Support
that all refrigerant containers should have the same paint colour ( grey ) to end confusion between similarly coloured cylinders .
Figure 2 : Old ( above ) and new ( below ) systems .
Under the new system , refrigerant cylinders will be clearly marked as indicated in Figure 2 . Refrigerants will be identified by the product number and colour printed on the cylinder . Guideline N is voluntary but generally followed by the North American industry . We will , no doubt , see similar changes to cylinders used locally .
If you have a situation where the refrigerant in the cylinder is unknown , or should you wish to verify the contents of a cylinder ,
a basic method would be to measure temperature and pressure to determine type of refrigerant from a temperature / pressure chart .
For every pure refrigerant there is a relationship between the temperature and the pressure ( pure means that there must not be any air or other gas present in the container ).
Refrigerant pressures at the same temperature mostly vary considerably and the pressure / temperature relationship is unique to each refrigerant . However , in some instances you will find that some refrigerants have more similar pressures at the same temperature .
In most cases if the temperature and the pressure of the refrigerant in the container are measured accurately , the type of refrigerant in the container can be determined . However , if there are two ( or more ) refrigerants in the container that have approximately the same pressure , further tests will have to be carried out .
Thanks for the question James . As I have said before : in terms of refrigerants , we are experiencing rapid global change and need to ensure our knowledge , procedures , legislation , and equipment are keeping abreast .
Thank you for all your questions . Send your problems ( and sometimes your creative solutions ) to acra @ netactive . co . za with ‘ Solutions Page ’ in the subject line . You may include pictures .
REFERENCES : 1 . ACRA 2 . AHRI Guideline N RACA
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RACA Journal I June 2021 www . hvacronline . co . za