US industry surprised by R454B demand

USA: Refrigerant and cylinder manufacturers in the US have admitted to being caught by surprise at the high level of demand for the lower GWP refrigerant R454B.

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s imposition of an HFC phase down under the AIM Act has created unprecedented demand for the A2L refrigerant blend R454B, a lower GWP replacement for R410A.

Under the AIM Act, R410A with its GWP of over 750 has been banned from use in new stationary residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps since January 1.

While Japanese air conditioning manufacturers plumped for R32 as the lower GWP of choice for split systems, multi spilts and small VRF, R454B was widely adopted by the major US air conditioning equipment manufacturers, including Carrier, Johnson Controls, Lennox and Trane.

Commercially produced by Chemours, and marketed as Opteon XL41, R454B is a blend of 68.9% R32 and 31.1% 1234yf and has a GWP of 466.

The shortage, which has also seen rapidly escalating prices, has caused considerable concern amongst contractors and end users in the US market. The limited availability of the refrigerant is said to have been exacerbated by a lack of cylinders equipped with pressure relief valves with the left-handed threads required for flammable A2L refrigerants, raw material shortages and limited production capacity.

Wayne Powers, senior director of sales, cooling and construction – building products, for leading US cylinder manufacturer Worthington Enterprises, has admitted that the demand took the company by surprise. 

Talking to RSES Journal, the magazine of the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES), Powers claimed that the shortage was not due to a lack of advance planning but more due to the huge demand and unexpected decisions by OEMs to increase equipment production.

“The construction of A2L refrigerant cylinders is unique, involving technically demanding processes and requiring a specific grade of steel and more sophisticated pressure relief device,” Powers is quoted as saying.

Worthington Enterprises says it has taken steps to increase cylinder production, adding two additional production crews to its operation in Columbus, Ohio and added a full third shift at its Paducah, Kentucky facility. Powers added that he expected lead times to continue to improve through the summer.

Speaking at Chemours’ Q1 conference call earlier this month, the company’s president and CEO Denise Dignam said: “While we understand that there is tightness in the supply of cylinders used, we are increasing our line fill capacity in order to quickly fill cylinders as they arrive from our sources. We believe this situation will correct itself quickly and will not be a long-term issue for Chemours’ ability to support the R454B market transition.”