Solvay reinforce fluorine specialties
Solvay Fluor has started operations in Tavaux, France, for the commercial production of Solkane® 365 mfc. The new state-of-the-art facility, whose construction was achieved within half a year only, is designed for an annual production capacity of 15,000 tons. The hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) Solkane® 365 mfc is an insulating and blowing agent for polyurethane foams, whose main uses are thermal insulation of residential and industrial buildings as well as cold storage. Compared with peer products, the advantages of Solkane® 365 mfc include an extremely high insulating capability and excellent physical properties. Furthermore, using the Solvay product allows the polyurethane foam to be produced directly on the site where insulation is required.
In March 2000, Solvay Fluor became the world's first company to launch a HFC for use in thermal insulation. Over the last three years, the efficiency of Solkane® 365 mfc - produced in a pilot plant with a capacity of several hundred tons per year - has been extensively investigated in close co-operation with potential users. The results were extremely positive. The product has no impact whatsoever on the ozone layer. Furthermore, it passed all the necessary toxicological tests successfully.
Due to the ban in the European Union, the USA and Japan on the use of HCFC formerly widely used in the production of foams, a substitute is urgently required. "Our Solkane® 365 mfc fluorine speciality is the ideal solution. Customer's facilities in which HCFCs are currently used can also be converted at low cost to be operated with the new Solvay product", explained Dr Eberhard Piepho, General Manager of Solvay Fluor. This makes it especially interesting for medium-sized firms.
Even before the introduction of Solkane® 365 mfc, life cycle assessments carried out on the basis of concrete application examples supervised and verified by independent experts, demonstrated that the Solvay product is superior to alternative products even with regard to the assessment of the greenhouse effect.
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