In order to curb the deterioration of the Earth's ozone layer, the Ministry of Environment officially launched the phase-out of HCFCs, and the elimination of the refrigerant R22 (HCFC-22) widely used in the air-conditioning industry has entered. Countdown, the major domestic air-conditioning companies have already turned to new refrigerants in advance of the layout of environmental protection new refrigerant battle.
As the world's largest air-conditioning production base, China is obliged to work hard to curb the ozone layer destruction and global warming. For this reason, in the "Montreal Protocol", China has committed to freeze the production and use of HCFCs on January 1, 2013 at an average level of two years from 2009 to 2010, and at the freezing level in 2015. A 10% reduction will result in complete phase-out in addition to maintenance and special uses by 2030.
It is understood that at present, China's inverter air conditioners, air conditioners exported to Europe and Australia and other places have used refrigerant R410A to replace R22, this part of the air conditioning output is about 30% of the country's total air-conditioning output. R410A replaces R22 in production technology is no problem. It is expected that after the R410A intellectual property expires next year, the elimination of R22 will accelerate.
According to Li Dazhi, member of the China Fluorine Silicon Association Expert Committee, at the 4th Fluorite-Fluorine Chemical Industry Development Summit Forum, the industry’s concern for the “HCFC-containing HVAC Industry Access Standard” has been finalized and is expected to be introduced in the near future. According to the spirit of the document, before 2013, China will stop the approval of the new refrigerant R22 project. Although the R142 project can be newly built, the scale must be more than 5,000 tons. The recent R22 price increase has reached 30%.
In this regard, Li Dazhi, a member of the China Fluorine Silicon Association Expert Committee, said that the ban on new construction of the R22 project means a reduction in supply, but demand is still strong in the short term, and R22 itself can be used as a substitute for R410A, so at least in the next 3 to 5 years Still optimistic. According to institutional data, the current price of R22 has rebounded from the lowest point of 13,500 yuan/ton to 17,500 yuan/ton, with the highest quotation reaching 18,000 yuan/ton, and the short-term gain of nearly 30%.
After the shutdown of R22 refrigerant, who will be the ultimate replacement, the industry has a different view. At present, R410A is widely used as an alternative to R22 refrigerant in the world, but R410A will still bring about the greenhouse effect, although it will not damage the ozone layer. Therefore, the EU is already brewing new standards for air conditioning refrigerants and will gradually ban the use of R410A.
In the face of the environmental protection trend of the global air-conditioning industry, China's major air-conditioning companies are actively preparing for the battle for new environmental refrigerants.
In July 2011, the world’s first R290 (propane) split air conditioner demonstration line for hydrocarbon refrigerant was completed in Zhuhai Gree Electric (000651, stock), R290 refrigerant air conditioning will be officially mass production; and another air-conditioning giant Midea also launched R32, R290, R161 three new environmentally friendly refrigerants.
Haier Air-Conditioning actively seeks cooperation with overseas companies while developing independently. At present, the new environmentally-friendly refrigerant R290 independently developed by the company has also applied for national patents and passed national technical appraisal, reaching international leading level. On August 29th, the Honeywell-Hair Joint Innovation Center unveiled jointly with the US giant Honeywell will focus on reducing carbon emissions research. Currently, Honeywell's new generation of low global warming potential compounds, hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), have a very low global warming potential, which can effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Shenyang Zhongda Huanxin Refrigeration Technology Co., Ltd.
