LONDON, September 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Orbia’s fluorinated solutions company, Koura, has won the coveted Refrigeration Innovation of the Year award at the 2022 Cooling Industry Awards.
At an awards ceremony last night (September 22) at London Grosvenor House Ballroom, Koura Klea® 473A was named the winning innovation from a shortlist of five with judges praising refrigerant performance and sustainable industrial applications.
Klea 473A is designed as a non-flammable refrigerant to achieve high performance with significantly lower global warming potential (GWP) than existing refrigerants, R-23 or R-508B, in very low temperature cooling applications such as high value cold chain, vaccine storage, climatic test chambers, transportation and other medical uses. This refrigerant has a unique combination of high capacity and energy efficiency combined with low temperature glide compared to other refrigerants developed as non-flammable alternatives for R-23 or R-508B.
Today, manufacturers and users of ultra-low temperature refrigeration systems are forced to choose between acceptable cooling performance and the environmental impact of these systems. Existing non-flammable R-23 and R-508B refrigerants that are used in ultra-low temperature systems have a GWP of 14,800 and 13,400 respectively. Klea 473A breaks this trade-off with energy efficiency comparable to R-23, capacity similar to R-508B and a GWP of 1,830, a +85% reduction.
Optimum charge sizes per system are typically slightly reduced compared to R-23, giving an additional potential reduction in GWP inventory per system. Customer trials show that existing system designs can easily adapt to this new refrigerant with little or no modification. New systems are also being actively designed to take advantage of the unique properties of the refrigerant.
Although Klea R-473A is not the only alternative non-flammable refrigerant offered for use in very low temperature cascade systems, it has significantly lower temperature glide, higher vapor pressure and higher latent heat than other R-23 alternatives, making adaptation of existing system designs simpler. Extensive testing has also shown that it is possible to operate climatic chamber systems where the delivered chamber temperature is as low as -75°C.
Greg SmithPresident of Orbia Fluorinated Solutions, said:
“We are delighted that Klea 473A has been named Refrigeration Innovation of the Year at the 2022 Cooling Industry Awards. This award is fantastic recognition of our ongoing research and development program and the hard work of all our teams. Koura s is committed to innovation, providing customers across a variety of industries worldwide with new solutions and low-GWP refrigerants to transform into a cleaner future.
“This product will provide an easy retrofit option for system designers working in very low temperature application areas who wish to significantly reduce their use of very high GWP refrigerants and who are considering larger system designs where the non-flammability is an essential requirement of the refrigerant.”
For more information on Koura, please visit: www.kouraglobal.com
Notes for editors:
About Orbia
Orbia is a company driven by a common goal: to advance life around the world. Orbia operates in the sectors of polymer solutions (Vestolit and Alphagary), building and infrastructure (Wavin), precision agriculture (Netafim), connectivity solutions (Dura-Line) and fluorinated solutions (Koura). Orbia’s five business groups have the collective goal of expanding access to health and well-being, reinventing the future of cities and homes, ensuring food and water security, connect communities to information and accelerate a circular economy with basic and advanced materials, specialized and innovative products. solutions. Orbia has commercial activities in more than 110 countries and operations in more than 50, with global headquarters in Boston, Mexico City, amsterdam and Tel Aviv. To learn more, visit: orbia.com.
About Orbia (Koura) Fluoride Solutions
Orbia Koura’s Fluoride Solutions business is a global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of fluoride products that play a fundamental role in improving everyday life and shortening the path to a sustainable circular economy. With over 35 years of experience, Koura’s products are used in a wide range of applications including electric vehicles and energy storage, urban and rural infrastructure, indoor climate management, refrigeration foods and medicines and even the treatment of respiratory ailments through the development of healthy systems and innovative low GWP propellants for metered dose inhalers. Koura has 1,600 employees and 13 manufacturing plants worldwide, serving 60 countries through a global sales and distribution network.
Media Contact
Monica AguilarGlobal Strategic Marketing Director, Koura
[email protected]
SOURCEKoura