The Phasing Out Of R22 Refrigerant Gases Across The United States

Several years ago, the United States and other countries passed federal laws that mandate commercial facilities to phase out usage of R22 refrigerant and convert to a more environmentally friendly alternative. Many organizations are working on conversion efforts for the 2015 phase out deadline. Other organizations are putting into practice various measures to comply with tracking and reporting regulations for existing systems.

Used extensively throughout the world, R22 refrigerant is vital to the operation of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems installed in the majority of commercial and business facilities. It can also be found in process chiller and industrial refrigerant plants. The widespread use of the chemical is a paramount concern because when a leak occurs hydrochlorofluorocarbons are released. They are deemed harmful because they damage the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.

It is a monumental task for facilities to replace R22 refrigerant. For many, it means changing existing heating and cooling systems or installing new equipment, all with minimal interruption to business. During this process, special care needs to be given to the chemical's safe removal and proper discarding to comply with federal regulations. Under a 2009 law, reporting requirements became stiffer. Companies using systems containing 50 pounds of R22 refrigerant must submit annual reports of its usage, service and leaks, while facilities with larger systems have a more frequent reporting schedule.

Federal law currently bans R22 refrigerant in various areas of production, in household equipment and in certain kinds of vehicles. New refrigeration and air conditioning equipment being manufactured can no longer contain the chemical. Furthermore, banning of new R22 refrigerant in the maintenance and servicing of existing refrigeration and air conditioning systems takes place in 2010, while the use of recycled R22 refrigerant for the same purposes will be prohibited by 2015.

The U.S. Clean Air Act outlines specific containment and management practices that businesses and municipalities must follow to recover and recycle R22 refrigerant during installation, service, or retirement of a system. Because of the complex requirements of these procedures, many organizations use software programs and tracking applications to automatically handle the protocols, rather than handle the paperwork manually.

As R22 refrigerant is phased out under federal regulations established by the United States and other countries worldwide, alternative substances have been identified. These alternatives are friendlier to the environment and more energy efficient. Among the commercial use refrigerants approved by the Environmental Protection Agency are ammonia, R404A and R407c.

Because it contains hydrochlorofluorocarbons, R22 refrigerant has shown to cause significant damage to the ozone layer. As such, companies have begun efforts to comply with the new regulations aimed at reducing the use of refrigerant use. Among the requirements of the law are monitoring equipment using R22 refrigerant, tracking its usage and reporting any leaks. Compliance has become even more important than before following new laws passed in 2009. These regulations allow government regulators to conduct unannounced spot checks to ensure proper tracking of R22. Particular oversight is given in the event of a leak to ensure documentation adequately shows how the gases were recovered.

R22 refrigerant is just one of many substances that have been identified by the United States and other countries as causing long-term harm to the ozone layer. More recently, these substances have shown to have global warming potential. The effort to phase out dangerous substances will help the world reach its unified goal of recovering the damage done to date to the ozone layer and improve the overall health of the environment for years to come.

Seed Newsvine

Bookmark this article in your preferred program

Comments

Add Comment

Popular Articles in this cathegory

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.