Summary
- Chemours has launched Opteon ZE and Opteon 515B for stationary chiller applications including data centres.
- Opteon ZE has a stated GWP of around one and an A2L classification, while 515B is A1-rated with a GWP around 293.
- Refrigerant choice is becoming part of data centre cooling lifecycle planning as operators balance efficiency, safety, serviceability, and tighter environmental rules.
Chemours has launched two lower-global-warming-potential refrigerants for stationary chillers, expanding the options available to data centre cooling designers as operators face higher heat loads alongside tighter controls on fluorinated gases.
Opteon ZE, or R-1234ze(E), is an HFO-based refrigerant with a stated global warming potential of approximately one under AR5 and zero ozone-depletion potential. It carries an ASHRAE A2L classification, meaning it is mildly flammable, and is intended for applications including air- and water-cooled chillers, heat pumps, and data centre cooling.
Opteon 515B, or R-515B, is a blend of approximately 91.1% R-1234ze(E) and 8.9% R-227ea. Chemours gives it a GWP of approximately 293 under AR4 and an ASHRAE A1 classification, indicating no flame propagation.
The distinction presents designers with a familiar engineering trade-off. Very low GWP can come with different safety and plant-design considerations, while an A1 refrigerant may provide easier adoption in some conventional chiller configurations at the cost of a higher climate impact than an ultra-low-GWP alternative.
Cooling chemistry joins the retrofit calculation
Refrigerants rarely receive the attention attached to direct-to-chip cooling or immersion systems, but they remain part of the mechanical infrastructure behind many data centres. Chillers can remain in operation for years, meaning refrigerant availability, service requirements, leakage risk, regulatory treatment, and replacement options influence lifecycle planning.
The issue becomes more prominent as operators expand or retrofit older facilities. Increasing rack density can lead to new liquid loops inside the data hall while existing chilled-water or heat-rejection plant remains part of the overall thermal system. A move towards liquid cooling does not necessarily remove chillers from the design.
Chemours is positioning ZE for applications requiring very low GWP and 515B as a lower-GWP option where customers favour an A1 safety classification. Final suitability depends on chiller design, compressor technology, operating temperatures, local codes, OEM approval, and how the refrigeration circuit is engineered.
Operators also have to distinguish between refrigerant emissions and the much larger electricity requirement of cooling equipment. A refrigerant with lower direct climate impact does not automatically produce a lower operating footprint if the associated system consumes materially more power.
Efficiency at the actual design conditions therefore remains central. Data centre chillers increasingly have to operate across changing thermal loads while supporting equipment that may move from conventional air cooling towards hybrid and liquid-cooled deployments.
European rules raise the cost of getting choices wrong
The European Union’s Regulation (EU) 2024/573 tightens restrictions on fluorinated greenhouse gases and introduces further chiller-related GWP thresholds from 1 January 2027, with requirements varying by equipment capacity and safety considerations. That makes refrigerant strategy a procurement and asset-lifecycle issue rather than simply a maintenance decision taken when equipment needs servicing.
For data centres, the long service life of cooling infrastructure makes timing particularly important. A chiller installed for an expansion or retrofit needs an acceptable service pathway over many years, including access to refrigerant, qualified maintenance personnel, spare components, and a regulatory route that does not strand the equipment prematurely.
The safety classification also affects plant design. A2L refrigerants can require different risk assessments, ventilation, detection, equipment placement, and service practices from A1 fluids. Those requirements need to be resolved during mechanical design rather than after chillers arrive on site.
Chemours says Opteon ZE works with commonly used polyolester lubricants and is aimed at both air- and water-cooled chiller applications. The company is making ZE and 515B available initially in selected markets, with broader supply intended to follow demand.
The launch arrives while the cooling side of data centre construction is being reshaped by AI hardware. Higher server heat flux is driving more direct liquid cooling inside white space, yet large central mechanical systems continue to determine how heat ultimately leaves many facilities.
That keeps refrigerants inside the infrastructure equation even as attention moves closer to the chip. Operators considering new chillers or major mechanical retrofits increasingly have to evaluate not only capacity and efficiency, but the chemistry they expect to service for the rest of the plant’s working life.
