R290 will become an inevitable choice for refrigerant replacement in the household air-conditioning industry

In the case of R410A, R32 and other mainstream air conditioners being used in the domestic air-conditioning industry is about to face quota production, who will become the future alternative refrigerant for the domestic air-conditioning industry has an answer. On October 22, 2019, at the annual international exchange meeting on HCFC-22 (R22) alternative technology in the room air conditioner industry, Xiong Kang, deputy chief economist of the Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that in November 2016, The Conference of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted the Kigali amendment to control HFCs. Among the existing alternative technologies for household air conditioners, R290 is the only technology that can meet the requirements of the Kigali Amendment.

In fact, in the construction of R290 air conditioner and compressor production line, safety assessment, standard certification, technology research and development, installation training, publicity and promotion, China's household air-conditioning industry has accumulated rich experience. The controversial “flammability” and “security” issues in the industry have also been verified by experiments. But at the same time, the R290 air conditioner is also facing the restrictions of the old standard system, significantly increased product costs, high risks of installation and maintenance, and competition and suppression of other transitional alternative technologies, resulting in its marketization lagging behind. Therefore, the marketization of R290 air conditioner will be the core task of China's household air conditioner industry in the future.

It is gratifying that since 2018, the sales of R290 air conditioners have achieved breakthrough development. According to Li Xiaoyan, an official of the Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as of August 31, 2019, the total sales volume of R290 split air conditioners in China reached 178,000 units. From August 31, 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will make the third subsidy adjustment for the sales of R290 air conditioners, breaking the upper limit of subsidy fees for enterprises, encouraging first-come-first-served, domestic sales of first-level inverter R290 air conditioners will receive 600 yuan Taiwan’s financial subsidies. On this basis, China's domestic air-conditioning industry has set the sales target of R290 air conditioners for the cold year 2020 to not less than 1 million units. Among them, no less than 330,000 split air conditioners.

Although 1 million units are “insignificant” compared to the sales of hundreds of millions of air conditioners in households, the fact that the tall buildings are flat is just the beginning.

The reason for the confidence in the R290 air conditioner is not only that it is the only alternative technology that can meet the requirements of the Kigali amendment, but also that its superior and environmentally friendly technology can withstand the test of the market. In addition to the newly set target of 1 million units, the marketization of the R290 air conditioner has already been tested and received unanimous praise. For example, on June 30, 2015, Gree installed 243 R290 air conditioners in Shenzhen University; on June 3, 2016, Midea installed 1096 R290 air conditioners in Jiaxing Nanyang Vocational and Technical College; on June 15, 2016, Haier 60 R290 air conditioners were installed in the UN office building in Beijing; 299 R290 air conditioners were installed at Southwest University of Science and Technology; in 2017, TCL completed the installation of 4,517 R290 air conditioners in Zhongshan and other places.

In addition to China's marketization practice, the marketization of R290 air conditioners also has very mature cases internationally. Godrej is one of the four largest air conditioner manufacturers in India. It has a 100-year history of development. Since the sale of R290 air conditioners in 2012, it has cumulatively sold more than 600,000 R290 air conditioners and has received good market feedback.

In addition, R290 has also been well applied in other fields such as light commercial refrigerators, air source heat pump water heaters, etc. In the field of light commercial refrigerators, Huayi has realized the marketization of R290 light commercial refrigerator compressors ten years ago. Today, driven by Huayi, more than a quarter of the global light commercial refrigerator compressor market is R290 products. In addition to the compressor companies represented by Huayi who master the R290 technology, Haier, Aucma, Hisense Kelon, Hairong, Xingxing and other refrigerator brands have also launched R290 light commercial refrigerators. In the heat pump water heater industry, although the replacement of refrigerant lags behind the household air-conditioning industry, R290 is also a well-recognized solution in the selection of new replacement technologies. In terms of technical reserves, as early as 2015, GMCC launched the R290 environmentally friendly heat pump water heater compressor, including SN and SM series, and the product displacement range covers 5.8ccrev-13.0ccrev.

As Jiang Feng, chairman of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said at the 2019 International Exchange Conference on HCFC-22 (R22) Alternative Technology in the Room Air Conditioner Industry After the Kigali Amendment officially came into effect, we are more determined to choose R290 as an alternative technology At present, the R410A and R32 refrigerants used by enterprises are under the control of the Kigali Amendment. In the future, HFCs refrigerants will face the fate of reduction or even elimination. If we did not choose the R290 alternative technology route at the beginning, we would Lose the right to speak in the process of refrigerant replacement in this round.