EPA Grants Three-Year Extension for New Trailer Foam, Refrigerants

A new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency gives the manufacturers of refrigerated trailers and their suppliers another three years, through 2019, to develop a new foam-blowing agent that does not incorporate strong greenhouse gases.

Foam-blowing agents are used by trailer makers to fill the gap between a trailer’s inside and outside walls. The blowing agent starts a chemical reaction that begins to change the insulation’s components into their final form.

The EPA rule on the Protection of Stratospheric Ozone bans the use of HFC-245fa, a hydrofluorocarbon and popular choice of foam-blowing agent among reefer manufacturers, as of Jan. 1, 2020. A 2014 proposed version of the rule had used Jan. 1, 2017, as the switchover date.

Engineering executives from Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. and Great Dane Trailers welcomed the three-year extension, saying it will allow them to more thoroughly develop and test replacements before bringing new refrigerated trailers to market.

“They gave us what we were asking for,” said Jeffrey Bennett, Utility’s vice president of engineering and product development. He filed written comments with EPA after the proposal was published and said January 2017 was too quick for a switchover date.

“This gives us a more reasonable time to test formulations and prove them out,” said Bennett, whose company is North America’s largest seller of refrigerated vans.

The rule, issued July 2, also alters the type of refrigerants that can be used in straight truck and trailer refrigerated units. R-404A is being

phased out on a variable schedule in 2016 and 2017.

Utility’s engineering staff has been talking to chemical vendors about new blowing agents that are on the market, but using them properly is somewhat like baking, in that technique and measurement are as important as the ingredients to be used.

“Knowing how to mix things and what to mix is important,” Bennett said.

Charles Fetz, vice president of design and development for Great Dane Trailers, said he thinks the extension probably will “make a huge difference.”

“The responses to the proposal were that this is too quick and that the industry needs more time. I think EPA recognized this, and that’s why they pushed off on the timing,” said Fetz, whose company makes refrigerated and dry van trailers.

Fetz said he hopes the extra time will allow more chemical companies to bring more options to the market.

“Competition is good; it helps on pricing and availability,” he said. Fetz said Great Dane already is at work on how to incorporate the materials changes.

Foam-blowing agents, the trailer makers said, are important not only for their insulating qualities but also because they improve the structural integrity of the vans.

Although the EPA rule’s title mentions high-altitude ozone, the regulatory effort is related to greenhouse gases and climate change.

The chemical industry used to supply manufacturers with chlorofluorocarbons to perform these tasks, but since 1987, the United States and other nations have been

trying to minimize the use of CFCs because they deplete the ozone layer of the atmosphere.

HFCs became a common substitute, but they have been found to be powerful greenhouse gases, much stronger than carbon dioxide. Therefore, HFCs also are being phased out in favor of a new generation of chemicals.

Honeywell International is a major chemical supplier of foam-blowing agents and refrigerants through its chemical division, the managers of which would have been comfortable with the 2017 switchover, said Tom Morris, a business development director for the company.

Morris said Honeywell is selling an HFO, or hydrofluoro-olefin, as a new liquid blowing agent called Solstice. “It’s very high-performing,” he said.

Honeywell is working with pure HFOs and HFO/HFC blends, Morris said, adding that the company also has a replacement lined up for refrigerants, with N-40 succeeding R-404A.

An executive for Thermo King, a manufacturer of truck and trailer reefer units, said the company probably will use a refrigerant popular in Europe as a replacement for R-404A.

“R-452A is new and has been an option in Europe,” said Douglas Lenz, vice president of product management and marketing for Thermo King. “We’re bringing it to North America, but EPA has not approved its usage yet.”

Lenz said he hopes EPA will grant approval for R-452A before Labor Day.