New refrigerant sensor for R449A

Called Opteon™ XP40 by Chemours and sold in Europe directly or through the Arkema with the trademark “Forane® 449A (XP40)”, the R449A refrigerant is an environmentally sustainable, non-ozone depleting refrigerant offering a low global warming potential (GWP).

R449A is a blend of HFO (1234yf) and HFC fluorinated gases (R32, R125 and R134A).

The high-performance refrigerant offers improved activity and significant GWP reduction: 67% lower GWP than R-404A and R-507, 33% lower GWP than R-407A and 30% lower GWP than R-22.

R449A meets the needs of low- and medium-temperature refrigeration. It can be used in new equipment and can replace R-22, R-404A, R-507, and R-407A in the existing ones.

This refrigerant is typically found in supermarkets’ refrigeration sectors (centralised racks, distributed systems, walk-in coolers/freezers), food service (e.g., condensing units), cold storage, self-contained systems, walk-in coolers/freezers and prep rooms, low and medium-temperature industrial direct expansion (DX) refrigeration, industrial units for the chemical, food processing, pharmaceutical industries and ice rinks.

In old equipment it does not require changes to hardware, lubricants, or seals. Technicians can top it off after leak repair.

Since 2001, NET has been constantly working to support customers in their needs of gas detection. The IREF-PRO series sensors, using the reliable NDIR technology, can detect R449A as well as other refrigerant gases with high accuracy in a 0-2000ppm detection range. The output is linearised and compensated with the temperature, with both analogue (voltage 0.4 – 2.0 Volt) and digital (MODBUS RTU) options, or 4-20 mA if coupled with a cyber transmitter board.