Ammonia

James T. Blakeman & Co., a meat wholesaler, has retrofitted its R404A refrigeration system with an ammonia system at its production site in Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK.

In the latest example of the US EPA’s crackdown on facilities that use hazardous chemicals, a food processor in Hancock, Maine, has agreed to pay $108,723 for ammonia safety violations.

Manufacturers look forward to investing in a climate-friendly future as hydrocarbons become increasingly prevalent in commercial applications.

Two industrial refrigeration bodies in the United States – the GCCA and the IIAR – will run a course with American University group the IRC to help OSHA inspectors, who carry out ammonia safety inspections in the United States, get to grips with large ammonia refrigeration systems (usually over 10,000 lbs).

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Russian Federation have opened a training centre in mountainous Armenia.

A company producing dried pasta has agreed to pay a $78,184 penalty for violations of laws related to its use of ammonia in its refrigeration system.

Commercial refrigeration is just one of many applications that are increasingly relying on CO₂ systems to meet their HFC phase-down commitments in 2017.

The must-attend conference of the year will take place on 20 February in Tokyo, right after the Supermarket Trade Show.

Low-charge, self-contained ammonia systems and ammonia/CO₂ cascade systems look set to become the solutions of choice for distribution centres this year.

Australia’s Coopers Brewery has commissioned an ammonia refrigeration plant for its new malting facility in Regency Park, Adelaide.

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol will help increase investment in natural refrigerant technologies, according to the French government.

Compressor manufacturer Bitzer has launched a horizontal oil separator designed to work with its ammonia screw compressors.

In the late 1980s, those of us of a certain age became familiar with an international agreement called the Montreal Protocol. The goal of this agreement was the phaseout of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants. Then, in 1999, Title VI of the U.S. Clean Air Act was modified to phase out high global-warming hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. Now, once again, the fix has been deemed inadequate, and we are being asked to jump into a new generation of refrigerants.

The amended refrigeration and air conditioning directive, which entered into force on 1 January, will subsidise the installation of natural refrigerant-based systems in Germany.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “Industrial Refrigeration Systems Market by Equipment, Refrigerant Type, Application, & Geography – Global Forecast to 2022” report to their offering.

The “natural” refrigerants media group Shecco has called for a far more stringent agreement on HFC refrigerant phase downs than that achieved at Kigali.

The first round of case studies showcasing innovations for industry leaders has been selected for ATMOsphere Japan 2017.

Low training uptake is creating a long-term shortage of technicians trained to operate natural refrigerant systems and ultimately making it harder to deliver the EU’s f-gas phase-down, warns an upcoming European Commission report.

The import, production, export and supply of HFCs in Europe are all falling, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The European Commission sees current flammable refrigerant standards as a barrier to low GWP alternatives and recommends that these should be urgently addressed.