Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration NEWS | March 5, 2012 30

peratur e and relative humidity (rh).

The preservation of food depends
not only on the temperature, but also
on the relative humidity within a
case. When rh is too high (above 95
percent), mold and slime conditions
may occur, particularly on stored
meats. When the rh in the refriger-
ated case is too low, excessive dehy-
dration will occur. Proper case rh is
maintained by achieving the correct
evaporator temperature difference.
An evaporators temperature dif-
ference (TD) is the difference between
the saturation temperature of the
refrigerant inside the coil and its
entering air temperature. The greater
the temperature difference, the more
moisture will be removed from the air
and the lower maintained rh in the
case. The smaller the temperature dif-
ference, the less moisture is removed
from the air and the higher the main-
tained rh in the case.
Many walk-in coolers are designed
based on an evaporator TD of approx-
imately 10F (35 entering air over a 25
coil). This temperature difference will
cause the air to not give up much of its
moisture and the cases rh would be
maintained at approximately 85 per-
cent. This is ideal for long-term stor-
age of food products.
Since many food products have
high water content, maintaining
a high rh within a case is good for
business. Many products (like meats)
are sold by the pound and moisture
is part of that weight, so maintain-
ing the right rh is good for business.
When the rh is too low, food prod-
ucts dry out, reducing the products
shelf life and its weight, both of
which result in lower profits.
This design temperature differ-
ence may not be used on all medium
temperature cases. Reach-in coolers
may not have the room for large coils
required for a 10 temperature differ-
ence. To save space, these evaporators
are more compact, which leads to a
higher evaporator temperature differ-
ence. Reach-in coolers may incorporate
an evaporator with a designed temper-
ature difference of 20. This results in a
lower maintained rh of approximately
65 percent within the case. To prevent
product dehydration, items stored in
these cases are either wrapped or only
stored in the case for short durations,
usually less than 24 hours.
Understanding these differences
may help to explain why on some
refrigeration systems you may mea-
sure lower suction pressures when
compared to another perceived simi-
lar refrigerated case. For example, if
you were to compare a walk-in cooler
to a reach-in cooler and both systems
had an entering air temperature of 35
and both were using HFC-134a as their
refrigerant, assuming no suction line
pressure drop, the suction pressure of
the walk-in cooler would be 22.1 psig.
This is based on a coil temperature
of 25 and an evaporator temperature
difference of 10. The reach-in cooler
would have a suction pressure of 15
psig, based on a coil temperature of 15
and an evaporator temperature differ-
ence of 20. Both cases maintain the
same case temperature, but different
rh values and slightly different oper-
ating suction pressures.
A
well-designed medium
temperature refrigeration
system will maintain
both a proper case tem-
An Evaporators Temperature Difference
ice breaker by Joe Marchese
refrigeration zone:
By Peter Powell
Of The NEWS Staff
I
t did not take long for the HVACR industry to re-
spond to reports from overseas about rogue
refrigerants used in hundreds of transport
HFC-134a refrigeration systems, which allegedly were
responsible for a number of explosions and at least
three deaths. The NEWS first reported on these devel-
opments in its Jan. 9 issue.
In a statement issued Jan. 24, Polar Technology, a
Nashville, Tenn.-based refrigerant management com-
pany that specializes in reclamation and recycling, said
it has developed a series of 18 repeatable testing and
recovery procedures to be used on potentially contami-
nated shipping containers that are believed to have been
serviced in Vietnam.
The statement went to note that after that servicing,
the units were shipped to their respective worldwide
destinations where several of such units have experi-
enced fires or flashing and have been associated with at
least three known deaths. Polar said that a number of
national and international operations have negotiated or
are in the process of negotiating agreements with Polar
Technology to work with them on individual situations.
Updates
The Polar statement also provided an update on
the extent of the possible contamination and the con-
taminants (information that was more speculative in the
Jan. 9 report).
A conservatively estimated 1,600 refrigerated ship-
ping containers have apparently been compromised with
possibly counterfeit refrigerants that are flammable and
that have caused flashovers. Instead of using the normal
mixture of polyolester and R-134a (1,1,1,2-tetrafluoro-
ethane), a noncombustible combination, it is suspected
that methyl chloride may have been used instead. The
result has been the closure of ports across the globe and
a fear about the status of unaccounted for reefer units.
The statement then went into more detail about how
the explosions may have taken place.
Data available prior to the development of the stan-
dard operating procedures indicated that the pyrophoric
liquid (which burns in contact with air) is possibly tri-
methyl aluminum (Al2(CH3)6). The explanation is that
the system has been contaminated with a counterfeit
refrigerant containing methyl chloride (chloromethane,
CH3Cl). This gas works as a refrigerant but reacts with
the aluminum in the compressor forming trimethyl alu-
minum, which is a liquid at room temperature.
At the same time, Polar Technology said such com-
ments are still preliminary.
We have no way of knowing which containers have
the counterfeit refrigerants in them until they are indi-
vidually tested, said Ted Atwood, president and owner
of Polar Technology. Therefore, we must consider each
one as contaminated and potentially dangerous until
proven otherwise. Additionally, given how dangerous
each situation could possibly be, we want to make sure
we have things right before we roll these procedures out.
Testing Procedures
Atwood noted that Polar has a recovery plant in
Ontario, Calif., close to many of the affected port opera-
tions, and has been working with an unofficial consortium
of related groups and first responders, to help determine
how the reefers can be handled and rendered safe.
He added, Polar has developed a series of repeatable
testing protocols that will safely extract sample refriger-
ants from suspect containers and safely transport them to
laboratory facilities where they will be confirmed as safe
or compromised. Initial tests will be conducted on benign
refrigeration containers to make surethe equipment and
procedures are sound and perform to standards before
being conducted on potentially compromised units.
Testing to Determine Bogus Refrigerant Blends
Visit www.refrigerantauthority.com.
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Author Notes
Joe Marchese
Author, instructor and former
HVACR contractor
joe@reachtechnicaltraining.com
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