On May 25, Honeywell Japan (President: E・Wagner) held a product seminar for news media in its head office located in Tokyo on “SOLSTICE Spray Propellant” of fluorine-based gas for aerosol. 　

The product is a new liquefied gas composed of HFO1234ze (E). It is used to push out the contents of aerosol can with gas pressure, having two remarkable features of low GWP and slight flammability. As for the feature of GWP, it has attained a value of 1 or less superior to carbon dioxide. In our country the Fluorocarbons Control Law set a target to control GWP to 10 or less by 2019 regarding the gases utilizing propellants. The product satisfies the target.

Regarding the slight flammability of the other feature, the product was designated as a “specific inert gas” in the newly added classification under the High Pressure Gas Safety Law amended in November last year. The identification is positioned to something that is flammable at an extremely low level and may hardly catch fire. This has brought out an awareness of higher safety property than flammable LPG and DME.

In the product seminar the company explained in detail the current environmental restrictions and the history regarding fluorocarbons, the transience of sort and the particulars of SOLSTICE propellant. In addition the market trend of aerosol products and the result of Honeywell’s research on consumers’ consciousness were reported. According to the research, in 2016 the domestic output of aerosol products amounted to 17.62 million cans. The annual use per head was 4.1 cans. The use in three fields (for human bodies, households and insecticides) accounted for 80%.

In the research on awareness applied to 800 persons regarding aerosol products, it was shown that consumers are most aware of “fire,” and that “higher safety” is required for the products which children use.

Regarding the most important points to select products, the consumers took “Safety” (86.9% responded) much more than “Price” (7.6% responded), and more than 20% of them answered, “I prefer to take a safer product even if the price is 1.5 times higher than ordinary.”

For examples of using the said products, Honeywell picks out MONAT (hair spray), Astral Beauty (foundation) of USA and Mission Pharmacal Company (skin protective spray) and also Japanese Fumakilla (freezing insecticide), Earth Chemical (freezing insecticide) and Air Water Sol (dust blower). Director Katsuyuki Takise said, “In most cases aerosol cans are used at home and the propellants containing in them are directly related to the safety of living families. We are going to urge diffusion of the safe SOLSTICE propellants.”

World largest HFO1234yf plant now in operation
　
Honeywell also announced that the new HFO1234yf plant which had been under construction in Geismar, Louisiana started operation commercially on May 16. The investment totally amounted to US$300 million (equivalent to about JPY3.3 billion). Although the production capacity has not been announced, Honeywell says it is the world largest commercial plant of the gas in terms of scale.