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Home-grown innovation helping the environment
The success of the environmental licence scheme in reducing emissions of harmful refrigerants into the atmosphere is aided by innovation. Two such innovations have been
brought to our attention recently. Both A-Gas and JVAC have produced initiatives that make refrigerant safety, quality and recovery a prime focus – and we wanted to shine a light on these creative ideas.
A-Gas Refrig Health Check™
Cost pressures on contracting organisations may at times impact systems maintenance. However, reduced systems maintenance may result in additional costs in the long-run due to a greater likelihood
of equipment breakdowns, refrigerant leakage and reduced energy efficiency. Therefore, it is clear that insufficient maintenance is bad for business, as well as the planet.
With legislative change in the form of an HFC phase-down on the horizon, HFC refrigerant pricing may be anticipated to increase due to a reduction in availability. Therefore, now is a good time to establish better
practices with regards to maintenance and leak prevention, which in turn will deliver increasing cost benefits over the years to come.
The A-Gas Refrig Health Check™ (RHC) is designed to support this requirement by making ‘best practice’ easier to achieve. The RHC is a boxed product which contains all required equipment allowing
an engineer to take both oil and refrigerant samples from a running HVAC&R system. Samples are then returned via TNT to the A-Gas Quality Control Laboratory in Victoria. The subsequent analysis of
these fluids identifies any contaminants and allows A-Gas to give advice on how to remove them to improve system performance, energy efficiency and extend working life. The RHC assists contractors with
troubleshooting high maintenance systems, as a method of targeting maintenance to the specific needs of a system and as an insurance policy against compressor damage and system downtime.
Use of the RHC will allow system owners to identify if:
- Refrigerant is contaminated with another gas
- 400 series zeotropic blends have fractionated
- Refrigerant is moisture contaminated
- Refrigerant has become acidic
- Oil has become moisture contaminated
- Oil viscosity is incorrect
- System parts are suffering wear due to poor oil performance
RECO GT refrigerant recovery and leak detection machine by JVAC
The RECO GT refrigerant recovery and leak detection machine is specially designed by JVAC engineers to be the most appropriate and cost-effective solution to achieve sustainability in recovery and leak detection.
JAVAC’s design and engineering manager, David Gordon says “The JAVAC RECO GT has been developed to recover both liquid and vapour refrigerant from chiller systems and transfer the refrigerant to suitable tanks, preventing loss into the atmosphere. There is both manual and automatic operation available with the unit providing both flexibility and cost savings”. By choosing the RECO GT system, businesses not only benefit by being environmentally sound but also gain:
- Lower operation costs
- Reduce carbon footprint
- Reduce liability and risk
- Enhance marketability through higher return on investment
Highlighting technological innovations in the sector is also something you have told ARC you would like to see more of. Through the feedback facility our website, we collect your suggestions for Cool Change articles and use this to plan our editions. Do you know of other environmentally conscious innovations in refrigeration and air conditioning? Let us know at enquire@arctick.org
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