This article is part two of a two-part series on ice flake machine troubleshooting. The last article, which appeared in the Feb. 7 NEWS, examined troubleshooting low and high water levels. This article will examine water impurities and mechanical problems.
While CO2 is being successfully used in subcritical applications in the United States, it is more of a challenge in transcritical situations because of demanding compressor technology and high pressures. The UK office of Sanyo Air Conditioners recently issued two case histories showing the refrigerant being used for heat pumps in commercial applications.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Fuel Cell Technologies Program will host a webinar with the Clean Energy States Alliance and the Technology Transition Corp. titled “Fuel Cells for Supermarkets” on April 4 from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern time. The webinar will detail the experiences that supermarkets in four states have had with stationary fuel cells.
While polyvinylether (PVE) oil first started to be used by OEMs in 2010, it continues to draw interest, especially as a possible alternative to polyolester (POE) oils with HFC refrigerants. “So far in the States, we have two manufacturers using PVE extensively,” said Eric Schweim of Idemitsu Lubricants America Corp.
The year 2010 and the start of 2011 has proved to be an interesting time for Midwest Refrigerants, a company that approaches the elimination of unwanted refrigerants from a different direction. Midwest has developed a process that breaks down refrigerants to “their original chemical constituents,” as noted by ACR News, a British journal, in a January 2011 report.
It has been more than two decades since the first refrigerant recovery unit came to the HVACR market and became part of the tool arsenal for service technicians. Over that time, two things have become clear: Even a repairable unit doesn’t last forever and the newest units are able to do far more than their predecessors.
During a climate seminar event toward the end of 2010, members of the Consumer Goods Forum, made up of European sector manufacturers and retailers, announced intentions to ban their use of refrigerant gases that they said had high global warming - including HFCs - by 2015 and to replace them with natural refrigerants.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried a bit of muscle flexing as 2011 started and promptly ran into some roadblocks, while at the same time causing the HVACR industry to keep an even more watchful eye on what the EPA may do next.
The need for energy efficiency and the desire for
intelligent energy efficiency have created a hunger for data. This trend
started 10 years ago (or more) in the building controls industry and is now
being seen in the refrigeration controls sector.
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