Hydrocarbon refrigerants poised for significant growth
The demand for hydrocarbon refrigerants (HCs) is growing, according to BOC. Mike Dennis, business director for special products, believes there is more scope to grow in the HC market than almost any other refrigerant sector. He was commenting on the recent acquisition of the CARE range of HC refrigerants from Calor. ‘Calor accepted that it had taken these products as far as it could. We have access to a larger customer base and have a global infrastructure with people and vehicles on the ground in many of the markets where there is most scope for growth.’ Mr Dennis says that Asia is growing particularly fast following the decisions of many large manufacturers in Japan, Korea and China to switch to HCs. The production of CARE refrigerants will be transferred to BOC’s main plant at Immingham later this year. BOC has been distributing CARE on behalf of Calor since 2000, but was keen to acquire the production as well. BOC’s business manager for refrigerants Rachel Mason stressed that Calor’s careful control of supplying CARE will continue. Only users with the appropriate training will be able to buy these refrigerants, and BOC and its partner distributor HRP. Rachel Mason says, ‘Safety training is not onerous and only takes half a day, so it should not be a disincentive to contractors. We use it to stress the importance of safe handling and the precautions required when working with a flammable gas.’
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