ATLANTA - Expanded requirements for safety relief protection
are contained in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineer’s (ASHRAE’s) new 2007 refrigeration systems safety
standard. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 15-2007, Safety Standard for Refrigeration
Systems, establishes procedures for operating equipment and systems to ensure
the safety of building occupants and system technicians.
According to ASHRAE, expanded requirements for safety relief
protection, piped internally to systems, is a significant change over the 2004
standard.
“In the interest of keeping refrigerants contained within a
refrigeration system, a growing number of designers sought to implement
pressure relief protection that discharged overpressure refrigerants to a lower
pressure portion of the system,” said Douglas Reindl, committee chair. “This
change is intended to guard safety in these applications by expanding
requirements for the engineering of internal relief devices.”
Another change is the update of Appendix F, which outlines
the principles of relief device selection for positive displacement
compressors. The list of refrigerants with corresponding properties included in
the appendix has been significantly expanded. “This will help users enhance the
safety of refrigeration systems by utilizing improved methods for pressure
relief protection,” said Reindl.
For more information, visit www.ashrae.org.
Publication
date:06/18/2007