In coming April, Aohong Chemical Japan will start to operate its fluorocarbon recycling/filling plant which is now under construction in Tsuyama City, Okayama.

The company is an affiliate of Shanghai Aohong Chemical Co., Ltd., which is a fluorocarbon mixing/filling company of China. The business has been developed by means of importing the various refrigerants like R410A and R32 produced by the parent company. However, it is anticipated in Japan that there will be a dramatically less quantity of HFC fluorocarbon possible to handle as a phased reduction of HFC under the revised laws to control fluorocarbons with the background of the Kigali Revision. 　

Three years ago they planned to participate newly in the fluorocarbon recycling business and procured a land in the Kume Industrial Park of Tsuyama City, Okayama. Since last spring the company has been constructing a fluorocarbon recycling plant having storing and mixing/filling functions.

The new plant has nearly completed now, and will be put into operation in earnest as soon as they finish registration procedures to METI and Ministry of the Environment as a recycling enterprise. The new plant has a single-storied structure having a total floor area of 2,400 sq. meter on a land space of 9,216 sq. meter. The most noticeable feature is that the fluorocarbon recycling facility adopts a distillation tower with a height of 15 meter or so.

President Komatsu says, “It is the first case in the western Japan area excepting fluorocarbon producer to make dual mixing by distilled purification and the mixing tank for recycling of fluorocarbons.”

The fluorocarbon mixing facility is equipped with one 17-t and three 1-t blending tanks, and its filling line consists of 6 systems (12 lines) designed to meet R32 requiring a high pressure. In addition, a space to store 20 units of 20ft ISO containers is provided for storage, with which it is possible to recycle, mix and divide for filling about 10 and several types of fluorocarbons like R32, R410A and R404A, regardless of inert gases or specific inert gases.
　
Designing and engineering are dealt with by Iwatani. The total construction cost amounts to about 700 million yen including the land cost. The volume to be recycled depends upon the condition to procure collected fluorocarbons, but the company plans to aim at 300 to 400 tons annually.

He added with enthusiasm, “Although we are forced to decrease an import volume year after year due to phased reduction of HFC promoted by the Government, it was inevitable for us to join the recycling business to make up for that. The current scale of business is one billion yen or so, but we wish to double the scale to a two billion yen level by bringing up the recycling business to a regular position.”