What are Refrigerant Gases? And Why Should Organizations Care?‏

Image via WikipediaRefrigerant gases are used in commercial facilities such as office buildings, hospitals and warehouses to maintain the climate and air quality. Refrigerant management includes maintaining the air-conditioning (AC) or heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) units often used to maintain the environment in these buildings.

Refrigerant gases have been around for many years. These gases are basically condensed under pressure to obtain chilled air. Through the repetitive evaporating and condensing actions of these gases, they are able to pull heat out of the air.

In the 1970s, scientists discovered that certain refrigerants such as Freon could cause chain reactions and destroy the delicate ozone layer in the atmosphere. Developments and new regulations were passed to restrict the methods of manufacturing and the ways that refrigerant gases could be used. Refrigerant gases could no longer be allowed to escape into the atmosphere.

There are certain gases called greenhouse gases that occur naturally in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor and ozone itself, but other gases like hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are artificially pumped into the atmosphere by industrial processes and refrigeration systems. Because these are not naturally occurring and the amounts are very high, damage to the ozone layer happens as these fluorinated gases degrade into different chemical compounds.

So how exactly do refrigerant gases like HFCs and CFCs destroy the ozone layer? When refrigerant gases escape and drift up into the atmosphere, they go through chemical changes which react to the ultraviolet (UV) sunlight. This disintegrates the CFC molecules and rids the molecule of its chlorine atom. The free chlorine atom now reacts with the ozone (O3) molecules in the atmosphere and changes it to oxygen (O2). Oxygen isn't able to filter out the UV radiation like ozone could. This allows the strong and dangerous UV radiation to come through the atmospheric layers and down to the earth. For this reason as well as the greenhouse warming caused by some refrigerant gases, it is important that refrigerant gases are contained and not allowed to escape into the atmosphere.

Regulators like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitor manufacturing plants and commercial or industrial businesses to make sure their refrigerant gases are not escaping into the atmosphere. Each system is equipped with a gas monitor to assure the accuracy of the system. Compliance regulations make businesses monitor for leaks and require repair of any damaged AC or HVAC systems within 14 days.

The EPA will issue fines to commercial facilities that violate the regulations or are not complying with refrigerant tracking and monitory reporting. In the early 1990s, Section 608 of the U.S. Clean Air Acted certification is required for HVAC technicians to fix or maintain systems or to buy more than 20 pounds of refrigerants to recharge the systems. New legislation being written and being passed in early 2009 and 2010 will further restrict refrigerant gas usage, will require reporting, and phasing out of damaging HFCs.

The US Clean Air Act is a regulation that spells out the EPA's role in air quality, especially in protecting the ozone layer and the tracking and reporting of Greenhouse Gases. The Act is maintained by the House of Representatives. The Clean Air Act has had changes made in the 1990s and again in 2008 that are more stringent than when it was first written over a decade ago. With continued tracking of carbon emissions and the pending mandatory reporting of carbon, organizations of all sizes maintaining refrigeration systems with more than 50 pounds of refrigerant gas will need to maintain detailed service records.

The European Union has been at the top of the list for regulating greenhouse gases and refrigerants. Regular inspections of refrigerant systems are made to monitor for leakages. As with the US EPA, inspectors check records for recovery systems. Refrigerant gases must be recovered in closed systems so that the gases don't escape into the atmosphere.

Daniel Stouffer is a Product Manager for Refrigerant Tracker. This web-based software makes it easy to monitor, manage, and report refrigerant gas usage. Stay in compliance with refrigerant management regulations. To learn more about Refrigerant Tracker visit -- http://www.Refrigerant-Tracker.com