Ammonia Chillers 2

[Ziggypump]

I have been tasked to become the Ammonia Chiller expert in our office. We do consulting MEP work, and the client wants to look into Ammonia Chillers. I've been looking up information on the internet regarding the pros and cons of ammonia use, but was wondering if anyone had some: websites, books, code criteria, etc..., I could look up to learn more about these systems. I'm just looking for some help in collecting information to become familiar with this type of system.

 

[BronYrAur]

http://www.iiar.org

would be a good start

Not an area to go into lightly. I was once asked to do the same thing for a previous company. It did not go very far once I discovered the additional layers of safety and regulation required. I assume you are talking about split systems for food processing or other refrigeration systems. Although in many respects it's just a refrigeration system with evaporators, condensers, compressors, etc., the properties of R717 require special attention (e.g. pipe needs to be steel and not copper). Leak detection and the response thereof is also a major factor.

 

[Ziggypump]

Yes, this is for an HVAC application, in the creation of chilled water for the building.

 

[BronYrAur]

Just proceed with caution due to the safety concerns and don't use any copper pipe that may come in contact with the refrigerant. R717 is an excellent refrigerant compared to the usual suspects of R134A, R410A, etc., but it is much more dangerous. I don't know enough to comment further.

 

[Drazen]

ammonia design requires lot of specialized knowledge. i was erecting, operating and maintaining plants, but never reached level to feel safe to design it, it simply requires dedication to many safety details and consequently lot of time to study and grasp it, and years of practice.

the only real reason to use ammonia in hvac is when you have outrageously large capacity demand. this does not apply to small absorption chiller which are bought mostly for marketing purposes.

if you don't plan to dedicate your future career to ammonia engineering, convince your boss to seek for outside help.

 

[Ziggypump]

Thank you for the advice. I will be working quite closely with any manufacturer in regards to the system. Right now it is looking like the ammonia chiller will operate the same as any chiller, but instead of R-410, ammonia will be used, as the building load is quite large, and there will be some desire for lower temps that R-410 just won't get. I'm not sure if the secondary medium will be a glycol/water solution or if a different type of medium will be required. Just how low the owner wants to go will determine this, and I don't know. I've done lots of research online, and with my ASHRAE books, and it looks like a lot of safety equipment will be required (eye wash, emergency showers, emergency push buttons, ammonia sensors, lots of airflow...), but the overall safety and maintenance will be on the owner. I am not going to design the ammonia chillers (thank god), but am tasked with finding a way to implement them into the building.

The responses above are great, and are being taken seriously, but right now determining the safety requirements is key. A saving grace also is that I don't believe that there will be enough ammonia in the chiller room to warrant meeting the EPA guidelines. This building should be well below the 10,000 lbs limit.