Carrier Transicold ‘Set Its Sights’ on Natural Reefer Refrigerant
Carrier Transicold said it has “set its sights” on increasing the use of natural refrigerant technology with a lower global warming potential for transport applications.
The company introduced the refrigerant R-452A in Europe, which has a 45% lower global warming potential, or GWP, than what is used in the United States. The company said it is waiting on approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to introduce the three-component blend to the U.S.
But the company said it wants to go even further and increase the use of the natural refrigerant carbon dioxide.
"Carrier Transicold's greater goal for transport refrigeration significantly surpasses the benefits of R-452A," company President David Appel said in a statement.
"The natural refrigerant CO2 is cost-effective, readily available worldwide and has a [GWP] of only 1, which is roughly 2,000 times better than R-452A [2,140 GWP] and 4,000 times better than R-404A [3,922 GWP]."
The company said it is successfully using CO2 refrigerant in stationary commercial refrigeration as well as in marine transport. More than 1,600 supermarkets in Europe use the company’s CO2 option, and in 2013 it launched NaturaLINE, the first marine container refrigeration system using CO2.
Carrier Transicold said that to further push adoption of CO2, it successfully petitioned EPA to approve it for transport cooling and that CO2 is now listed as “acceptable” by the federal agency.
“With its GWP of 1, CO2 is the basis for calculating the GWP of all other refrigerants,” Appel said. “It serves as the benchmark for environmental sustainability, which is what Carrier Transicold continues to relentlessly pursue.”
