WILMINGTON — With an eye to phasing out refrigerants with high global warming potentials, Chemours announced earlier this week that it is developing a new strategy to retrofit cars and other vehicles with its Opteon YF refrigerant.
Chemours has yet to reveal details on its processes, but officials claim that the retrofit process will be a simple, safe and cost-effective way to replace R-134a, a refrigerant used in car air conditioning systems that emits 1,430 times more harmful than carbon dioxide when released in the atmosphere.
“Customer satisfaction, safety, and ease-of-use are always top priorities. The development of a simple retrofit approach that builds on existing safe service practices and provides a lower global warming potential refrigerant option, is a prime example of those commitments in action,” Chemours President of Thermal & Specialized Solutions Joseph Martinko said in a prepared statement. “Providing a fully integrable approach with matched performance and lower environmental footprint is a win-win for the automotive industry and society at-large.”
Opteon is a line of refrigerants that are based on hydrofluoroolefin chemistry – or compounds made of hydrogen, fluorine and carbon. This specific Opteon product, R-1234yf or Opteon YF, was developed more than a decade ago through a partnership with multinational conglomerate Honeywell, with both investing billions in the product and filing patents for future product development.
Opteon YF has since become one of the major refrigerants used by car manufacturers, reportedly in use for 250 million light-duty cars. But with new cars becoming more expensive, car manufacturers are continuing the search for ways to make used or older models last longer on the road while addressing climate change issues brought on by keeping gas-powered vehicles on the road.
Chemours officials estimate that 95% of new cars are sold with R-1234yf, with 15 million cars that are reaching the end of their warranty. The retrofit option could save car owners thousands of dollars in purchase new car, company representatives said.
It also serves as a way for Chemours to provide a new link in the supply chain: recycling and reusing existing vehicles with new Opteon products as the federal regulations are moving to prohibit the more mainstream refrigerant R-134a by 2028.
Chemours projects that its Opteon portfolio will eliminate an estimated 325 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. For years, the company has been preparing for this moment as it invested $300 million by 2019 to triple its manufacturing capacity of the product line. The last installation of this investment was a new manufacturing plant in Ingleside, Texas.
