Evonik's customers throughout Europe can now purchase three new natural refrigerants – n-butane (DRIVOSOL® R600), isobutane (DRIVOSOL® R600a), and propane (DRIVOSOL® R290).  The new refrigerants offer manufacturers of refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and heat pumps an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient alternative to existing products.

Production of the three new refrigerants was made possible by the further shift of Evonik's existing C4 Verbund in Marl toward petrochemical specialties. 

Against the background of the climate debate, the new production represents a valuable contribution to greater sustainability in the field of refrigeration technology. Over the last few years, the use of high-quality hydrocarbons has proven its worth due to their good compatibility and miscibility with the most common cooling lubricants. 

High purity production

In this case, quality makes all the difference, according to Sarah Kranz, marketing manager at Evonik Performance Intermediates. "We have many years of experience in the production of odourless liquefied gas mixtures, which we offer under the brand name DRIVOSOL®," she advises. "The most important characteristic is its high purity, which has so far been used primarily in aerosols for deodorants or shaving foam. We have now used our experience, particularly in reprocessing technology, to identify and exploit new applications."

Thanks to technical advances, refrigerants can now be used safely, efficiently and, above all, cost-effectively. This opens up new areas of application for refrigeration systems in both the private and commercial sectors, benefiting both manufacturers and end customers, and thus offering up high growth opportunities.

"Clearly, we want to be part of that growth," explained Christian Bierhaus, head of marketing and sales at Performance Intermediates. "With the expansion of our specialties business, we are able to serve the increasing individual demand of our customers, while also making a small contribution to reducing the greenhouse effect. The latter succeeds above all through the higher energy efficiency that can be achieved with our products."

The technical profiles

Propane (DRIVOSOL® R290) has high energy efficiency and excellent thermodynamic and refrigeration properties. As an efficient and environmentally friendly refrigerant substitute, propane is particularly suitable for use in air conditioning systems that are also operated at high outside temperatures (>+50 °C).

 

Meanwhile, the natural refrigerants DRIVOSOL® R600 (n-butane) and DRIVOSOL® R600a (isobutane) are characterised above all by better operating performance with lower refrigerant charge when compared to conventional refrigerants.