Japanese chemical manufacturer, AGC, has developed the world’s first fluorinated refrigerant for air conditioners with a GWP below 10.
The company said it is working with the University of Tokyo on the refrigerant which is in the final stages of development.
AGC said AMOLEA1123 (HFO-1123) will be the next-generation standard for air conditioners.
“AGC is on track to resolve the safety issue that had been one of the challenges for the practical application of AMOLEA 1123, and the development of the world’s first refrigerant with GWP below 10,” the company said in a statement.
“The University of Tokyo and AGC have succeeded in developing a safe composition that suppresses the rapid pressure increase due to the decomposition of AMOLEA1123 to a certain level by adding propane, based on the findings of the NEDO project (which was undertaken in 2014).
The new composition of AMOLEA1123 has a GWP 0.3 or greenhouse effect of 1/3 of CO2. It consists of a certain percentage of propane (R290: GWP 3 or greenhouse effect of 3 times of CO2), which is a versatile refrigerant with low GWP.
“With this achievement, the development of a refrigerant with a GWP of 10 or less has made significant progress and entered the final stage,” AGC said.
Based on the results of this development, AGC will launch new refrigerants with ultra-low GWP and high safety, for use in residential and commercial air conditioners.
It will also be used as a next-generation refrigerant for electric vehicles.