Refrigerants

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The EPA announced it’s increasing the options for refrigerants used in various types of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in the U.S. to offer alternatives with low global warming potential. 

Azane Inc. announced that Derek Hamilton, business development manager, has been invited to host a workshop on “Low Charge Ammonia Technology” at the 2015 International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) Industrial Refrigeration Conference & Exhibition.

March 15 through March 21 is National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week, and the Alliance for Consumer Education (ACE) is urging members of the HVAC community to be on “high alert” for signs of refrigerant abuse. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is increasing the options for refrigerants used in various types of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in the United States to offer alternatives with low global warming potential (GWP). 

Measuring the evaporator’s superheat value is an important part of analyzing a system’s performance. If a lower-than-normal value is measured, too much refrigerant is entering the evaporator for the heat load. If a higher-than-normal value is measured, too little refrigerant is entering the evaporator for the heat load. 

The aggressive environmental and regulatory positions in Sacramento have caused the rest of the U.S. to monitor policymaking and enforcement out West. And, more often than not, those policies have ended up as the blueprint for federal regulations.

CO₂ is primarily used in cascade systems that include ammonia, in booster systems in supermarkets, and as a stand-alone refrigerant for transcritical-configured systems.

Everyone talks about what it initially costs a supermarket to switch to a 100 percent CO2 commercial refrigeration system. But start thinking about the costs that come next — on everything from electricity to regulatory compliance — and the return on investment on CO2 begins to make a great deal of sense.

Danfoss’ 22nd EnVisioneering Symposium was titled “Refrigerants2Sustainability,” and focused on the challenges reshaping the refrigeration landscape. These include climate change, increased regulatory pressure, ever-increasing energy costs, contractor training on new low-GWP systems, and more.

So, supermarket owners want refrigeration systems that are energy efficient to hold down costs and pro-environmental for political correctness. But for engineers, contractors, and technicians that approach may not be all that easy, whether bringing a new store online or retrofitting an existing one.