JAL and Toppan Forms Develop New Refrigerant

Japan Airlines and Toppan Forms have developed a high-functional refrigerant, named MechaCool, for inflight beverage services (soft drinks, beers, wines, etc).

MechaCool was introduced on JAL flights between Narita and Honolulu on 18 October 2010 and the airline plans to gradually extend the use of this new refrigerant to other flights.

Until now, inflight beverages have been rapidly cooled on the plane by dry ice a few hours before flights. In addition to its high costs, handling of dry ice at very low temperatures of -79°C can also cause beverages to either freeze or not be cooled enough when using a buffering agent.

Since summer 2009, JAL has been exploring a wide range of options in search for an alternative solution and decided on using Toppan Form's MechaCool refrigerant for its functionality and eco-friendly feature.

MechaCool is a cold storage solution utilising the high-functional refrigerant technology developed by Toppan Forms which can replace the conventional use of dry ice.

The high-functional refrigerant can be re-used repeatedly without releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, compared with dry ice. By introducing the solution on JAL's Honolulu flights (5 round trips per day), the carrier can reduce approximately 350tons of CO2 per annum. JAL has a target to reduce CO2 output by 2,000 tons per annum by extending to other flights, the use of this new cooler which is also 30% to 40% more cost effective.

JAL and Toppan Forms are in the developing stage to expand the application to other cold materials, inflight meals for example.

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