Title 40

PART 82 APPENDIX B1



Appendix B1 to Subpart F of Part 82 - Performance of Refrigerant Recovery, Recycling and/or Reclaim Equipment

40:21.0.1.1.1.6.1.15.21 : Appendix B1

Appendix B1 to Subpart F of Part 82 - Performance of Refrigerant Recovery, Recycling and/or Reclaim Equipment

This appendix is based on the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute Standard 740-1993.

Refrigerant Recovery/Recycling Equipment Section 1. Purpose

1.1 Purpose. The purpose of this standard is to establish methods of testing for rating and evaluating the performance of refrigerant recovery, and/or recycling equipment, and general equipment requirements (herein referred to as “equipment”) for containment or purity levels, capacity, speed, and purge loss to minimize emission into the atmosphere of designated refrigerants.

1.1.1 This standard is intended for the guidance of the industry, including manufacturers, refrigerant reclaimers, repackers, distributors, installers, servicemen, contractors and for consumers.

1.1.2 This standard is not intended to be used as a guide in defining maximum levels of contaminants in recycled or reclaimed refrigerants used in various applications.

1.2 Review and Amendment. This standard is subject to review and amendment as the technology advances.

Section 2. Scope

2.1 Scope. This standard defines general equipment requirements and the test apparatus, test mixtures, sampling and analysis techniques that will be used to determine the performance of recovery and/or recycling equipment for various refrigerants including R11, R12, R13, R22, R113, R114, R123, R134a, R500, R502, and R503, as referenced in the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34-1992, “Number Designation of Refrigerants” (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc.).

Section 3. Definitions

3.1 Recovered refrigerant. Refrigerant that has been removed from a system for the purpose of storage, recycling, reclamation or transportation.

3.2 Recover. Reference 40 CFR 82.152.

3.3 Recycle. Reference 40 CFR 82.152.

3.4 Reclaim. Reference 40 CFR 82.152.

3.5 Standard Contaminated Refrigerant Sample. A mixture of new and/or reclaimed refrigerant and specified quantities of identified contaminants which are representative of field obtained, used refrigerant samples and which constitute the mixture to be processed by the equipment under test.

3.6 Push/Pull Method. The push/pull refrigerant recovery method is defined as the process of transferring liquid refrigerant from a refrigeration system to a receiving vessel by lowering the pressure in the vessel and raising the pressure in the system, and by connecting a separate line between the system liquid port and the receiving vessel.

3.7 Recycle Rate. The amount of refrigerant processed (in pounds) divided by the time elapsed in the recycling mode in pounds per minute. For equipment which uses a separate recycling sequence, the recycle rate does not include the recovery rate (or elapsed time). For equipment which does not use a separate recycling sequence, the recycle rate is a maximum rate based solely on the higher of the liquid or vapor recovery rate, by which the rated contaminant levels can be achieved.

3.8 Equipment Classification.

3.8.1 Self Contained Equipment. A refrigerant recovery or recycling system which is capable of refrigerant extraction without the assistance of components contained within an air conditioning or refrigeration system.

3.8.2 System Dependent Equipment. Refrigerant recovery equipment which requires for its operation the assistance of components contained in an air conditioning or refrigeration system.

3.9 “Shall”, “Should”, “Recommended” or “It is Recommended”, “Shall” “Should”, “recommended”, or “it is recommended” shall be interpreted as follows:

3.9.1 Shall. Where “shall” or “shall not” is used for a provision specified, that provision is mandatory if compliance with the standard is claimed.

3.9.2 Should, Recommended, or It is Recommended, “Should”, “recommended”, is used to indicate provisions which are not mandatory but which are desirable as good practice.

Section 4. General Equipment Requirements

4.1 The equipment manufacturer shall provide operating instructions, necessary maintenance procedures, and source information for replacement parts and repair.

4.2 The equipment shall indicate when any filter/drier(s) needs replacement. This requirement can be met by use of a moisture transducer and indicator light, by use of a sight glass/moisture indicator, or by some measurement of the amount of refrigerant processed such as a flow meter or hour meter. Written instructions such as “to change the filter every 400 pounds, or every 30 days” shall not be acceptable except for equipment in large systems where the Liquid Recovery Rate is greater than 25 lbs/min [11.3 Kg/min] where the filter/drier(s) would be changed for every job.

4.3 The equipment shall either automatically purge non-condensables if the rated level is exceeded or alert the operator that the non-condensable level has been exceeded. While air purge processes are subject to the requirements of this section, there is no specific requirement to include an air purge process for “recycle” equipment.

4.4 The equipment's refrigerant loss due to non-condensable purging shall not be exceeded 5% by weight of total recovered refrigerant. (See Section 9.4)

4.5 Internal hose assemblies shall not exceed a permeation rate of 12 pounds mass per square foot [5.8 g/cm 2] of internal surface per year at a temperature of 120 F [48.8 °C] for any designated refrigerant.

4.6 The equipment shall be evaluated at 75 F [24 °C] per 7.1. Normal operating conditions range from 50 °F to 104 F [10 °C to 40 °C].

4.7 Exemptions:

4.7.1 Equpment intended for recovery only shall be exempt from sections 4.2 and 4.3.

Table 1 - Standard Contaminated Refrigerant Samples

R11 R12 R13 R22 R113 R114 R123 R134a R500 R502 R503
Moisture content:
PPM by weight of pure refrigerant 100 80 30 200 100 85 100 200 200 200 30
Particulate content:
PPM by weight of pure refrigerant characterized by 1 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80
Acid content:
PPM by weight of pure refrigerant - (mg KOH per kg refrig.) characterized by 2 500 100 NA 500 400 200 500 100 100 100 NA
Mineral oil content:
% by weight of pure refrigerant 20 5 NA 5 20 20 20 5 5 5 NA
Viscosity (SUS) 300 150 300 300 300 300 150 150 150
Non condensable gases air content % volume 3 > NA 3 3 3 NA 3 3 3 3 3 3