International. DuPont announced that it will provide HFO-1234yf refrigerant that will begin to be used in vehicle air conditioning systems, and that has features such as high cooling power, energy efficiency, safety, material compatibility, sustainability and total cost effectiveness.
Kathryn K. McCord, global business director of DuPont Chemicals and Fluoroproducts, said, "DuPont continues to see a rapid transition to HFO-1234yf refrigerant for in-vehicle air conditioning system, and we expect to see this refrigerant in 3 million cars by the end of 2014. this number should increase to 7 million by the end of 2015. All but one automotive manufacturing leader (Daimler) is adopting the HFO-1234yf."
The actions to adopt this more sustainable refrigerant have recently been implemented by the actions of the European Commission and the Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) guideline through a proposal from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in order to limit the use of R-134a in car air conditioning.
DuPont said it already markets the product under the Opteon® YF brand, to automakers and the service industry in Europe and the United States. "We have sufficient supply to meet the demand projected by our customers, and we are also ready to make additional investments when long-term demands warrant it," the official statement said.
While CO2 was proposed as a refrigerant for cars with low GWP, it has been 25 years since the first patent was issued for this technology, yet the indications of the automotive industry are that the commercialization of this technology will occur in the future. CO2 has a low energy efficiency in hot climates, enhancing the possibility of suffocation in the passenger in the case of leaks, and requires a high pressure system that adheres weight and size, this represents problems for small cars, as reported, it would also increase the costs for the car's air conditioning too much.
