Honeywell International Inc, has announced that Heatcraft Refrigeration Products (Heatcraft), a manufacturer of commercial refrigeration equipment and systems as part of Lennox International, is developing new walk-in unit coolers, condensing units, and condensers for supermarkets and retailers that operate using Honeywell Solstice® L40X (R-455A).

Honeywell Solstice L40X is a ready-now, low-global-warming-potential (GWP), energy-efficient hydrofluoroolefin (HFO)-blend solution for commercial refrigeration applications. Its GWP below 150 allows retailers to remain compliant with hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phase-down requirements and contribute to sustainability goals. The solution has the highest capacity and largest charge size of any A2L refrigerant with a GWP of less than 150, allowing for a lower run time ratio and greater architecture flexibility, helping to drive down total cost of ownership. Solstice L40X systems can be installed and serviced by a large contractor base.

Honeywell has invested more than one billion dollars in research, development, and new capacity for its Solstice technology, having anticipated the need for lower-GWP solutions to combat climate change more than a decade ago. The product line, which helps customers lower their greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy-efficiency without sacrificing end-product performance, includes refrigerants for vehicle, commercial, and residential air conditioning applications, heat pumps; blowing agents for insulation; aerosol propellants; solvents for cleaning solutions; and are being evaluated for use in metered-dose inhalers. Using Honeywell Solstice products has helped avoid the potential release of the equivalent of more than 295 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, comparable to eliminating emissions of more than 62 million cars.

The company is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in its operations and facilities by 2035 and recently announced a new set of commitments that further advance its sustainability goals, including committing to set a science-based target with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) that will include scope 3 emissions and participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge. It also supports the Paris Climate Agreement. These efforts build on the company’s track record of sharply reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations and facilities as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals. In 2021, approximately 60 percent of Honeywell’s new product introduction research and development investment was directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers.

Bob Landi, Vice President and General Manager, Heatcraft Refrigeration Products, commented, “Our team at Heatcraft constantly works to develop the latest refrigeration equipment that offers supermarkets and retailers a way to advance their sustainability targets and save money. Trusted, low-GWP, energy-efficient refrigerants such as Honeywell Solstice L40X is exactly the type of solution we look for when creating new technologies that meet our customer’s needs and regulatory requirements.”

Stating that Honeywell has spent more than a decade developing the Solstice portfolio of low-GWP solutions to support refrigeration technologies, including the energy-efficient Solstice L40X, which Heatcraft is now using in their latest equipment, Mike Sweeney, Platform Lead, Commercial Refrigeration, Honeywell Advanced Materials, said, “With more original equipment manufacturers like Heatcraft designing with Solstice technology in mind, Honeywell will continue to invest in the Solstice portfolio to help supermarkets and retailers advance their environmental transformations and meet their sustainability goals.”

To this end, Hitesh Mehta, General Manager, Advanced Materials, Honeywell India, added, “Honeywell's Solstice technology helps customers lower their carbon footprint and improve energy efficiency without sacrificing end-product performance. The successful deployment of lower GWP alternatives such as Solstice is critical to meet phasedown targets for higher-GWP materials.”

For more information: www.honeywell.com