Reduced GWP Refrigerant for Residential and Commercial Air Conditioning Systems

R-410A is widely used in residential and light commercial air-conditioning, heat pump and chiller systems. Due to increasing concerns about climate change, various environmental regulations have been proposed to phase out this refrigerant. A new refrigerant, R-466A, has been developed, which offers high energy efficiency and low global warming potential (GWP), resulting in low overall environmental impact. This paper discusses the thermal properties as well as the performance of this new refrigerant in a representative air conditioning system showing the benefits of using this new refrigerant. The thermal stability, material compatibility and refrigerant/lubricant interactions of R-466A are also discussed. Finally, a simulation model is used to evaluate the lifetime thermal stability of R-466A under real operating conditions for a heat pump system