Cyclopentane is used in European and Asian markets as a blowing agent in appliance insulation. Its is also seeing increased use in appliance manufacturing in the United States.
"For the past three years, we have been working with Haier under their Open Innovation System to transition to Solstice LBA," said Sanjeev Rastogi, business director for Honeywell Fluorine Products.
Solstice LBA has an ultra-low global warming potential of 1, which is 99.9% lower than HFC-245fa, a commonly used blowing agent in the United States.
The polyurethane material that is foamed to create insulation in Haier refrigerators is supplied by Dow Chemical.
Solstice LBA is nonflammable and is not a volatile organic compound. It is approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program and is also registered under the European Union's REACH program. Honeywell's new production capacity manufacturing plant for Solstice LBA started up in May 2014.
