13 January 2022
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Honeywell's ultra low-global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerant technology is supporting a new cooling system at the Eiffel Tower.
The installation, which uses Honeywell’s Solstice ze (R1234ze) refrigerant, provides the tower’s west pillar with an energy efficient and cost-effective solution that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The pillar is home to the visitor information centre as well as a souvenir shop and a hydraulic lift that ascends 300 metres to sweeping views over the city of Paris.
The Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), which operates the tower, replaced a system run with higher-GWP refrigerant R407C with a contemporary system incorporating Honeywell’s solution and equipment provided by component manufacturer AF Energy and French refrigeration specialist ALM Froid. The solution met SETE’s strict criteria to transition to a high-performing, sustainable system with increased reliability, energy efficiency and improved safety to meet EU regulations and reduce its carbon footprint.
In combination with the variable speed of AF Energy’s compressors and condensers, Solstice ze delivers energy efficiency far surpassing the previous system. In comparison to R407C, which has a GWP of 1774, Solstice ze has a GWP of 1.
“The cooling system introduced by Honeywell, ALM Froid and AF Energy provides a unique blend of sustainability, safety, energy efficiency, durability and low maintenance,” said Fabrice Fevai, ascent department manager at the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE). “The Eiffel Tower is one of the most visited sites globally, and we have implemented many initiatives to lower carbon footprint, beginning in 2015 with the installation of wind turbines to provide a clean source of energy. Using a new cooling system will allow the site to become even eco-friendlier for future generations to enjoy.”
“Solstice ze provides a long-term, environmentally preferable and cost-effective solution to tourist landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, helping them to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions,” said Julien Soulet, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Fluorine Products Europe. “Globally, demand is growing for solutions like Solstice ze and Honeywell’s other Solstice solutions, which have been chosen to cool major structures, including the Eurotunnel, because of the benefits they provide for companies to meet sustainability goals.”
Honeywell’s Solstice HFO technology, which helps customers meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, improves energy efficiency without sacrificing end-product performance. It is used in various applications, including refrigerants for supermarkets, air conditioning for cars and trucks, blowing agents for insulation, propellants for personal and household care and solvents for cleaning solutions.
Honeywell has invested $1 billion in research, development, and new capacity for the technology, having anticipated the need for lower-GWP solutions to combat climate change more than a decade ago. Honeywell says that worldwide adoption of Solstice products has avoided potential release of the equivalent of more than 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equal to eliminating the potential emissions from more than 52 million cars for one year.
Based on Honeywell’s HFO technology, Solstice ze is non-ozone-depleting. It is designed for medium pressure chillers to cool large buildings, infrastructure projects, process chillers in refrigeration applications, district cooling and heating, high-temperature heat pumps, and medium-temperature self-contained refrigeration cabinets.
