Ternary near-azeotropic mixture of HFC-161 as an alternative refrigerant to R502 is firstly presented in this paper. The physical characteristics of this new refrigerant are similar to those of R502. Its environment performance is friendly. It has an ODP of zero and a GWP smaller than those of R502, R404A and R507. Without any modification to system components, drop-in experimental tests are performed on a vapor compression refrigeration plant with a reciprocating compressor, which was originally designed to use R404A, a major substitute for R502. Experimental results under two different rated working conditions indicate that the pressure ratios of this new refrigerant are nearly equal to those of R404A. Under lower evaporative temperature, its COP is almost equal to that of R404A and its discharge temperature is slightly higher than that of R404A, while under higher evaporative temperature, its COP is greater than that of R404A and its discharge temperature is lower than that of the latter. This new refrigerant can achieve a high level of COP and can be considered as a promising retrofit refrigerant to R502.