There has been a long battle over which refrigerants should and shouldn’t be used in air conditioning systems and there has been a strong force within the industry to try and make refrigerants more environmentally friendly not only for the greater good but also to ensure that businesses adhere to the law.
However, the European Commission has recently sent a Statement of Objections to Honeywell and DuPont. The statement was sent in regards to the refrigerant R-1234yf. It said, “The European Commission has informed Honeywell International Inc. and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) of its preliminary view that the refrigerant for use in car air conditioning systems (R-1234yf), may have limited its availability and technical development, in break of EU antitrust rules.” Continue reading →
Which refrigerants that you should and shouldn’t be using in your air conditioning systems have been a hot topic for a while now to ensure that they become environmentally friendly and over the years this is exactly what has happened. DuPont have now announced that they believe there will be 3 million vehicles around the world that will be using the HFO-1234yf refrigerant by the end of this year.
The president of DuPont chemicals and fluoroproducts is Thierry F.J.Vanlancker and he has said “The EPA credits alone provide enough incentive to automakers that we expect to see more than 50 per cent of automobiles in the U.S market converted to HFO-1234yf by 2018.
“Of course, we expect higher conversions in the European market, driven by the need to comply with the MAC Directive.” Continue reading →
When we think of air conditioning we think of the cool air but since a new refrigerant has entered the market, things are starting to heat up! The European Union are pushing for refrigerants in cars made from this year onward to be switched from R-134a to the new R-1234yf. Daimler, the car manufacturer is not happy about this and is standing their ground.
DuPont and Honeywell developed the new refrigerant and spent many years and millions of investment creating it as they believe that it is 99.7% more environmentally friendly that the refrigerant that is currently used, the R-134a. It has passed all the protocols enforced by the EU and they like it so much that they have announced all cars made in 2013 should be using it.
Daimler is refusing this and is still using the former refrigerant. They have conducted a series of tests using the new refrigerant and they believe it is far more dangerous. The most recent test they conducted was a head on collision with B class at the Sindelfingen track. They conducted 20 tests and from the 20 results the discovered that when the coolant hits the heated engine it catches fire. Also, R-1234yf became hydrogen fluoride in the tests. This is very dangerous to humans especially in high amounts.
Apparently the results of the tests showed that there was enough hydrogen fluoride produced to the windshield white. After they had conducted these tests Daimler recalled all the vehicles they had produced with the new refrigerant.
A report by Bloomberg also reported that Volkswagen had similar complaints. On top of this there are some fire fighter organisations in Germany and Australia that are protesting against the new refrigerant as well as some testing agencies who are lobbying to get the coolant banned. After the results of the Daimler tests there are also thirteen other car companies that are now conducting their own tests.
However, on contrast to this, Toyota completed their own tests and they had no such results and they are currently supporting the new change to the new very eco-friendly refrigerant. Chevrolet and GMC are among others who are also supporting the change.
DuPont and Honeywell have announced that the refrigerant is completely safe to be used in vehicles. They claim that a reason why Daimler might be against the new chemical is because it is more expensive than the R-134a.
UAE authorities have seized counterfeit refrigerants from a business in Sharjah.
The business, Sunrise Aircondtioning Spare Parts, has been fined and is no longer in business after DuPont and the Dubai Department of Economic Development took some of their products that they use in air conditioning units.
Greg Rubin is the global business manager at DuPont and he has said, “We are approaching the problem of counterfeit refrigerants very aggressively. Counterfeit refrigerants can cause significant business impact including business failure and more importantly can cause physical harm loss of life.”
Overall they confiscated 3,100 units of fake DuPont Suva and 6,000 units of another manufacturer. On top of the fine, Sunrise were also made to pay the storage costs of the goods that had been confiscated as well as the costs of painted and repackaging the products as unbranded so they could be transferred out of the country.
Counterfeit sales are not uncommon in the Emirates and it does happen across a range of industries. Research that was carried out in 2010 suggested that managers who had the responsibility of buying products, nearly half of them had bought fake ones.
Mr Rubin added, “We will continue our global effort to combat counterfeit refrigerants by working diligently with law enforcement in all regions.”
This shows us that just because a product is branded does not mean it is legitimate. Don’t run the risk of your air conditioning units breaking down, or risk causing harm to those around and buy your products from well-known suppliers of trusted brands.
There has been a long battle over which refrigerants should and shouldn’t be used in air conditioning systems and there has been a strong force within the industry to try and make refrigerants more environmentally friendly not only for the greater good but also to ensure that businesses adhere to the law.
However, the European Commission has recently sent a Statement of Objections to Honeywell and DuPont. The statement was sent in regards to the refrigerant R-1234yf. It said, “The European Commission has informed Honeywell International Inc. and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) of its preliminary view that the refrigerant for use in car air conditioning systems (R-1234yf), may have limited its availability and technical development, in break of EU antitrust rules.” Continue reading →
Environmentally Friendly Refrigerant for Vehicles
Which refrigerants that you should and shouldn’t be using in your air conditioning systems have been a hot topic for a while now to ensure that they become environmentally friendly and over the years this is exactly what has happened. DuPont have now announced that they believe there will be 3 million vehicles around the world that will be using the HFO-1234yf refrigerant by the end of this year.
The president of DuPont chemicals and fluoroproducts is Thierry F.J.Vanlancker and he has said “The EPA credits alone provide enough incentive to automakers that we expect to see more than 50 per cent of automobiles in the U.S market converted to HFO-1234yf by 2018.
“Of course, we expect higher conversions in the European market, driven by the need to comply with the MAC Directive.” Continue reading →
New Refrigerant Causing Controversy
When we think of air conditioning we think of the cool air but since a new refrigerant has entered the market, things are starting to heat up! The European Union are pushing for refrigerants in cars made from this year onward to be switched from R-134a to the new R-1234yf. Daimler, the car manufacturer is not happy about this and is standing their ground.
DuPont and Honeywell developed the new refrigerant and spent many years and millions of investment creating it as they believe that it is 99.7% more environmentally friendly that the refrigerant that is currently used, the R-134a. It has passed all the protocols enforced by the EU and they like it so much that they have announced all cars made in 2013 should be using it.
Daimler is refusing this and is still using the former refrigerant. They have conducted a series of tests using the new refrigerant and they believe it is far more dangerous. The most recent test they conducted was a head on collision with B class at the Sindelfingen track. They conducted 20 tests and from the 20 results the discovered that when the coolant hits the heated engine it catches fire. Also, R-1234yf became hydrogen fluoride in the tests. This is very dangerous to humans especially in high amounts.
Apparently the results of the tests showed that there was enough hydrogen fluoride produced to the windshield white. After they had conducted these tests Daimler recalled all the vehicles they had produced with the new refrigerant.
A report by Bloomberg also reported that Volkswagen had similar complaints. On top of this there are some fire fighter organisations in Germany and Australia that are protesting against the new refrigerant as well as some testing agencies who are lobbying to get the coolant banned. After the results of the Daimler tests there are also thirteen other car companies that are now conducting their own tests.
However, on contrast to this, Toyota completed their own tests and they had no such results and they are currently supporting the new change to the new very eco-friendly refrigerant. Chevrolet and GMC are among others who are also supporting the change.
DuPont and Honeywell have announced that the refrigerant is completely safe to be used in vehicles. They claim that a reason why Daimler might be against the new chemical is because it is more expensive than the R-134a.
Seized DuPont Refrigerants in the UAE
UAE authorities have seized counterfeit refrigerants from a business in Sharjah.
The business, Sunrise Aircondtioning Spare Parts, has been fined and is no longer in business after DuPont and the Dubai Department of Economic Development took some of their products that they use in air conditioning units.
Greg Rubin is the global business manager at DuPont and he has said, “We are approaching the problem of counterfeit refrigerants very aggressively. Counterfeit refrigerants can cause significant business impact including business failure and more importantly can cause physical harm loss of life.”
Overall they confiscated 3,100 units of fake DuPont Suva and 6,000 units of another manufacturer. On top of the fine, Sunrise were also made to pay the storage costs of the goods that had been confiscated as well as the costs of painted and repackaging the products as unbranded so they could be transferred out of the country.
Counterfeit sales are not uncommon in the Emirates and it does happen across a range of industries. Research that was carried out in 2010 suggested that managers who had the responsibility of buying products, nearly half of them had bought fake ones.
Mr Rubin added, “We will continue our global effort to combat counterfeit refrigerants by working diligently with law enforcement in all regions.”
This shows us that just because a product is branded does not mean it is legitimate. Don’t run the risk of your air conditioning units breaking down, or risk causing harm to those around and buy your products from well-known suppliers of trusted brands.