Dubai, UAE: The Chemours Company, formerly DuPont Performance Chemicals, which, in July 2015, spun off to become an independent entity, has revealed that it has transitioned to two main brands – Opteon for low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, and Freon for the established HCFC and HFC portfolio. ISCEON and Suva, its other brands, will reportedly be moved to Freon, as the packaging transitions from DuPont to Chemours throughout the 2016 cooling season.

While the Freon product line represents the current refrigerant of choice in the Middle East, said Chemours, it believes it is not a lasting answer for future applications due to increasingly stringent global regulations. The common HFC refrigerants in use today have GWPs over 1,000, and can contribute to global warming when they escape from sealed systems through leaks, servicing and disposal, and, as a result, they will have to be phased-out over time, the company pointed out. This, it said has led to the development of low GWP Hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) solutions, like the Opteon product line, which, it claimed offers a significantly lower GWP.

Highlighting that on January 1, 2015, the European Union’s new F-gas Regulation went into effect, limiting the amount of HFCs that can be placed on the market in the EU, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency following suit in July 2015, when it finalised a rule to prohibit certain uses of HFCs and HFC-containing blends, Chemours said that 2016 will likely be seen as the year that the shift to HFOs gained critical momentum, especially in light of COP 21.