R1234yf production ramps up as US Honeywell facility comes online

THE world’s biggest production site for R1234yf has begun operating in the United States, where Honeywell has officially opened its upgraded Geismar plant in Louisiana.

Honeywell says that in expanding the Geismar facility for R1234yf production, it has created one of its most advanced sites and one that showcases process and automation technologies it has developed in-house.

The construction project supported 1400 jobs, while the overall Geismar site has received a 20 per cent boost to its workforce now that it produces R1234yf.

Future next-generation HFO-based products sold by Honeywell under the Solstice brand will also be made at Geismar.

Honeywell automotive refrigerants business director Rick Winick said Geismar will supply R1234yf to the company’s global automotive customers.

“As we have successfully converted our customers’ fleets in the U.S. and Europe, this new capacity will enable Honeywell to help additional countries to meet their commitments to transition to next-generation, environmentally preferable mobile air conditioning refrigerants.”

Geismar will not be the world’s largest source of R1234yf for long, as in February this year Chemours, with which Honeywell developed the ultra-low global warming potential refrigerant, broke ground on its new Corpus Christi site in Texas that will single-handedly triple the DuPont spinoff’s R1234yf production capacity once it starts operating in late 2018.