As has been well documented, over the last 30 years many regulations have been implemented globally focusing on the environmental impact of refrigerants and equipment. This ever changing legislative landscape has driven a transition from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and now due to regulations such as EU 517/2014 (F-Gas) in the European Union and the future regulations that will result from the Kigali Amendment, there is also a need to change to lower global warming potential (GWP) products such as the Opteon™ hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) based products.

Compared to R-404A (GWP 3922), the lower GWP HFO based alternatives range from 45% to 96% reductions in GWP. However, most of the refrigerants with a GWP <500 have a degree of flammability, which adds complexity to the path forward to achieve the necessary transition required to comply with the F-Gas Regulation phase-down.