Refrigerant reclamation

Short description: Recycling of refrigerant gas

Refrigerant reclamation is the act of processing used refrigerant gas which has previously been used in some type of refrigeration loop to meet the specifications for new refrigerant gas. In the United States, the Section 608 of the Clean Air Act of 1990 requires that used refrigerant be processed by a certified reclaimer, which must be licensed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the material must be recovered and delivered to the reclaimer by EPA-certified technicians.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Background
* 2 Certification program
* 3 Certified ratings
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Background

Coolant and refrigerants are found throughout the industrialized world, in homes, offices, and factories, in devices such as refrigerators, air conditioners, central air conditioning systems (HVAC), freezers, and dehumidifiers. When these units are serviced, there is a risk that refrigerant gas will be vented into the atmosphere, hence the creation of technician training and certification programs in order to ensure that the material is conserved and managed safely. Mistreatment of these gases has been shown to deplete the ozone layer and is suspected to contribute to global warming.[2]

Reclamation of used refrigerant by an EPA-certified reclaimer is required in order to sell used refrigerant not originating from and intended for use with motor vehicle air conditioners and stationary equipment like air conditioners, refrigerators, central air conditioning systems (HVAC), and other cooling equipment. The EPA implemented a Code of Federal Regulations in 1995[3] in order to develop actions to meet the agreements defined in the Montreal Protocol.

Reclamation, as it refers to refrigerants, is one of three components in a refrigerant management process.

The EPA defines refrigerant reclamation as "Reclaim refrigerant means to reprocess refrigerant to at least the purity specified in appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F (based on AHRI Standard 700–1993, Specifications for Fluorocarbon and Other Refrigerants) and to verify this purity using the analytical methodology prescribed in appendix A. In general, reclamation involves the use of processes or procedures available only at a reprocessing or manufacturing facility."[4]

EPA establishes rules and regulations that reclaimers must acknowledge, and they license these reclaimers to operate. In most cases wholesale distributors provide this service as an intermediary, since they have such great resources to manage distribution.

The EPA requires that refrigerant be reclaimed when a certified technician recovers refrigerant and puts it in a special DoT container and has no intention of putting it back in the same system from which it was recovered.

## Certification program

The final rule published on May 14, 1993, requires that refrigerant sold to a new owner be reclaimed to the AHRI Standard 700 of purity by a certified reclaimer (Sec. 82.154(g) and (h) referencing standard in Sec. 82.164 and the definition of reclaim found in Sec. 82.152). As discussed in the final rule, this requirement protects the purity of used refrigerant to prevent damage to air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment from the use of contaminated refrigerant. Equipment damage from contaminated refrigerant would result in costs to equipment owners, in releases of refrigerant from damaged equipment through increased leakage, servicing and replacement, and in reduction in consumer confidence in the quality of used refrigerant. This reduction in consumer confidence could lead to the premature retirement or retrofit of CFC or HCFC equipment since consumers would no longer believe that a sufficient stock of trustworthy refrigerants was available.[5]

AHRI develops standards and manages third party testing and certification programs. AHRI oversees the ARI reclaimer program: Refrigerant Testing Laboratory Certification Find ARI Performance Certified Refrigerant Testing Laboratory Certification.

The certification program includes verification for all participating refrigerant testing laboratories, performing ARI-700 testing on any new or reclaimed refrigerants.

## Certified ratings

AHRI also works with many participants in the industry to ensure that the standards that reclaimers are expected to achieve are well defined and support the highest level of integrity so technicians can be confident in the materials they are using and installing.

Before reclamation can begin the material must be recovered and the EPA defines that as "Recover refrigerant means to remove refrigerant in any condition from an appliance and to store it in an external container without necessarily testing or processing it in any way."

Some circumstances where the material is being put back into the system it was removed and not being transferred to a new system the material can be recycled and the EPA defines that as "Recycle refrigerant means to extract refrigerant from an appliance and clean refrigerant for reuse without meeting all of the requirements for reclamation. In general, recycled refrigerant is refrigerant that is cleaned using oil separation and single or multiple passes through devices, such as replaceable core filter-driers, which reduce moisture, acidity, and particulate matter. These procedures are usually implemented at the field job site."

## See also

* AHRI
* List of refrigerants
* Section 608

## References

1. ↑ Section 608 of the Clean Air Act of 1990
2. ↑ Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Report by the US Department of Energy
3. ↑ Code of Federal Regulations: Protection of Stratospheric Ozone
4. ↑ Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Supplemental Rule Regarding a Recycling Standard Under Section 608 (Proposed) of the Clean Air Act
5. ↑ Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Direct-Final Rulemaking Temporarily Extend the Existing Requirements

## External links

* US Environmental Protection Agency page of information for refrigerant technicians
* List of EPA-certified reclaimers

* v
* t
* e

Recycling

Materials|

* Aluminium
* Asphalt
* Concrete
* Copper
* Cotton
* Energy
* Glass
* Gypsum
* Paper
* Plastic
* Refrigerant
* Scrap
* Timber
* Vegetable oil
* Water

Products|

* Appliances
* Automotive oil
* Batteries
* Bottles
* PET bottles
* Computers
* Drugs
* Fluorescent lamps
* Lumber
* Mobile phones
* Paint
* Ships
* Textiles
* Tires
* Vehicles

Apparatus|

* Bins
* Blue bags
* Blue boxes
* Codes
* Collection
* Materials recovery facility
* Waste sorting

Countries|

* Rate by country
* Australia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Ireland
* Israel
* Japan
* Malaysia
* The Netherlands
* Switzerland
* Taiwan
* United Kingdom
* Northern Ireland
* United States

Concepts|

* Dematerialization
* Downcycling
* Eco-industrial park
* Ecodesign
* Extended producer responsibility
* Freecycling
* Industrial ecology
* Industrial metabolism
* Land recycling
* Material flow analysis
* Precycling
* Product stewardship
* Recursive recycling
* Recycling (ecological)
* Resource recovery
* Reuse of excreta
* Repurposing
* Reuse
* Upcycling
* Urban lumberjacking
* Waste hierarchy
* Waste minimisation
* Waste picking
* Zero waste

See also|

* Cogeneration
* Composting
* Container deposit legislation
* Dumpster diving
* Ethical consumerism
* Freeganism
* Simple living
* Waste
* Waste-to-energy
* Waste collection
* Waste management law
* Waste management
* Waste management concepts

* Environment portal
* Category
* by country
* by material
* by product
* organizations
* Index
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

Fundamental concepts|

* Air changes per hour
* Bake-out
* Building envelope
* Convection
* Dilution
* Domestic energy consumption
* Enthalpy
* Fluid dynamics
* Gas compressor
* Heat pump and refrigeration cycle
* Heat transfer
* Humidity
* Infiltration
* Latent heat
* Noise control
* Outgassing
* Particulates
* Psychrometrics
* Sensible heat
* Stack effect
* Thermal comfort
* Thermal destratification
* Thermal mass
* Thermodynamics
* Vapour pressure of water

Technology|

* Absorption refrigerator
* Air barrier
* Air conditioning
* Antifreeze
* Automobile air conditioning
* Autonomous building
* Building insulation materials
* Central heating
* Central solar heating
* Chilled beam
* Chilled water
* Constant air volume (CAV)
* Coolant
* Dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS)
* Deep water source cooling
* Demand-controlled ventilation (DCV)
* Displacement ventilation
* District cooling
* District heating
* Electric heating
* Energy recovery ventilation (ERV)
* Firestop
* Forced-air
* Forced-air gas
* Free cooling
* Heat recovery ventilation (HRV)
* Hybrid heat
* Hydronics
* HVAC
* Ice storage air conditioning
* Kitchen ventilation
* Mixed-mode ventilation
* Microgeneration
* Natural ventilation
* Passive cooling
* Passive house
* Radiant heating and cooling system
* Radiant cooling
* Radiant heating
* Radon mitigation
* Refrigeration
* Renewable heat
* Room air distribution
* Solar air heat
* Solar combisystem
* Solar cooling
* Solar heating
* Thermal insulation
* Underfloor air distribution
* Underfloor heating
* Vapor barrier
* Vapor-compression refrigeration (VCRS)
* Variable air volume (VAV)
* Variable refrigerant flow (VRF)
* Ventilation

Components|

* Air conditioner inverter
* Air door
* Air filter
* Air handler
* Air ionizer
* Air-mixing plenum
* Air purifier
* Air source heat pumps
* Automatic balancing valve
* Back boiler
* Barrier pipe
* Blast damper
* Boiler
* Centrifugal fan
* Ceramic heater
* Chiller
* Condensate pump
* Condenser
* Condensing boiler
* Convection heater
* Compressor
* Cooling tower
* Damper
* Dehumidifier
* Duct
* Economizer
* Electrostatic precipitator
* Evaporative cooler
* Evaporator
* Exhaust hood
* Expansion tank
* Fan coil unit
* Fan filter unit
* Fan heater
* Fire damper
* Fireplace
* Fireplace insert
* Freeze stat
* Flue
* Freon
* Fume hood
* Furnace
* Furnace room
* Gas compressor
* Gas heater
* Gasoline heater
* Geothermal heat pump
* Grease duct
* Grille
* Ground-coupled heat exchanger
* Heat exchanger
* Heat pipe
* Heat pump
* Heating film
* Heating system
* High efficiency glandless circulating pump
* High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)
* High pressure cut off switch
* Humidifier
* Infrared heater
* Inverter compressor
* Kerosene heater
* Louver
* Mechanical fan
* Mechanical room
* Oil heater
* Packaged terminal air conditioner
* Plenum space
* Pressurisation ductwork
* Process duct work
* Radiator
* Radiator reflector
* Recuperator
* Refrigerant
* Register
* Reversing valve
* Run-around coil
* Scroll compressor
* Solar chimney
* Solar-assisted heat pump
* Space heater
* Smoke exhaust ductwork
* Thermal expansion valve
* Thermal wheel
* Thermosiphon
* Thermostatic radiator valve
* Trickle vent
* Trombe wall
* Turning vanes
* Ultra-low particulate air (ULPA)
* Whole-house fan
* Windcatcher
* Wood-burning stove

Measurement
and control|

* Air flow meter
* Aquastat
* BACnet
* Blower door
* Building automation
* Carbon dioxide sensor
* Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR)
* Gas sensor
* Home energy monitor
* Humidistat
* HVAC control system
* Intelligent buildings
* LonWorks
* Minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV)
* OpenTherm
* Programmable communicating thermostat
* Programmable thermostat
* Psychrometrics
* Room temperature
* Smart thermostat
* Thermostat
* Thermostatic radiator valve

Professions, trades,
and services|

* Architectural acoustics
* Architectural engineering
* Architectural technologist
* Building services engineering
* Building information modeling (BIM)
* Deep energy retrofit
* Duct leakage testing
* Environmental engineering
* Hydronic balancing
* Kitchen exhaust cleaning
* Mechanical engineering
* Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing
* Mold growth, assessment, and remediation
* Refrigerant reclamation
* Testing, adjusting, balancing

Industry organizations|

* ACCA
* AHRI
* AMCA
* ASHRAE
* ASTM International
* BRE
* BSRIA
* CIBSE
* Institute of Refrigeration
* IIR
* LEED
* SMACNA

Health and safety|

* Indoor air quality (IAQ)
* Passive smoking
* Sick building syndrome (SBS)
* Volatile organic compound (VOC)

See also|

* ASHRAE Handbook
* Building science
* Fireproofing
* Glossary of HVAC terms
* World Refrigeration Day

* Template:Home automation
* Template:Solar energy

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerant reclamation. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Chemistry:Refrigerant_reclamation&oldid=4358973"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template