Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies said its new blowing agent for foam insulation has received final approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent is a chloro-trifluoropropene called HFO-1233zd, part of Honeywell's family of hydrofluoro-olefins. It is aimed at foam insulation in refrigerators, in construction, in insulated metal panels and other applications.
Honeywell of Morris Township, N.J., claims Solstice has global warming potential well under the potential of conventional hydrofluorocarbon blowing agents.
“”No other material identified or discovered to date offers the comprehensive range of advantages – from energy efficiency performance and ultra-low (global warming potential) to cost effectiveness and safety – than this new product offering does,” states Sanjeev Rastogi, business director of structural enclosures for Honeywell Fluorine Products.
Whirlpool Corp. of Benton Harbor, Mich., is the first appliance manufacturer to plan on adopting Solstice. Whirlpool says the new blowing agent offers an 8 to 10 percent improvement in efficiency over hydrocarbon blowing agents tested and a 2 percent improvement over 245fa, the standard blowing agent for appliances in the United States. Solstice's global warming potential over 100 years is between 4.7 and 7, a 99 percent improvement over 245fa, according to Whirlpool. Whirlpool expects to begin using Solstice commercially in 2013.
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