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Honeywell is placing a $300 million bet that automakers will adopt a new fluorinated refrigerant for car air-conditioning systems.
The New Jersey-based technology conglomerate says it and its raw material suppliers will spend that much on North America’s first commercial plant for the hydrofluoroolefin HFO-1234yf. The chemical is a replacement for the hydrofluorocarbon HFC-134a used as the coolant in most auto air conditioners today.
The facility is set to open in 2016 at a site in Geismar, La., where Honeywell manufactures other fluorinated compounds. Kenneth Gayer, vice president of Honeywell Fluorine Products, says the plant’s exact size will depend on supply agreements the firm is now hammering out with major auto industry customers.
Carmakers adopted HFC-134a in the 1990s to replace the chlorofluorocarbon CFC-12, which contributed to ozone layer depletion, but the replacement turned out to be a significant contributor to global warming. Laws in both the U.S. and Europe are now steering automakers away from HFC-134a. Both ozone- and global-warming-friendly, HFO-1234yf is a good alternative, Honeywell says.
Not every carmaker is behind it, however. HFO-1234yf is mildly flammable, and Daimler and some other German firms are concerned that it could cause a fire in a collision. They are planning to use CO2 as their coolant chemical. Honeywell insists that HFO-1234yf poses no additional risk to first responders at an accident site.
Despite the reluctance of German firms, Honeywell seems confident it can line up enough customers to justify a commercial facility, notes Ray K. Will, a director with the consulting firm IHS Chemical who covers the fluorochemicals industry. “CO2 may be okay in Germany,” Will says, “but during the summer in Houston or Riyadh you need the performance of HFO-1234yf.”
Honeywell codeveloped HFO-1234yf with DuPont. Today, the world’s main commercial source of the product is a Chinese firm that began production last year in a venture with DuPont. Honeywell’s commitment to build its own plant in the U.S. is telling, Will says. “Honeywell has proven itself to be aggressive in this market.”
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