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In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined regulation for the proper recovery of refrigerant gases during a service event or system retrofits. The U.S. Clean Air Act establisheded environmental standards for the proper management of systems containing refrigerant gases.
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| Refrigerant Gas Recovery Required By The EPA |
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Facilities with air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) equipment are required under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to have a refrigerant recovery plan in place in order to capture any of the harmful refrigerant gas that might leak into the air. This plan is necessary because refrigerant gases contain hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which cause severe damage to the ozone layer and promote global warming.
With a worldwide plan to phase-out environmentally harmful refrigerants, a refrigerant recovery process will assist facilities that still need refrigerant for their existing equipment. Since new refrigerant will be banned, recovering the gas will be necessary in order to meet a wide demand among companies who do not yet need to replace their existing equipment or systems.
The purpose of refrigerant recovery is to recycle, reclaim, or properly destroy hydrochlorofluorocarbons. These efforts will reduce harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) and ozone depleting emissions from reaching the atmosphere, eliminate the need for new refrigerant, and provide a market for used refrigerant after they are cleaned and recycled.
The process of refrigerant recovery involves removing the refrigerant gas from comfort cooling equipment or refrigeration system such as grocery store cooling racks and placing it safely into a pressurized container. This process takes place when equipment is being discarded for a service event or when refrigerant gas needs to be adjusted due to a seasonal adjustment. The recovery process maximizes the safe capture of the refrigerants and minimizes any release of the harmful gas into the atmosphere.
In instances of commercial refrigeration, air-conditioning systems, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, refrigerant recovery is generally done internally within the system. However, new EPA regulations require facilities to monitor and track recovery rates. This can be done automatically through programs offered by software vendors specializing in the area.
Compliance audits will be conducted by the federal government to ensure proper refrigerant recovery. Failure to provide complete information on time will result in steep penalties. For this reason, many companies are switching from a time consuming manual process to a more efficient and accurate automated one will find not only cost savings but also process efficiency benefits.
A cylinder exchange program is another option in which a distributor arranges for the processing of a facility’s refrigerant through a certified reclaim company. In exchange, the facility receives a clean cylinder for its operating system.
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.
Refrigerant recovery at large commercial or industrial facilities may require specialized equipment and techniques to enable a high volume of recovery. Other programs, depending on the facility, can be used. A cylinder pump-down service can be done on-site and basically involves transferring the refrigerant from the system to a cylinder. The used refrigerant can then be sold on the reclaim market.
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