DuPont Fluorochemicals announced in February that the company has identified and is now testing new proprietary refrigerants that will meet the European Union (EU) requirements to reduce the global warming potential (GWP) of refrigerants in future automotive air conditioning systems.

The new refrigerants are expected to be compatible with conventional hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 134a automotive air conditioning systems with the potential for only minor modifications. These new refrigerants are expected to be commercialized within three to five years, in time to meet the timeline set by the pending EU F-Gas regulation. The F-Gas requirements call for the phaseout of hydrofluorocarbon HFC-134a in all new vehicle models beginning in 2011, and in all new cars by 2017, and replaced with alternatives having GWPs lower than 150.

The new DuPont refrigerants, which are now undergoing performance, toxicity and safety testing, are expected to be non-flammable and have significantly lower GWP than current refrigerants. Unlike CO2, however, these newly developed refrigerants are expected to offer similar performance to HFC-134a and would not require a complete redesign of current automotive air conditioning systems. DuPont said it is currently working with key players in the industry to ensure that solutions under development will meet the needs of the industry. Mark Baunchalk, global business man...