Peter Coll, Neutronics Inc.
Daimler (Mercedes Benz) says to expect CO2 Air Conditioning Systems to
begin arriving in their vehicles by January 2017, if that’s going to happen;
they have a long way to go.
The story has been told many
times. A 2006 Law in Europe banning
future cars from using R134a leads to the selection of R-1234yf by all car
makers. A lack of supply of the chosen
refrigerant gives the car makers a one year reprieve during 2012 and then the
shocking Daimler announcement in late September of 2012 that they would not use
R-1234yf for safety reasons. Creative
videos, misleading claims, lawsuits, patent challenges, loopholes in the Type
Approval process, a French ban on sales of Daimler cars, test after test after
test and now the European Court of Justice; it has been a roller coaster ride
at best and on some days, a Hollywood horror movie.
So here we are nearly 2 years
removed from the Daimler announcement and at the surface, the entire situation
has calmed significantly. The European
Commission is preparing their infringement case against Germany for allowing
R-1234yf type approved cars to be filled and sold with R-134a. The R-1234yf implementation by others
continues to progress albeit at a far slower pace than was first thought and
both the supply and price of R-1234yf remain high. A few million cars on the road and no reports
of spontaneous combustion due to R-1234yf although there have been a boatload
of R-134a car fires caused by those other flammable substances under the
hood. I digress…. As Chrysler, GM, Honda, BMW and others
introduce their R1234yf cars, Daimler stands hard and fast in the CO2 camp. Please don’t get me wrong, CO2 is a fine
refrigerant, for the Alps, where it never gets over 81⁰F (27⁰C), on a bus, with
excess horsepower and lots of space to put in the system. But CO2 is a real challenge for the global
passenger car market where operation in the 100% Humidity of Miami or the 120⁰F
(49⁰C) temperatures of Arizona is needed on a daily basis. You see, cooling capacity is a problem for
CO2 that will take years to overcome if it can even be done without breaking
the bank.
At the moment, there are no published
standards for CO2 systems to be used in passenger cars although some are in
process. From experience, I can tell you
that these types of standards are tedious, require the participation of
numerous groups and seemingly take forever to get done. Even then, our industry often ends up with
multiple standards based on geographical location, often with subtle but costly
differences. That’s a whole new story
that we’ll explore next time.
#1234yf #Daimler #DuPont #Honeywell
#1234yf #Daimler #DuPont #Honeywell
