“According to the law enforcement inspection clues and related reporting information, in August this year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the local environmental protection department seized an illegal production of three Dens of chlorofluoromethane (CFC-11).
This illegal production den is hidden in the courtyard of a certain machinery processing enterprise. It is difficult to find out by renting its abandoned factory buildings for renovation. A set of CFC-11 production facilities was built without any approval. 29.9 tons of illegally produced CFC-11 substances and about 30 tons of carbon tetrachloride raw materials were seized on the spot. At present, the raw materials and products have been arranged to be sealed off-site for disposal by qualified units, and the production facilities have been dismantled according to law.
The local public security organ has arrested 3 suspects, and the other 2 main criminals are still under arrest.
——Ministry of Ecology and Environment”
Just yesterday, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment disclosed such a case of illegal production of ozone depleting substances (ODS, Ozone Depleting Substances for short). In fact, since August, my country’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment has started a national ODS law enforcement special action. In accordance with the process of the “Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer” and “China’s National Plan for Phase-out of Ozone-Depleting Substances”, my country has completely stopped perchlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, and tetrachlorides on January 1, 2010. The production and use of the four ODS controlled uses of carbon dioxide (CTC) and methyl chloroform. As of January 1, 2015, my country has completed the phase-out of the production and use of methyl bromide for controlled uses.
In fact, as early as July this year, the Polyurethane Products Committee of the China Plastics Association had put forward the “Initiative on Consciously Resisting Illegal Foaming Agents”, advocating polyurethane foam companies, combined polyether suppliers, and Every practitioner consciously does not purchase, produce or use CFC-11. Since our country is currently in the phase of stepping up the elimination of HCFC-141b, the special committee also calls on enterprises that have completed the elimination of HCFC-141b to no longer use HCFC-141b as a blowing agent.
The illegally produced CFC-11 that was seized this time is a polyurethane foaming agent, and our current calculation of ozone depletion potential (ODP) is based on it.
The ozone layer is a region of the stratosphere rich in active ozone, which effectively filters part of the ultraviolet rays. Without the protection of the ozone layer, excessive ultraviolet rays of specific wavelengths will reach the surface of the earth, and the incidence of sun-induced skin cancer, immune system and eye diseases such as cataracts will increase significantly, and the impact on other animals and plants will also be very negative.
So why exactly does CFC-11 cause damage to the ozone layer? Under normal circumstances, the formation and extinction of ozone in the stratosphere are in a dynamic balance, maintaining a certain concentration. The CFCs used by human activities, after entering the stratosphere, are irradiated by short-wave ultraviolet rays, decompose Cl free radicals, and participate in the depletion of ozone through a chain reaction. The reaction formula is as follows
Cl + O3 –> ClO + O2
O2 –> 2O
ClO + O –> Cl + O2 or ClO + O3 –> Cl + 2O2
In fact, from the reaction formula, we can see that Cl free radicals deplete ozone through catalysis to generate ClO free radicals. After ClO free radicals react with oxygen atoms or ozone molecules, they will re-form Cl free radicals, and this The chain reaction will continue for about two years, until the chlorine atoms return to the troposphere in other forms (hydrogen chloride or nitrogen chloride). Just one chlorine atom can decompose about one hundred thousand ozone molecules during this time. This reaction destroys the original dynamic balance of stratospheric ozone, and it is conceivable how serious the damage to the ozone layer is.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the case information of the illegal production of ODS, which has clearly sent a signal of “serious punishment and no tolerance”. To the author’s regret, between improper interests and law-abiding, there are always people who will choose the former by chance, just like the question from a Jiangsu polyurethane practitioner on a legal consulting website in the picture above, the author feels pitiful Alas. For every industry, there is always something that can be passed on, whether it is technology, or product, or spirit; but it is by no means a fluke of “how to minimize the penalty once it is found”. What kind of innovation will the polyurethane industry have and what kind of inheritance should there be? This is what every practitioner should think about.
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