Parker Hannifin has given the thumbs up to R466A, Honeywell’s yet to be introduced low GWP, non-flammable replacement for R410A. Read more…

Honeywell joins forces with Sanhua on R466A – 14 August 2019
USA: Honeywell has joined forces with Sanhua, the Chinese air conditioning and refrigeration controls and components manufacturer, to commercialise the use of R466A, Honeywell’s lower GWP R410A replacement refrigerant. Read more…

Midea opts for Honeywell’s A1 aircon refrigerant R466A – 26 June 2019
USA/CHINA: Chinese manufacturer Midea is looking to use Solstice N41 (R466A), Honeywell’s new non-flammable, lower GWP refrigerant, in all its VRF and chiller systems. Read more…

Promising results for R466A in VRF air con tests – 10 January 2019
USA: Toshiba Carrier is said to have described R466A, Honeywell’s new non-flammable R410A replacement, as “promising” after initial performance testing in a VRF air conditioning system. Read more…

R466A has close performance to R410A – 14 October 2018
GERMANY: Solstice N41, Honeywell’s new non-flammable lower GWP refrigerant, is said to have performance characteristics close to R410A. Read more…

Honeywell’s N41 – a blast from the past – 24 August 2018
CF3I is, seemingly, the unknown quantity in Solstice N41, Honeywell’s new R410A replacement refrigerant. But the records show that far from being new to the refrigerants business, it has been considered as a component in replacements for CFCs, HCFCs as well as HFCs in tests dating back at least 30 years. Could the earlier adoption of CF3I have saved the industry a number of system changes along the way? Read more…

Secret of Honeywell’s new refrigerant – 27 June 2018
USA: Honeywell’s development of a non-flammable low GWP alternative to R410A has created huge interest, but what’s in it? The Cooling Post may have the answer. Read more…

Honeywell announces R410A breakthrough – 26 June 2018
USA: Honeywell has announced the development of a new lower GWP non-flammable alternative to R410A in stationary air conditioning systems. Read more…

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