Developing CFC substitutes in India
THE INDIAN government has initiated a national project to develop alternatives to ozone-depleting chemicals. Four national laboratories -- Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, Industrial Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC) in Lucknow and Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) in Dehra Dun -- are working on different aspects of the project.
Says IICT scientist R V Venkataratnam, "We do not have the resources to develop our own substitutes and compete with multinational companies. But we can certainly develop our own processes and technologies for products identified abroad." This effort is essential, he says, to ensure India is not dependent on foreign producers who are reluctant to transfer technology. "They would prefer to sell us their finished products," he adds.
The IICT team has identified HFC-134A and HFC-157A as possible substitutes. HFC-134A is a substitute for CFC-12 and IICT plans to work on it first. These products have been patented in other countries by companies like ICI, Hoechst and Dupont. But because Indian law recognises only process patents and not product patents, Indian manufacturers can produce the same product using a different process.
In the next two years, IICT hopes to crack the process in their laboratories. A suitable pilot plant will then be set up at the IICT. IICT scientists are confident they will be able to develop the technology at a fraction of the cost of imported technology.
At NCL, scientists will investigate other alternatives to CFCs. The toxicity of substitutes will be investigated at ITRC and IIP will develop lubricants compatible with CFC substitutes.
Sunil Tandon, general manager of Navine Fluorine Industries, one of the larger producers of CFCs, says they plan to buy technology to produce HFC-134A from a German company, but nonetheless are looking forward to the developments at IICT.
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