Honeywell’s Solstice® N71 (R-471A) refrigerant is now being used to cool the beverage lineup at Food City’s Kodak, Tennessee, store while helping increase energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

Solstice N71 is Honeywell’s newest low-global-warming-potential (GWP), non-ozone-depleting, nonflammable refrigerant based on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology. The solution is optimized for use in supermarkets, cold storage warehouses, industrial process refrigeration, ice rinks, and convenience and drug stores. Honeywell assisted Food City with the installation in collaboration with Hussmann, Emerson, and Danfoss.

“With Solstice N71 up and running in Food City’s Kodak, Tennessee, store, customers will have access to fresh, chilled beverages at their convenience made possible by refrigerant technology that is improving energy efficiency, reducing impact on the environment, and keeping people safer,” said John Keating, vice president and general manager, stationary refrigerants, Honeywell Advanced Materials. “Solstice N71 is a major advancement for the refrigeration industry that is helping our customers accelerate their environmental transformation goals without sacrificing performance.”

Solstice N71 is a nonflammable HFO refrigerant blend with a GWP less than 150 for new equipment in medium-temperature applications. The solution enables medium-temperature commercial refrigeration systems to provide exceptional energy efficiency improvements. It can be utilized in a variety of system architectures and does not require an elite skill set for servicing, offering a lower total cost of ownership. Solstice N71 also does not operate at high pressures, which reduces the risk of system failures and unexpected related expenses.

The solution will help Food City comply with regulations to phase down the production and consumption of high-GWP hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants, including those established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, the California Air Resources Board, and the European Union Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulation stemming from the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

Honeywell has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and new capacity for its Solstice technology, having anticipated the need for lower-GWP solutions to combat climate change more than a decade ago. The product line, which helps customers lower their greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency without sacrificing end-product performance, includes refrigerants for vehicle, commercial, and residential air conditioning applications; heat pumps; blowing agents for insulation; aerosol propellants; solvents for cleaning solutions; and are being evaluated for use in metered-dose inhalers.

The use of Honeywell Solstice technology has helped avoid the potential release of the equivalent of more than 326 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equal to the carbon emissions from nearly 70 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles per year.

Honeywell is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in its operations and facilities by 2035 and recently announced a new set of commitments that further advance its sustainability goals, including committing to set a science-based target with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) that will include Scope 3 emissions and participation in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE’s) Better Climate Challenge. The company also supports the Paris Climate Agreement. These efforts build on the company’s track record of sharply reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations and facilities as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals. In 2021, approximately 60% of Honeywell’s new product introduction research and development investment was directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers.