REFRIGERANTS Recycling and reclamation explained
A-Gas Refrigerant product manager Roger Smith explains why you shouldn’t confuse the two when returning gases for use in the industry
O
ne of the most common questions we receive at A-Gas is: “What’s the diff erence between recycling and reclaiming
refrigerants? They all end up in a recovery cylinder – don’t they?” Well, yes, initially they do, but there are signifi cant diff erences between the two processes and to help you understand them I will explain what they are.
Recycling
Recycling old refrigerant involves processing to reduce contaminants and then re-using the gas in the same system. But there are regulations restricting this and recycling is permitted only when recharging to the same owner’s equipment. Recycling involves reducing the levels of contaminants prior to re-use and this is good news for the customer. Contaminants can result in early system failure and include oil, moisture, acid, particulates, and non-condensable gases. Methods to reduce the levels of them include using desiccant driers and basic oil separation.
With most recovery machines it is not possible to remove all the contaminants I referred to previously which is why the gas can only be processed for use in the same equipment.
Reclamation
Reclamation requires the reprocessing of used refrigerant to meet the product specifi cations for newly manufactured refrigerant. Prior to the start
of the process we have to identify the quality of the refrigerant to fi nd out if it is mixed or has suff ered fractionation – a change in the composition of the blend. We also have to fi nd out if any contaminants are within the refrigerant which can result in equipment damage. At A-Gas this is achieved by carrying out a detailed chemical analysis of the used refrigerant in our specialist laboratory. The process of reclamation includes fi ltering, removal of non-condensables, separation, distillation, dilution or reformulation of the recovered refrigerant. Reclamation also requires a fi nal chemical analysis to verify that the re-processed refrigerant meets or exceeds product specifi cations for newly manufactured refrigerant. Reclamation is recommended when used refrigerants are returned to the market ready to be charged for use in equipment – other than the original equipment – or equipment owned by a diff erent company. The Environmental Agency requires that reclaimed refrigerant must reach a required standard prior to resale. This means that reclamation facilities and processes must be designed and maintained to ensure that they minimise harmful emissions to the environment. Banned or non-reclaimable refrigerants – CFCs like R12, R11, HCFCs like R22 and interim refrigerants – must be disposed of in an environmentally-acceptable manner and in accordance with the regulations.
So you can see from my explanation that there is a substantial diff erence between the defi nitions of recycled and reclaimed refrigerant
Why reclamation matters
With the reduction in the availability of virgin GWP refrigerants in the coming years it is of paramount importance that we reclaim larger quantities of high GWP gases as more systems are converted to use lower GWP products. Reclamation will ensure that there is enough high GWP refrigerant available to use in the servicing of existing equipment.
The F-Gas challenge
The challenge facing installers and end users is to make the switch from high GWP refrigerants to low
46 August 2017
GWP alternatives as easy as possible. The reductions driven by the F-Gas Regulations mean that we are now only months away from the 37% reduction in the supply of virgin HFCs on a CO2
equivalent basis.
Next year it’s predicted that the shortfall in the availability of high GWP virgin refrigerants will be exacerbated with manufactures having stopped or reduced their production of high GWP products. This will undoubtedly have a signifi cant impact on the industry.
Rapid Recovery A-Gas has invested in the
development and installation of a new refrigerants’ separator at its site in Portbury. This new £1m facility will be in use in September.
The new separator is a key investment by A-Gas and will operate in tandem with the existing separator on our Portbury site but importantly will more than double our reclamation capacity.
The new equipment will enable the reclamation of mixed refrigerants received from customers across Europe. This type of waste has changed over the years as refrigerant mixtures get more complicated and we start to see much higher quantities of mixed gases. Several diff erent refrigerants combined together in one mix sets us new challenges and without separation technology it is almost impossible to return the gas to the same kind of quality as virgin material.
A-Gas reclaims thousands of tonnes of refrigerant a year across the world. Following the acquisition of Rapid Recovery in the USA we are now one of the world’s leading reclaimers of refrigerants.
www.acr-news.com
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