Refrigerant Recovery Required by EPA
View PDF | Print View
by: DanielStouffer | Total views: 77 | Word Count: 360
New EPA regulations require facilities that use air conditioning and refrigeration equipment to have a refrigerant recovery plan in place. The plan is needed to make sure that any harmful gases that might leak are captured. Refrigerant gases contain hydrofluorocarbons, known to cause severe damage to the ozone layer and to promote global warming.
A comprehensive plan is now in place to phase out environmentally harmful refrigerants. The refrigerant recovery process will help facilities whose existing equipment requires refrigerant. As new refrigerant will be banned in future, gas recovery is necessary to meet the demand amongst companies who do not plan to immediately replace their existing equipment.
Refrigerant recovery has several purposes including recycling, reclamation, and destruction of hydrofluorocarbons. Harmful emissions will be reduced, the need for new refrigerant eliminated and the market opened for used gas.
Refrigerant recovery involves taking the refrigerant from a cooling or refrigeration system and placing it safely in a container. This can take place when equipment is being discarded or when refrigerant vapor has to be eliminated in order to capture and contain the release of the harmful gas.
Commercial refrigeration, air conditioning systems and HVAC systems generally utilize a system where refrigerant recovery is handled internally. New EPA regulations insist that facilities monitor and track recovery rates. There are software vendors who specialize in this area and will offer programs to automatically handle this.
As the federal government is conducting audits to ensure that facilities comply with refrigerant recovery requirements, companies are increasingly wary of the steep penalties which would result from noncompliance. Such companies are switching to an efficient automated system, as opposed to a manual and time-consuming effort.
Large commercial facilities require special techniques for refrigerant recovery due to their high volume. Other programs include a cylinder pump down service, which transfers refrigerant from the system to a cylinder. A cylinder exchange program allows for the reclamation of refrigerant, with a clean cylinder received in exchange.
Refrigerant recovery can be done during a retrofit and then recycled to service other equipment. When the refrigerant is safely removed from the system, it is brought to an approved facility and tested for purity. It is then shipped to recycling facilities.
About the Author
Daniel Stouffer has detailed information on the need for good refrigerant gas management and more information about refrigerant recovery .
Rating: Not yet rated
Login to vote
