REFRIGERANT | RECOVERY AND REUSE Refrigerant recovery specialist A-Gas Rapid Recovery Reclaiming refrigerant is a much more extensive process of cleaning and reprocessing recovered refrigerant to meet the requirements of AHRI Standard 700-2016. n First, the recovered gas is tested in a laboratory, then distilled to boil off the F-Gases n Any sludge, particulates, moisture, acid or oil are disposed of safely n Next, any noncondensable gases such as nitrogen and air are removed n The gas is then dried and analysed to check its purity levels n If other refrigerants are mixed in, these are separated in a distillation column into individual pure components for re-use or disposal. Many people assume all recovered refrigerant is incinerated, but thats not the case. If it is separated and recovered according to best practice, as above, in dedicated reclamation facilities, it can be separated and reclaimed to the same level of purity as new refrigerant. Thats important, because refrigerant recovered from a site can only be resold, passed on or exchanged if it meets the requirements of AHRI Standard 700 or equivalent. This specifies purity requirements for fluorocarbon, hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide-based refrigerants from whichever source they come. Using refrigerant that meets the requirements of AHRI Standard 700 is vital for the performance, efficiency and long life of a system, and to ensure the warranty remains valid. When a unit is supplied with reclaimed refrigerant it should be certified as having the required quality and quantity of refrigerant. Recovery lines are attached to the three gauge ports of one of Daikins heat recovery outdoor units at Bristol Waters HQ Certified quantity means that the reclaimed refrigerant allocated to the unit is equivalent to its factory charge, so the unit has zero F-Gas quota impact. Meanwhile, certified quality means the refrigerant has been reclaimed to the same quality as virgin R410a. The certified reclaimed refrigerant is mixed with virgin refrigerant at a factory in Ostend, Belgium, where the VRV units are manufactured. All units are charged with this mixture of reclaimed and virgin refrigerant. Daikin says its goal is to make its activities carbon neutral by 2050 and as well as recovering and reclaiming refrigerants it will be looking to reduce the impact of materials throughout the entire lifecycle of products. CJ MARTIN PASSINGHAM is DX product and training manager at Daikin TRIAL RUN The gas recovery was trialled at Bristol Waters HQ in Bedminster Down, which has three heat recovery outdoor units serving 25 indoor units. The system is charged with 40-45kg of R410A. After four years, one of the outdoor units needed work that required the recovery of the entire refrigerant charge. A reclaim rig delivered by vehicle had its recovery lines connected via 30 metres of hose to three gauge ports on one of the modules. The recovery mode was activated on all three linked modules and, within 60 minutes, 38.5kg of R410A was recovered. The machine was then switched off and the system pressure dropped to zero psi. As the accumulators had iced up because of evaporation, they were sprayed with hot water and left for 30 minutes until the remaining refrigerant had boiled off. Once the pressure had risen, the reclaim machine was run for a further 20 minutes and another 6.6kg of R410a was recovered, and the system pressure dropped to -10 inch Hg. Once the component was replaced, the system was recharged with fresh gas. The process meant there was no need to hire cylinders. 76 September 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Sep19 pp75-76 Daikin reclaim.indd 76 23/08/2019 15:21