The Chemours Company has announced a partnership with Axima Refrigeration France, a company of ENGIE Axima, a leading contractor in HVAC, refrigeration and fire protection which is headquartered in Paris.
The company has chosen to partner with Chemours to evaluate the use and future adoption of Opteon XL low global warming potential (GWP) hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerants in commercial refrigeration before the next European F-Gas HFC cap and phasedown in 2021.
As a first step towards the reduction of CO2 quota, Axima Refrigeration France has already adopted Opteon XP40 (R-449A) for retrofitting existing R-404A systems.
The collaboration between Chemours and Axima Refrigeration France around the future adoption of Opteon XL refrigerant aims at providing the commercial refrigeration market with long-term solutions under the F-Gas regulation that have a low environmental impact while ensuring performance, safety, reliability, and cost-efficiency.
Both companies are committed to jointly investigate the use of A2L refrigerants in commercial refrigeration and support the transition by performing trials and developing case studies, as well as best practices they will be jointly deliver through training.
The recent adoption of Opteon XP40 (R-449A) by Axima Refrigeration France is the first step towards this transition and enables the company to ensure business continuity for its customers. Opteon XP40 (A1 class refrigerant) provides an estimated 65% reduction in GWP compared to R-404A.
Chemours Fluorochemicals vice president, Diego Boeri, said both companies share the same objective to help the commercial refrigeration market prepare for the 2021 HFC phasedown that will reduce the available CO2 quota by 55%.
"Axima's strategy to select refrigerants below 1500 GWP such as Opteon XP40 for retrofits, and below 150 GWP such as Opteon XL for new equipment, demonstrates the key role that Opteon plays today and in the future to meet the needs of the commercial refrigeration sector.”
Axima Refrigeration has been working in commercial refrigeration for more than 20 years.
Axima Refrigeration France CEO, Laurent Meykuchel, said the company fully aligns with the global strategy of Engie to drive the market towards a zero carbon transition.