Hudson Technologies Profile
Hudson Technologies, Inc. operates as a refrigerant services company providing innovative solutions to recurring problems within the refrigeration industry.
The company has proven, reliable programs that meet customer refrigerant needs by providing environmentally sustainable solutions from initial sale of refrigerant gas through recovery, reclamation and reuse, peak operating performance of equipment through energy efficiency and emergency air conditioning and refrigeration system repair, to final refrigerant disposal and carbon credit trading.
The company’s products and services are primarily used in commercial air conditioning, industrial processing and refrigeration systems, and include refrigerant and industrial gas sales, refrigerant management services consisting primarily of reclamation of refrigerants and RefrigerantSide Services performed at a customer’s site. RefrigerantSide Services consists of system decontamination to remove moisture, oils and other contaminants intended to restore systems to designed capacity. In addition, the company’s SmartEnergy OPS service is a web-based real time continuous monitoring service applicable to a facility’s refrigeration systems and other energy systems. The company’s Chiller Chemistry and Chill Smart services are also predictive and diagnostic service offerings. As a component of the company’s products and services, the company also participates in the generation of carbon offset projects. The company operates principally through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hudson Technologies Company.
Products and Services
Sustainability
The company sells refrigerants and provides refrigerant reclamation and refrigerant management services that are designed to recover and reuse refrigerants, thereby protecting the environment from release of refrigerants to the atmosphere and the corresponding ozone depletion and global warming impact and supporting the circular economy. The reclamation process allows the refrigerant to be re-used thereby eliminating the need to destroy or manufacture additional refrigerant and eliminating the corresponding impact to the environment associated with the destruction and manufacturing. The company is the largest refrigerant reclaimer in the United States. In addition, the company participates in the creation and monetization of verified emission reductions utilizing third party protocols.
The company provides a complete offering of refrigerant management services, which primarily include reclamation of refrigerants, laboratory testing through the company’s laboratory, which has been certified by the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), and banking (storage) services tailored to individual customer requirements. The company also separates ‘crossed’ (i.e. commingled) refrigerants and provides re-usable cylinder refurbishment and hydrostatic testing services.
The company has also created alternative solutions to reactive and preventative maintenance procedures that are performed on commercial and industrial refrigeration systems. These services, known as RefrigerantSide Services, reduce the system’s energy consumption and improve the system’s operating performance, and complement the company’s refrigerant sales and refrigerant reclamation and management services. These services also preserve system refrigerant charges, reducing the need for manufacture of additional refrigerant.
Refrigerant and Industrial Gas Sales
The company sells reclaimed and virgin (new) refrigerants to a variety of customers in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry. The company continues to sell reclaimed chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and certain hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) based refrigerants, which are no longer manufactured. Virgin refrigerants are purchased by the company from several suppliers and resold by the company. Additionally, the company regularly purchases used or contaminated refrigerants, from many different sources, which refrigerants are then reclaimed using the company’s high speed proprietary reclamation equipment, its proprietary Zugibeast system, and then are resold by the company.
The company also sells industrial gases to a variety of industry customers, predominantly to users in or involved with the U.S. Military. In July 2016 the company was awarded, as prime contractor, a five-year contract, together with a five-year renewal option, which has been exercised in July 2021, by the United States Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for the management, supply, and sale of refrigerants, compressed gases, cylinders and related services.
Carbon Offset Projects
CFC refrigerants are ozone depleting substances and are also highly weighted greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change. The destruction of CFC refrigerants may be eligible for verified emission reductions that can be converted and monetized into carbon offset credits, which then can be traded in the emerging carbon offset markets. The company is pursuing opportunities to acquire CFC refrigerants and is developing relationships within the emerging environmental markets in order to implement opportunities for the creation and monetization of verified emission reductions from the destruction of CFC refrigerants.
In October 2015, the American Carbon Registry (ACR) established a methodology to provide, among other things, a quantification framework for the creation of carbon offset credits for the use of certified reclaimed hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. The company is pursuing opportunities to acquire HFC refrigerants and is developing relationships within the emerging environmental markets in order to implement opportunities for the creation and monetization of verified emission reductions from the reclamation of HFC refrigerants.
RefrigerantSide Services
The company provides decontamination and recovery services that are performed at a customer’s site through the use of portable, high volume, high-speed proprietary equipment, including the proprietary Zugibeast system. Certain of these RefrigerantSide Services, which encompass system decontamination, and refrigerant recovery and reclamation, are also proprietary and are covered by process patents.
In addition to the decontamination and recovery services, the company provides predictive and diagnostic services for its customers. The company offers diagnostic services that are intended to predict potential problems in air conditioning, process cooling and refrigeration systems before they occur. The company’s Chiller Chemistry offering integrates several fluid tests of an operating system and the corresponding laboratory results into an engineering report providing its customers with an understanding of the current condition of the fluids, the cause for any abnormal findings and the potential consequences if the abnormal findings are not remediated. Fluid Chemistry, an abbreviated version of the company’s Chiller Chemistry offering, is designed to quickly identify systems that require further examination.
The company has also been awarded several U.S. patents for its SmartEnergy OPS, which is a system for measuring, modifying and improving the efficiency of energy systems, including air conditioning and refrigeration systems, in industrial and commercial applications. This service is a web-based real time continuous monitoring service applicable to a facility’s chiller plant systems. The SmartEnergy OPS offering enables customers to monitor and improve their chiller plant performance and proactively identify and correct system inefficiencies. SmartEnergy OPS is able to identify specific inefficiencies in the operation of chiller plant systems and, when used with the company’s RefrigerantSide Services, can increase the efficiency of the operating systems thereby reducing energy usage and costs. Improving the system efficiency reduces power consumption thereby directly reducing CO2 emissions at the power plants or onsite. Lastly, the company’s ChillSmart offering, which combines the system optimization with its Chiller Chemistry offering, provides a snapshot of a packaged chiller’s operating efficiency and health. ChillSmart provides a very effective predictive maintenance tool and helps the company’s customers to identify the operating chillers that cause higher operating costs.
The company’s engineers who developed and support SmartEnergy OPS are recognized as Energy Experts and Qualified Best Practices Specialists by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in the areas of Steam and Process Heating under the DOE ‘Best Practices’ program, and are the Lead International Energy Experts for steam, chillers and refrigeration systems for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The company’s staff have trained more than 4,000 industrial plant personnel in the U.S. and internationally and have developed, and are delivering, training curriculums in 12 different countries. The company’s staff have completed more than 200 industrial ESAs in the U.S. and internationally.
Customers
The company provides its products and services to commercial, industrial and governmental customers, as well as to refrigerant wholesalers, distributors, contractors and to refrigeration equipment manufacturers.
Strategic Relationships
The company announced the following strategic relationships in 2022:
In January 2022, the company entered into an agreement with AprilAire, the leading provider of professional grade healthy air solutions for homes, to meet the requirements of the recently finalized California Air Resources Board (CARB) Regulation Order for Reclaimed Refrigerant Use for Manufacturers of AC Equipment. the company will supply reclaimed refrigerant to AprilAire for use in its range of healthy indoor air quality solutions.
In August 2022, the company entered into an agreement with Lennox International Inc., a global leader in energy-efficient climate-control solutions, to align their efforts to meet the CARB Regulation Order for Certified Reclaimed Refrigerant Use Requirements for Manufacturers of AC Equipment. Under the agreement, the company will be the exclusive supplier of certified reclaimed refrigerants to Lennox for the aftermarket support of their residential HVAC systems.
Marketing
Marketing programs are conducted through the efforts of the company’s executive officers, marketing personnel and company sales personnel. The company employs various marketing methods, including digital marketing, segment targeted outreach, social media, trade and industry events, webinars, in-person solicitation, print advertising, response to quotation requests and the internet through the company’s websites (www.hudsontech.com and www.ASPENRefrigerants.com).
Seasonality
The company’s business is seasonal in nature with peak sales of refrigerants occurring in the first nine months of each year. During past years, the seasonal decrease in sales of refrigerants has resulted in losses particularly in the fourth quarter of the year (year ended December 2022).
Government Regulation
The company and its customers are subject to the requirements of the Clean Air Act and the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (the AIM Act), and the regulations promulgated thereunder by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which make it unlawful for any person in the course of maintaining, servicing, repairing, and disposing of air conditioning or refrigeration equipment, to knowingly vent or otherwise release or dispose of ozone depleting substances, and non-ozone depleting substitutes, used as refrigerants.
The company is also subject to regulations adopted by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), which classify most refrigerants and industrial gases handled by the company as hazardous materials or substances and imposes requirements for handling, packaging, labeling and transporting refrigerants and which regulate the use and operation of the company’s commercial motor vehicles used in the company’s business.
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, as amended, requires the annual reporting by the company of Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventories (Tier II reports) to the various states in which the company operates and requires the company to file annual Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Forms with the EPA.
The company is also subject to regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board, which impose certain reporting requirements arising out of the reclamation and sale of refrigerants that takes place within the state of California.
Patents and Proprietary Information
The company holds several U.S. and foreign patents, as well as pending patent applications, related to certain RefrigerantSide Services and supporting systems developed by the company for systems and processes for measuring and improving the efficiency of refrigeration systems, and for certain refrigerant recycling and reclamation technologies. These patents will expire between December 2023 and December 2036.
History
Hudson Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1991. The company was incorporated under the laws of New York in 1991.
