Award-winning refrigerant from Weiss Umwelttechnik

The refrigerant R-469A developed by Weiss Umwelttechnik for environmental simulation systems is one of the winners of the German Innovation Award 2020.

Weiss Umwelttechnik has received the German Innovation Award 2020 for its R-469A refrigerant. It is an ideal, eco-friendly alternative to the climate-damaging R-23.

“With its revolutionary R-469A refrigerant, Weiss Umwelttechnik has developed a more environmentally friendly substitute for the extremely climate-damaging R-23 refrigerant used up to now. The company is thus making an important contribution to environment and climate protection,” the jury explained. “It is remarkable that Weiss Umwelttechnik is not a chemicals giant but rather a medium-sized company for environment simulation systems. This makes the development performance for such an agent all the more impressive.”

Overall, more than 700 innovations were submitted as entries for the award by companies including industry giants such as SAP, Evonic, L'ORÉAL and Continental. With the German Innovation Award, the Design Council honours pioneering and sustainable innovations.

The special feature of the R-469A refrigerant is that it cools down to -70 °C and still fulfils the requirements made by the EU, since it releases 90 percent less greenhouse gases than alternative refrigerants. R-469A is used in environment simulation systems for product and quality tests among other things. Up to now, refrigeration systems were only able to reach extremely low temperatures of below -40 °C with the aid of the R-23 refrigerant. Yet R-23 has an enormous global warming potential and is thus only permitted within the context of a transition regulation in the EU.

Weiss Umwelttechnik sells the refrigerant with the official designation R-469A under the brand name WT69. The company has already converted half its own portfolio to the new agent. It is available independently of the climate chambers from Weiss Umwelttechnik.