TRAINING
Training development: Flammables
Jane Gartshore of Cool Concerns shares an update on how flammable refrigerant training has evolved to meet the current needs of the market.
O
n the surface, it might seem that very little has changed in regard to training for flammable refrigerants. Hydrocarbons are still flammable and should be handled with the same care, but in other ways, due to the development of standards and service equipment availability, it is actually easier to work with flammables now than it was when we started. HC refrigerant training was introduced in the mid-1990s when Calor Gas launched the CARE range of refrigerants. Its policy restricted sales of these flammable refrigerants to engineers who had attended the HC safe handling training – a very common sense, safe approach to the introduction of a new range of refrigerants. The same basic guidance is still relevant today, of course, but the training we provide on flammable refrigerants has matured in line with industry developments: ■ A2L refrigerants R32
R1234ze R1234yf R454A R454C R455A
■ A3 refrigerants R600a R290 R1270 R170 CARE
There is availability of a better range of tools and equipment for working with flammables: ■ A huge increase in the use of flammable refrigerants and a wider range of flammable refrigerant systems;
■ Revisions to standards covering design of systems and charge size limits;
■ The introduction of A2L (lower flammability) refrigerants such as R32.
Tools and equipment
One essential tool when working invasively on flammable refrigerant systems is a gas detector. This should be
48 August 2018
monitoring the air in the work area during invasive procedures such as charging or recovery. There is now a wide range of readily available detectors and every engineer working on these systems should have one to warn if there is potential for a flammable atmosphere to form. The availability of appropriate recovery equipment, safe ventilation fans and leak detectors have all helped to make the training on service procedures simpler and to remove any grey areas.
Deployment of HC systems
The increase in the uptake of HC training has reflected several significant increases in the application of HC systems, for example when Unilever moved to R290 in point-of-sale Walls ice cream freezers, and later when Waitrose moved to R1270 in all new stores and major refits. The latter increased the range of HC equipment and introduced the water cooled HC system now used by some other retailers. As a result, the HC training was expanded to cover fluid chillers and appliances with larger charge sizes, and to explain the concept of water cooled integral cabinets.
Standards revisions
Standards are an important aspect of flammable refrigerant systems, covering safe design, maximum charge sizes, training and repair procedures. Since we started HC training in the mid-1990s we have seen the introduction of EN 378 (which replaced BS 4434) and the revision of relevant product standards such as EN 60335-2-89. The EN 378 charge size limitations and associated risk mitigation measures for A2L refrigerants are a challenge to understand. Training has a critical part to play in helping engineers navigate through the various options available to achieve the safe application of flammable refrigerants that satisfy both the system or product standard, together with the scrutiny of risk assessment based on the principles of ATEX (DSEAR 2002).
Introduction of A2L refrigerants
A2L is a relatively new safety classification and denotes lower flammability; these refrigerants are flammable but have
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