DuPont Fluorochemicals has announced plans for full-scale production of HFO-1336mzz, the new foam expansion and refrigerant solution based on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology, to meet growing demand for solutions that reduce global warming potential (GWP) and improve energy efficiency.
The company previously announced that it expects to make small scale commercial volumes of HFO-1336mzz available in late 2014. Full-scale commercial capacity will be available from its world-class facility in China in the second half of 2016.
HFO-1336mzz will be marketed as DuPont Formacel 1100 foam expansion agent to meet the long-term needs of polyurethane foam customers for high efficiency, low GWP solutions. Formacel 1100 foam expansion agent can help to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of rigid polyurethane foam insulation around the world. In addition to its extremely low global warming potential and zero ozone depletion potential, Formacel 1100 also offers excellent thermal insulation performance allowing for reduced energy consumption, which further cuts greenhouse gas emissions.
DuPont says that HFO-1336mzz is also a preferred technology for many refrigerant applications due to its low GWP, non-flammability, high efficiency and high thermal stability. The company is actively developing several new refrigerant fluids based on HFO-1336mzz technology for a variety of applications, including traditional chiller systems and the emerging arena of waste heat recovery, such as high temperature heat pumps and organic rankine cycles. These fluids are showing promising results in customer lab and field trials.
President of DuPont Chemicals & Fluoroproducts, Thierry F J Vanlancker, said: “DuPont continues to scale-up supply of this breakthrough product and to pursue investments in large-scale and lower-cost production to enable adoption of HFO-1336mzz in response to regulatory and sustainability demands. We will be the first to deliver supply of HFO-1336mzz and we are committed to investing further as demand grows.”