Installation, Operation and Maintenance i
IMPORTANT NOTICES
Effective July 1, 1992, all service operations must
use recovery systems to minimize losses of
refrigerant to the atmosphere when servicing units
with Class I and Class II refrigerants.
Class I (CFC) and Class II (HCFC) refrigerants
include CFC-12, HCFC-22, CFC-500, CFC-502,
CFC-11, CFC113 and HCFC-123. Deliberate venting
is prohibited by Section 608 of the Clean Air Act.
In the normal service of air conditioning systems,
there are three major activities mandated by the EPA
regulations: recovery, recycling and reclaiming.
1 Recovery - the act of removing refrigerant from
the air conditioning unit so that losses of
refrigerant to the atmosphere are minimized.
Whenever a refrigeration circuit is opened, the
recovery of the refrigerant is required. If there is no
reason to believe that the refrigerant is “bad”, such
as during service of gaskets, expansion valves or
solenoid valves, the refrigerant is often returned to
the unit without treatment. (Note: Always follow the
equipment manufacturers recommendations
regarding replacement of unit filter driers during
service.)
If there is reason to suspect that the refrigerant is
bad, such as with a compressor failure, the
refrigerant should either be replaced or recycled,
Recovery is also required when a piece of equipment
is decommissioned. This prevents the loss of
refrigerant upon disposal of the unit. The recovered
refrigerant usually is sold to refrigerant reclaimers
rather than reused in the customer's new equipment.
2 Recycling - the act of cleaning recovered
refrigerant for use in the customer’s equipment.
First, the refrigerant is boiled to separate the oil.
Then it is run through a filter drier to separate
moisture and acid.
Because of limited field testing capability, the quality
and identity of any recycled refrigerant is suspect.
For this reason, the EPA will most likely allow
recycling of refrigerant only when it is returned to its
original owner. Resale of the recycled refrigerant to
third parties will not be allowed.
As a result, most servicers will only recycle
refrigerant when the quantity of the refrigerant to be
recycled and the expertise of the technician make it
attractive to do so. Most suspect refrigerant will be
sold to a reclaimer rather than be serviced in the
field.
3 Reclaiming - the act of purifying refrigerant and
testing it to ARI 700 “new” refrigerant standards.
With reclamation, each batch of refrigerant
undergoes extensive laboratory tests and the
waste streams are disposed of according to
environmental regulations.
Most reclamation will be done at centralized
processing facilities because of the testing, waste
handling and EPA certification requirements for
reclamation. The Trane Company and others offer
reclamation services for most refrigerants.
Reclamation is probably the most attractive
alternative for users with salvaged and suspect
refrigerant.
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