Cold Storage Facilities The demand for convenience foods in the United States has resulted in the construction of millions of square feet of both public and private cold storage facilities.

With modern rack storage, it is not unusual to find product values in excess of 10 million stored at one facility.

For large cold storage facilities, ammonia has become the refrigerant of choice.

Responding to Leaks and Spills Although ammonia is considered to be toxic, its irritating odor will give early warning to personnel to evacuate an area.

Yet, even though modern ammonia refrigeration systems are designed to avoid the accidental release of ammonia, leaks and spills continue to occur each year.

Emergency response plans are effective, but each employee must understand his or her role and be ready to properly implement the plan when needed.

Qualified Operators It is important that a system be properly built to accepted Codes and Standards, but any system that is improperly operated can break down.

There are many benefits to having qualified trained refrigeration system operators.

Well-trained operators can help make sure the system operates efficiently and often will recognize problems before a breakdown occurs.

Those facilities unwilling to invest in training and maintenance to keep their refrigeration system in good condition are mostly likely to have an accidental ammonia release.

Planning for Emergencies No matter how much attention is paid to equipment and personnel, there are no guarantees that your facility will not have an accidental ammonia leak or spill.

Moving product within a facility can result in impact damage to unprotected piping or system evaporators.

Corrosion, erosion, upsets and vibration are other conditions that can cause an accident.

You should plan evacuation routes and designate employees with responsibility to make sure everyone leaves and that emergency response personnel are contacted.

The full-text article addresses key issues to help you prevent accidents and to develop an emergency response plan, including: Controlling leaks and spills Ammonia detection and isolation Ammonia sensors In Summary For the most part, refrigeration systems using ammonia have produced many hours of reliable operation without incident.

Still, facility owners need to fully understand the potential impact a release could have on their business and takes steps to improve operations, personnel training and emergency planning.

He specializes in loss control and risk management issues associated with heating, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment and systems.

Perkins machine used the four basic parts found in every mechanical refrigeration system in use today: Compressor Condenser Expansion valve Evaporator From these simple beginnings, todays modern refrigeration systems were developed.

For large cold storage facilities, ammonia has become the refrigerant of choice because it produces the greatest net refrigerating effect (btulb), and often the lowest brake horsepower per ton of refrigeration (BHPTR) of any industrial refrigerant.

Although ammonia is considered to be toxic, its irritating odor will give early warning to personnel to evacuate an area where concentrations are high.

Depending on temperature and humidity, humans can detect ammonia vapors in air at concentrations as low as 20 parts per million (ppm).

Moderate irritation to the nose begins at about 100 ppm, with major irritation at 400 ppm.

Unless incapacitated in some other way, humans will generally quickly evacuate any area where an ammonia leak or spill has occurred before immediate danger to life and health (IDLH) levels are reached.

Ammonia Piping Installation Design