International. A test with the refrigerant R32 was carried out on an existing Daikin system of 27kW and R410A, and which showed improvements in the capacity and energy efficiency of the equipment.
The test was conducted on an existing system installed in the offices in Plano, Texas, as part of the U.S. Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute's Low GWP Alternative Refrigerant Assessment Program.
The Japanese manufacturer has defended the viability of R32 as a replacement for R410A refrigerant and introduced products in the Far East and India that run on this "slightly flammable" (A2L) refrigerant. So far, R32 is only offered in these countries in smaller residential units, but Daikin previously indicated that it sees potential for use in commercial systems.
The cooling capacity of R32 was found to be 2.9% and the EER was 6.4% higher than R410A under standard cooling conditions. IEER part-load performance was even better, 9.5% higher than R410A.
R32's heating capacities at high and low temperature were 4.8% and 2.4% higher than R410A, respectively.
However, the discharge temperature of R32 is higher than R410A. In this trial, the discharge temperature was 16% higher in cooling, 15% higher in high-temperature heating and almost 20% higher in low-temperature heating.
