GeneralGas – Revitalization summary to be presented to Prime Minister.
GeneralGas Kryon® Refrigerants Italy was established in year 1990 and is an industry leader in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration sectors, bringing over 40 years expertise and excellence to its customers in Europe, Middle East and USA.
GeneralGas has a longstanding, well consolidated partnership with the leading multinational Honeywell Fluorochemicals; they have developed extensive know-how in RAC and deliver superior quality, innovation and regulatory expertise to its Customers with workable solutions. GeneralGas adopts and is committed to following quality standards, such as UNI EN ISO 9001:2008 and AHRI 700 specifications (quality reference for all the refrigerants used in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning worldwide). GeneralGas range of products and services for the RAC market play a leading role in helping its customers – wholesalers, contractors and end users – to meet and implement their environmental requirements in a changing world. ‘
Carmine Marotta
Global evolution – from 2nd to 3rd Generation Refrigerants (from HCFCs to HFCs)
In the ’80 the two American scientists presented a new theory showing that the chlorine contained in the CFC gases causes damages in the atmospheric ozone layer. The refrigerant industry was deeply involved in such situation; environmental care required the elimination of chlorine which until then constituted the strong point to achieve the required features of refrigerant fluids. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol established the progressive decrease in use over time of CFCs, until the complete suspension of their production in year 2000.
In the meantime, 2nd generation refrigerants – HCFCs – came into use, such as R22 and R502. HCFCs are CFCs where chlorine particles are partially replaced with hydrogen, so to make the molecules unstable when in contact with the atmosphere; as a consequence, they tend to decompose very quickly reducing the detrimental effect on the ozone. In HCFCs, hydrogen only partially replaces chlorine; thus, European regulations 549/91 and 3952/92 ratified the early stop of CFCs production and the progressive retirement of HCFCs; 3rd generation HFC gases were then born, refrigerant fluids where chlorine particles are completely replaced by hydrogen. In 1998, the Kyoto Climate Change World Conference focused on HFC refrigerant because even though they don’t present the detrimental effect to the ozone layer, they are still a big contributor to the Greenhouse Effect.
In year 2006 the European union ratifies the 842 F-GAS regulation that dictates a periodic control of RAC systems to prevent the risk of leaks and set a limit to phase-out HFC with GWP > 150 in automobile air conditioning. A ban on disposable cylinder was also implemented in Europe, effective year 2007; from that date, only refillable cylinders were accepted for commercialization within the entire European geography.
The future – Low GWP 4th Generation Refrigerants (HFOs)
Following the path laid in 2006 by the first European F-Gas Regulation 842/2006, implemented a few years after in the new F-Gas regulation 517/2014, Honeywell Fluorochemicals ventured in a research project to identify a new set of fluorinated particles, belonging to the 4th generation HFO (hydro-fluoro-olefins), which allowed a low GWP maintaining the required application properties and high performance.
The new molecule complied with the requirement imposed by the F-Gas regulation (CE 842-2006) for a few fluorinated greenhouse gases, which limited the GWP to 150. Honeywell and Chemours, therefore, identified the HFO1234yf as best candidate to replace the HFC R-134a in automotive A/C.
HFO1234yf proved during the following years to be a perfectly sustainable solution; it is a pure gas with high energy efficiency, low toxicity and can be used in systems designed for R-134a with minor modifications thanks to its mild flammability. Other LowGWP HFO molecules – Solstice® HFO 1234ze (E) and Solstice® HFO 1234zd – were also introduced by Honeywell; they show excellent application properties as both refrigerant and solvent. Nowadays, a wide range of 4th generation pure gases and HFO based blends is commercially available worldwide, and they are perfectly suitable to replace “old” HFCs for any application in residential A/C (split and chillers), Commercial & Industrial Refrigeration, Automotive Air Conditioning.
GeneralGas experience at your Service
GeneralGas has experienced in the last two decades wide regulatory and technical expertise to drive the transition from HCFCs to HFCs first and nowadays from HFCs to Low GWP HFOs.
GeneralGas people strive to understand how the different markets are evolving and aim to be a provider of sustainable and efficient product and service solutions rather than a mere supplier of chemical molecules.
We aim to help our customers outside Europe to leverage on our 40 years’ experience by providing them with the best products and up-to-date solutions, so as to anticipate their local market evolution and become industry leaders in the respective geography.
We, recently, held a seminar in Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore. The event was graced by several renowned consultants, contractors, wholesalers and end users. It was our pleasure to highlight the core business of General Gas and we emphasized on the use of branded and certified HVAC related products and what makes KRYON refrigerants the best amongst their competitors. With the quality products in our portfolio, we hope to progress in Pakistan with our partners QMB.
