Key Role for Refrigerant Recovery in Year Ahead
John McEvoy, Head of Sales and Operations at A-Gas Rapid Recovery, explains how a refrigerant recovery job was made easy at a new cold store.
A cut in the F-Gas Regulations’ quota of 29 per cent for virgin HFC refrigerants came into effect on January 1 and this means that making the most of reclaimed refrigerants has never been more important.
Refrigerant recovery has the potential to be the star performer in food processing as we look at ways to meet the challenges offered by the F-Gas step-downs. Reclaimed refrigerant is quota-free and industry experts know that refrigerants saved from disposal and returned to use as reclaimed gas can make a direct contribution to making up the shortfall created by the phase downs.
This latest reduction in the F-Gas quota will without doubt lead to another significant reduction in the supply of high Global Warming Potential (GWP) HFC refrigerants. By using reclaimed refrigerant there is the benefit that you do not need to import new virgin material to meet supply. A further advantage is gained as you will be saving on the raw material usage, energy consumption and unnecessary transport normally associated with virgin production.
Time is of the essence for maintenance teams and tools that make refrigerant recovery easier and quicken the process are valuable. The A-Gas Rapid Recovery, F-Gas compliant on-site recovery service, is a good example of how having the right equipment can make a real difference when it matters.
On behalf of contractors Sparks Mechanical Services of Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, A-Gas Rapid Recovery completed a job at a cold store for frozen foods specialists Farmfoods where a warehouse was being demolished and replaced. Redundant Gram compressor units with rooftop condensers used to cool the former cold store were removed and replaced by a more modern system in a new building.
The A-Gas Rapid Recovery team discovered high GWP R422A and R449A. The job at the Cumbernauld site went well and a large quantity of mixed gases were removed by A-Gas from the site and retained for reprocessing.
The ease with which the refrigerants were removed was made possible by the mobile A-Gas Rapid Recovery unit. The A-Gas Rapid Recovery team arrived on-site at 10am on the Monday, stayed overnight and finished the next day leaving at about 2pm. An ammonia and CO2 based system was installed at the new warehouse.
A-Gas Rapid Recovery has been on the UK market since 2017 and in that time has recovered refrigerants from hundreds of systems nationwide. This has helped customers switch from high GWP refrigerants to low GWP alternatives.
Refrigerant sent to A-Gas reprocessing centres becomes fully reclaimed product and is returned to the market in line with the AHRI 700 standard. At Portbury near Bristol and Eygelshoven in the Netherlands used refrigerant undergoes chemical analysis, is cleaned of contaminants and goes through our separation plant to produce a product that matches that of virgin refrigerant requirements.
A-Gas Rapid Recovery provides recovery services to a wide range of industries, including refrigeration, HVAC, demolition and marine. The Rapid Recovery team will take care of all aspects of the work – from start to finish – including the hazardous waste documentation and job site reporting.
A-Gas Rapid Recovery has a network of recovery vehicles and engineers in place to give refrigeration contractors national coverage and this is available to go on-site at short notice to handle jobs of all sizes.
The 900 kgs of refrigerant removed by A-Gas Rapid Recovery at Farmfoods was returned to A-Gas, allowing Sparks Mechanical Services to get on with other important aspects of the installation and in turn reducing the time needed to complete the entire job.
Get in touch with the team today to transform your refrigerant recovery process.
