2019 RETA Breeze Sept-Oct

RETA BREEZE REFRIGERATING ENGINEERS & TECHNICIANS ASSOCIATION SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019

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Innovation based. Employee owned. Expect more.

BREEZE

The RETA Breeze is the official publication of the Refrigerating

Engineers & Technicians Association (RETA). RETA is an international not- for-profit association whose mission is to enhance the professional development of industrial refrigeration operating and technical engineers. Don Chason Executive Editor 704-455-3551 Jim Barron Executive Director

Why Not?

Carbon Dioxide Refrigerant

page 20

jim@reta.com Sara Louber Senior Director, Office Operations

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

sara@reta.com Dan Reisinger Credentialing Manager dan@reta.com Michelle Robinson Conference Manager michelle@reta.com Dan Denton Chapter Relations Manager ddenton@reta.com John Bento Education Manager john@reta.com

Message from the President..............4 Message from the Executive Director ............................6 Epic Fail...............................................8 Critical Pieces of Equipment! Meet the NewConferenceManager...10 with the insider scoop Education Corner............................12 CO2 Study Guide and the Industrial Refrigeration Energy Efficiency Handbook Compliance.......................................13 Ammonia Pipe and Equipment Labeling - part 1

An Ideal Operating Engineer.........16 from Manager’s Standpoint Carbon Dioxide Refrigerant...........20 Why Not? The Shade Tree Mechanic...............24 volume XXXI RETA Testing Corner No. 15..........26 RETA’s Testing and ANSI Guru Certification......................................29 Honor Roll

The information in this publication is based on the collective experience of industry engineers and technicians. Although the information is intended to be comprehensive and thorough, it is subject to change. The Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular application, as well as all claims for compensatory, consequential or other damages arising out of or related to the uses of this publication. Publication of advertisements in Breeze , or any other RETA publication, does not constitute endorsement of any products, services or advertisers by RETA and shall not be considered or represented by advertiser as such. Copyright © 2019 Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association.

REFRIGERATING ENGINEERS & TECHNICIANS ASSOCIATION 1725 Ferry St. SW, Albany, OR 97322 Telephone: 541.497.2955 | Fax: 541.497.2966 RETA.com

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2018-19 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN Eric Girven, CIRO, RAI, CRST SCS Tracer Environmental PRESIDENT Arlie Farley, CARO, CIRO Farley’s S.R.P., Inc. EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Vern Sanderson, CIRO, CRST, RAI Wagner-Meinert, LLC TREASURER Eric Teale, CARO, CRST Danfoss Industrial Refrigeration SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Keith Harper, CARO Independent Contractor Bengie Branham, CIRO Perdue Farms William Ellena Coastal Pacific Food Distributors, Inc. David Gulcynski, CIRO Dot Foods Inc. Michael Hawkins Midatlantic Refrigeration, LLC Matt Hayes, CARO Wagner-Meinert, LLC Edward Johnson, CARO Schwans Global Supply Chain, Inc. Frank Kologinczak III Kolo Compression Bill Lape, CARO, CIRO, CRST SCS Engineers Pete Lepschat, CIRO, CRES, CRST Henningsen Cold Storage, Co. Jordan Reece, RAI Lanier Technical College Richard Veloz, Jr., CARO, CIRO, CRST C&L Refrigeration COMMITTEE CHAIRS Gene Dumas, CARO, CIRO, CRST, RAI Nominations SCS Tracer Environmental Dave Gulcynski, CIRO , Education Dot Foods, Inc. Jodie Rukamp, National Conference SCS Tracer Environmental Michael Hawkins, Membership Midatlantic Refrigeration, LLC Matt Hayes, CARO, Publications Wagner-Meinert, LLC Todd Metsker , Certification Parker Hannifin Corp - R/S Division Jim Barron, Executive Director Tyson Foods DIRECTORS Troy Baker

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Well this is my last Presidents’message. It has been a long, but at the same time short, run as President. Did I get all done that I want? No. Am I going to continue? Yes, very much so. I was just at a mini conference and was approached by a member who asked me two questions. 1) Did I accomplish what I wanted? And I have to say both yes and no. I really wanted to get the Chapters and National HQ in more contact. I also set myself an aggressive goal of attending 10 different Chapter Safety Days around the country. By my count I am falling short at 9 but I knocked out 2 trips to HQ for meetings and if I toss them on the list then it puts me over my goal at 11. I still have the National Conference in Vegas so maybe I can count it and bringmy total to 12. Presidency? Wow this is a tough one. I would have to say the greatest achievement was not even mine, it belongs to the organization as a whole and that is renewing our ANSI certification to maintain our certification program. I am very humbled to have even been considered by my peers to serve on the board, much less have the opportunity to have been President and have my name written on the wall with so many 2) What was my greatest achievement during my

of the greats that have run this amazing organization in the past. We have so much great talent out there in our ranks. True assets to have as leaders for the National Board and who could even get the opportunity to be asked to step up to the ExComm and run the organization. If you know someone in your Chapter that you feel has the RETA heart, please submit their name and maybe, if called upon, they can serve the organization. Please don’t nominate yourself or do what I call “Horshacking.”Those of you who are not of that age y’all will need to google “Welcome Back, Kotter Horshack raising hand.” A huge thank you goes out to my amazing Board of Directors, ExComm, all of the RETA HQ Staff, and Dr Rogers. With this last message, I sign off from the President’s message in the Breeze.

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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Hello RETA Members, As we head into our 110th Annual National Conference, we reflect on a year that has been chock-full of fantastic happenings. We have spent the last year in our new HQ building and have settled in nicely. Our membership is the strongest it’s ever been with over 6,500 members and it continues to grow daily. The Apprenticeship Program and Hiring our Heroes programs have exciting plans in industrial refrigeration program in the world and we continue to maintain our elite ANSI accreditation. I want to give a big “thank you” to our Certification Committee Members for their hard work and continued RETA support. They keep our certification program current, relevant, and up to the regulatory and industry high standards. The Education Committee has been working diligently on RETA’s new CO2 book which was written with the assistance of the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC). This book will be in the RETA store by year’s end. We have other exciting projects in the works and the future is looking bright for RETA education. I would like to thank the Education Committee Members for their expertise and hard work to make our educational material the best they can possibly be. Something exciting at the National Conference this year will be brand new Hands-On training sessions. This training would not be possible if it wasn’t for three of our industries main valve manufacturers. I would like all of you to give a huge thank you to the works. The RETA certification program is still the predominant

Danfoss Industrial Refrigeration, Hansen Technologies Corp, and the Parker Hannifin Corporation Refrigerating Specialties Division for their generous donations of the Hands-On equipment to RETA. I would also like everyone to thank Applied Process Cooling Corporation (APCCO) for the donation of their time and labor to set up this equipment for the Hands-On session attendees . Not only does this take our Hands-On training to the next level, but it also fulfills our mission statement “To enhance the professional development of industrial refrigeration operating and technical engineers.” Hands-On training like this enables the Conference attendees to practice real life situations which can save companies money, time, and labor while supporting the safety of their employees. We are constantly looking for new opportunities to serve our membership, and the industry, through education and training. That being said, RETA HQ and the Board of Directors are working on some pretty special programs that will be discussed at National Conference in Las Vegas. I will keep it a secret until then, as I will let our President spill the beans. Speaking of the Board, the Annual National Conference is a time of transition for the RETA Board of Directors. I want to give a special appreciation to the National Chairman and National Board Members who will be completing their terms at Conference. It has been an honor and pleasure to work with Eric Girven, National Chairman, and Board Members Bill Lape, Peter Lepschat, Richard Veloz, Jr and Troy Baker. The outgoing Board Members have served as advisers, decision makers, problem

RETA Executive Director Jim Barron

solvers, and advocates of RETA for 3 years, while the outgoing Chairman has done so for an astounding 8 years. Although they are leaving the Board, we will definitely be tapping into their knowledge and skills in the years to come. I truly look forward to seeing all of you in Las Vegas. You won’t want to miss the Opening General Session introduction and welcome from Jose and Sandra Mata. You’ll also want to spend time at the informative educational sessions, reuniting with old friends while also meeting new ones, taking advantage of the fantastic Exhibition Hall opportunities to network and discover new equipment, processes, and vendors, and having a little fun at the Pool Party and Awards Banquet. I want to give a special “thank you” to our Sponsors and Exhibitors. We couldn’t do this without you. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me anytime. Regards, Jim Barron Executive Director

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EPIC FAIL

Critical Pieces of Equipment!

This is more of me standing on my soapbox and yelling at the top of my lungs to get my point across. You as a Plant Manager have a critical piece of equipment that, when it goes down, stops the entire operation. (Notice the use of the word “when” and it will go down. Everything breaks eventually). I heard it the best, “Every piece of equipment is a smoke machine if operated wrong enough!” Maybe this should be planned and maybe, just maybe, the plant should keep parts to fix it on the shelf, so you don’t have to rely on the factory to quick ship items to get you back up and running. More and more factories are running on what I call, “Just in Time,”meaning they keep just enough stuff in stock for today’s emergency, maybe. With no guarantees the factory even has what you need to get this process back to full operation. I am not picking on any particular factory, many of the valve manufacturers are doing the same thing. It seems the lead times are getting out there for what I would call “simple items.” Just a couple months ago it was 21 days for some simple 120V coils! The attached photo is just for representation. Thank you for listening to me rant and rave. Maybe should have called this article “ticked off.” If you have photos of an epic fail please pass them on to nh3fail@gmail.com the names have been changed to protect the guilty!

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CORNER CONFERENCE

With the insider scoop on the upcoming Conference Meet the new conference manager

Hello RETA Team,

meeting everyone and I am excited to jump into this year’s event packed with learning, networking and fun in Las Vegas. We are in the final days before the Conference and ready to launch and COOL THINGS DOWN! This year RETA

industry pro at the RETA Rumble. You never know what you might win! Then join the RETA family at the Awards Banquet as we honor those who have helped keep the Association strong with their contributions of time, energy and knowledge. The Guest Program Committee has been working diligently to offer a fun and carefree program giving you or your spouse an experience they won’t want to miss! The success of this event is not possible without the continued support of our generous sponsors, current RETA team and Board of Directors. I welcome feedback and will address any concerns or questions you may have. Please feel free to email me at michelle@reta.com. Thanks again for your time and support and I look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas. Register online at https://reta.com/ page/2019-conference-register or call RETA HQ at 541-497-2955 with any questions.

My name is Michelle Robinson and I am excited to announce I am the new Conference Manager for RETA Headquarters in Albany, Oregon. I would like to introduce myself and give you a bit of background information before I meet you at the upcoming 2019 RETA Annual National Conference in Las Vegas. I moved to Oregon 20 years ago from Texas. I met my husband when I moved to Oregon and I am the grandma of three spit fire girls 11, 10 and 4 years old. I also have one son and a stepdaughter, and they ALL keep me on my toes! I have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and graduated from George Fox University. I bring to our RETA team over 20 years of event planning within non-profit organizations. I am looking forward to

“ We are in the final days before the Conference and ready to launch ”

has stepped up their game with more opportunities to attend Hands-On Training, Technical Topics, Workshops, Hot Points, Networking and an expansive Exhibition Hall with room for EVERYONE! Brush up on your trivia, read up on a little RETA history and be sure to sit at a table with at least one refrigeration

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EDUCATION CORNER

RETA partnered with the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council to create this excellent introduction in CO2 systems.

CO2 Study Guide and the Industrial Refrigeration Energy Efficiency Handbook.

John Bento, Education Manager

and the world continues to phase out ozone depleting refrigerants (RIP R-22 on January 1st 2020), CO2 is continuing to gain market share as a viable replacement. RETA partnered with the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council to create this excellent introduction in CO2 systems. Once this title is added to the RETA store, it will also be available as an online course as well. We will have a limited number of copies available to view at our booth during Conference. Stop by and check them out. Speaking of online training, RETA now offers all of our published titles individually for online training. Previously we only offered bundled

titles for certification prep. We hope this adds flexibility for our members who maybe just need some PDH or just want to learn something new. On a final note, new versions of IR2, BE1, & BE2 will be “on the shelves” in the last quarter of 2019. If you have any questions you can email them to education@reta. com or just call HQ at 541-497- 2955 and ask for John.

Lots to report on the education front! RETA’s Education Department is proud to announce the addition of two new titles to our library: the CO2 Study Guide and the Industrial Refrigeration Energy Efficiency Handbook. The Energy Efficiency Handbook covers pretty much everything you might find in a plant that uses energy. Conserving energy isn’t just good for the environment, it’s also good for your bottom line! Successful completion of this course will earn 20 PDH, which comes in handy for keeping those certifications current. This title is also available online as a stand-alone course in the RETA store. The CO2 Study Guide is something RETA is very excited about. As the US

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COMPLIANCE

AMMONIA PIPE AND EQUIPMENT LABELING – PART I

By Bill Lape, SCS Engineers Recently, I was asked about

codes, such as NFPA 70, the National Electric Code, published consensus documents, such as IIAR2, the Standard for Safe Design of Closed Circuit Ammonia Refrigeration Systems, published non-consensus documents, such as pamphlets from the Chlorine Institute, or “appropriate internal standards.” One of the keys to the Process Safety Management (PSM) and Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations is that it is a performance based standard. Both regulations state that the employer, or owner/operator in the case of the EPA RMP rule, must follow RAGAGEP. However, nowhere in the regulations do either agency specify WHAT RAGAGEP to follow. A facility is able to choose what RAGAGEP they use, but they must ensure that all hazards have been addressed by the chosen RAGAGEP. If a hazard is not addressed by the chosen RAGAGEP, an additional one, not necessarily a replacement, must be chosen to address that hazard. Now that we have defined RAGAGEP and have addressed what must be considered in choosing RAGAGEP to be applied at a facility, we can review some of the available options. In this article, we will focus solely on U.S. standards and guidelines and stay away from ISO standards. First up is a standard from the Association of Mechanical Engineers

(ASME). ASME first published a standard entitled “Scheme for the Identification of Piping Systems” in 1928. This document has been updated several times over the years, with the most recent edition being published in 2015. It includes requirements for the color-coding of piping based on its contents, size of marker labels, placement of marker labels, and basic requirements for information to be included on those labels, including name of contents and direction of flow. Regarding the labeling of the pipe, this standard requires that “Contents shall be identified by a legend with sufficient additional details such as temperature, pressure, etc., as are necessary to identify the hazard.” One thing to note is that the current 2015 edition does reference the Global Harmonized Standard (GHS) pictograms for use on pipe legends. Note that the language says “may be included as part of the legend,” so they are not required. The following is an example of a pipe label for an ammonia refrigeration system that would be compliant under ASME A13.1-2007 were a facility to choose it as their pipe labeling RAGAGEP.

Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices (RAGEGEP) for ammonia refrigeration piping and equipment labeling and the history of available standards and guidelines. This article is intended to educate the reader further on the concept of RAGAGEP, give them an overview of many of the standards and guidelines that are relevant to ammonia refrigeration system labeling, and to provide guidance on how to apply them. In Part II, we will examine the historical specifics of Bulletin 114, often considered to be THE RAGAGEP for ammonia refrigeration piping. In Part III, we will examine equipment labeling. The first order of business is to further define RAGAGEP. The best place to do that is to look at OSHA’s June 2015 enforcement memo on the topic, which defines RAGAGEP as “the basis themselves based on established codes, standards, published technical reports or recommended practices (RP) or similar documents. RAGAGEP details generally approved ways to perform specific engineering, inspection or mechanical integrity activities, such as fabricating a vessel, inspecting a storage tank, or servicing a relief valve.” The memo goes on to state that sources of RAGAGEP include published and widely adopted for engineering, operation, or maintenance activities and are

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Note that I have not included a physical state that is commonly found on ammonia refrigeration piping labels. Whether or not this is needed on the label would be based upon how the facility evaluated the relative hazards of ammonia during their process hazard analysis. It is possible, based on the facility’s training and equipment, that, despite the physical differences between ammonia vapor and liquid, the relative hazards are substantially the same. With this documentation, the facility could argue that the label above is acceptable under their chosen RAGAGEP of ASME A13-1.-2007. What about the color of the label? Under ASME A13.1-2007, the color orange is used for toxic or corrosive chemicals, while yellow is reserved for flammable chemicals. If the facility had chosen ASME A13.1-1996 as their RAGAGEP, yellow would have been acceptable for toxics and corrosives. We will discuss other color schemes later in this article. For many years, ASME A13.1 was the only standard in existence for pipe identification. In fact, it is still the standard that would be applied for piping in a food processing or cold storage warehouse that is not part refrigerant piping in an ammonia refrigeration system. In 1991, the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) published Bulletin 114 (B114), “Guidelines for Identification of Ammonia Refrigeration Piping and System Components.” It was updated in 2014, 2017, and 2018. This document provided the ammonia refrigeration with guidance on how ammonia refrigeration piping and system components could be identified. It is important to note that these were intended to merely be recommendations, not requirements. We will cover the identification recommendations of this Bulletin, and how they have changed since 1991, in Part II of this article series. In 2008, IIAR added a section on pipe marking to IIAR2, the “Standard for Equipment, Design, and Installation of Closed-Circuit Ammonia Mechanical Refrigerating Systems.” It stated in Section 10.5: All piping mains, headers and branches shall be identified as to the physical state of the refrigerant (that is, vapor, liquid, etc.), the relative pressure level of the refrigerant, and the direction of flow. The identification system used shall either be one established as a standard by a recognized code or standards body or one described and documented by the facility owner.

facility to decide how to define that, but they did include a note that pointed to B114. The following is an example of a label that would be compliant with IIAR2-2008.

Note that the physical state has been added due to its explicit requirement in IIAR2-2008 Section 10.5. Bear in mind, that this could also be identified through color, providing that the color scheme is properly documented and affected personnel are trained to recognize it. In this instance, the color was chosen based on ASME A13.1, which would still need to be documented in the facility’s program as chosen RAGAGEP. It should also be noted that there is no pipe service information included on this label. Much like the physical state omission under our A13.1 label example, whether or not to include the pipe service information would be dependent upon the relative hazards identified in the facility process hazard analysis for the ammonia refrigeration system. In the 2014 edition of IIAR2, now titled “Standard for Safe Design of Closed-Circuit Ammonia Refrigeration Systems,” IIAR added some additional requirements. Section 5.14.5 states: Ammonia piping mains, headers, and branches shall be identified with the following information: 1. “AMMONIA.” 2. Physical state of the ammonia. 3. Relative pressure level of ammonia, being low or high as applicable. 4. Pipe service, which shall be permitted to be abbreviated. 5. Direction of flow. The marking system shall either be one established by a recognized model code or standard or one described and documented by the facility owner. Note that once again, IIAR leaves the particulars (color, size, placement, text) of the marking system up to the facility. Here is an example of a label that would comply with IIAR2-2014 Section 5.14.5.

NOTE: See IIAR Bulletin 114 [ref.4.2.2.2].

While specifying that the pipe labeling include physical state and relative pressure, along with direction of flow, IIAR made no mention of color coding, label size, label placement, or label text in the standard. Rather, they left this up to the

Bear in mind that the colors chosen must be documented in some form of standard. This may be ASME A13.1, or the facility may choose to create their own. The key is that the

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facility must DOCUMENT this chosen standard, TRAIN affected personnel, including contractors, and DOCUMENT this training, including proof of understanding. For instance, perhaps a facility, after considering the relative hazards of the ammonia refrigeration piping, and documenting those considerations in their PHA, develops a standard as follows: Ammonia Refrigeration Pipe Labeling: Internal Standard – J&D Jammin’ BBQ, LLC The following standards shall apply to the ammonia refrigeration pipe labels at all J&D Jammin’ BBQ, LLC, facilities. 1. Ammonia refrigeration pipe labeling shall comply with IIAR2-2008, and shall contain the following information: a. Physical state identified by the following background colors: 1. Note that in addition to the pressure text, high pressure lines will be denoted by a red directional arrow ii. Low: below 70 psig c. Direction of flow arrow 2. In addition, the following will be included on the labeling a. Chemical identification denoted by NH3 3. Pipe labeling must be placed 2 feet of any direction change or roof/wall penetration. Label spacing on horizontal or vertical runs must be such that a label is visible from any point along the pipe 4. The label must be viewable from the primary point of view, but additional labels may be added around the circumference of the pipe if it is deemed necessary through a process hazard analysis 5. Pipe labeling text must be sized so that the text is viewable from the primary viewpoint, or within 25 feet of the pipe, whichever is further This internal standard not only describes an identification method that would be compliant with IIAR2-2008, but also includes parameters that cover the hazards addressed through ASME A13.1. The following are examples of compliant labels under this internal standard. i. Orange – liquid refrigerant ii. Yellow – refrigerant vapor iii. Purple – two phase (vapor/liquid) refrigerant b. The relative pressure denoted by: i. High: 70 psig and above

Wet Suction

Dry Suction

High Pressure Liquid / High Temperature Recirc. Liquid

Hot Gas Defrost

Selecting Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices for ammonia refrigeration piping is critical for a facility. Without pipe labeling standards, employees and contractors are at risk of injury or even death. The key to selecting your RAGAGEP for pipe labeling is three fold. 1. Make sure that ALL potential risks have been addressed through the selected RAGAGEP. If they have not, then additional RAGAGEP must be selected, or even developed. 2. Make sure that all affected personnel are trained on the identification schemes defined by the selected RAGAGEP. 3. Document this training and be sure to include proof of understanding. Next month, we will review IIAR Bulletin 114 as a RAGAGEP, and describe some of the changes in it over the years. Bill Lape is Project Director for SCS Engineers. Bill is a Certified Industrial Refrigeration Operator, a Certified Refrigeration Service Technician, and a member of the National Board of Directors of the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association.

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An Ideal Operating Engineer from

Manager’s Standpoint

On February 10th, 1915, C. I. Day of Jacksonville Florida, presented a paper to the Meeting of the Southern Ice Exchange. The paper entitled “An Ideal Operating Engineer from Manager’s Standpoint”. It’s important to remember that at the time, thoughts of the worker / company / customer triangle were just beginning to be developed. David Brown had begun his crusade in Detroit, but the old habits in the South were slow to change. Customers in some ways were thought of as a means to an end. A company produced a product and the customer could buy it or do without. Competing on a service level was not as important

as it is today. At least it wasn’t looked upon as being important. Respect, while a buzz word today, took on a whole new meaning when dealing with the business leaders of yesterday. Respect for the position was earned and once earned, demanded. Disrespect was not tolerated. As an example, can you imagine, Theodore Vilter asking for respect? Theodore Vilter was given respect because he earned it. In those few recorded instances where he believed he was disrespected; Theodore’s temper seems to have risen sharply and quickly. Theodore grew up in the age of duels. Though I do not believe he ever participated, he certainly

understood personal honor and held himself and others to the utmost standard. This was the norm in his age, not the exception. Respect was given to the industry leaders because of their positions and their actions. Both were crucial. Failing in either led to loss of respect, something once lost is rarely regained. A minor disagreement on Facebook today, would have been looked upon as a career ending transgression one hundred years ago. There were no separations between business ethics and personal ethics. The traits sought after by Mr. Day were not the societal norms of the day for

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the working class. Through enlightenment from Mr. Day’s

that dictates to them from which they cannot depart. In other words, it is as closely associated to the person as their features themselves. While we consider character as the initial qualification of our ideal, at the same time I believe that the force of character is so deeply impressive that it is unnecessary to dwell upon this point any further. Education as a qualifying characteristic of an ideal engineer should be considered in its broadest sense. Under education we would include experience, training, and in reality, the acquisition of all knowledge, whether it be by the hard knocks of actual practical experience or whether it be by the acquisition of knowledge from technical schools, correspondence schools or colleges. We can read, study, or be told a great many things in a great many different ways, but when it comes to the acquisition of actual operating knowledge, I firmly believe that it can be acquired only by practical experience. Practical experience is a valuable teacher in that more senses are brought into use and the impressions so gained could not be acquired in any other manner. Again, I believe that the engineer should be initiated as a boiler fireman and should pass through the various stages, omitting none, until they come to the point that we may consider them as our ideal. The practical knowledge should be gained by experience with various makes of The blending of school education with practical experience is one of the fine points in the construction of our ideal, and in the use of the term “blending” I would use it in its fullest sense. First, I think an operating engineer should have a good high school education (editor’s note: today this may be better read as technical degree). After this, I machines, including therein the renovation of old equipment.

think that their instruction should be received at the time they are acquiring their practical training. In other words, their instruction should be blended with their practical experience, or while boiler firing they should make a study of boilers, and so on up, until when they arrive at the stage of an engineer they would have had a practical as well as a technical education gained through the medium of a trade school. I do not wish to be understood as depreciating the value of a traditional college education. On the other hand, if our ideal has the qualities necessary to make them such, they will have shown a closeness of application and a persistency that is necessary to make a course valuable, and I firmly believe that in our case this will give him all the collegiate education necessary. The education of our ideal would not be complete unless they had been a student of human nature, in that it is only by their knowledge of this important feature that he is able to control their subordinates in the construction of an organization in which there will be harmony and from which they will derive the maximum results from the inherent mental and physical characteristics of their subordinates. In other words. he should be an organizer. technique of their subject, they may be able to make repairs, keep their plant constantly running. and yet they would be sadly lacking in what I consider one of the fine qualifications of an ideal operating engineer from a manager’s standpoint if they did not have the knowledge of the value of a dollar. I believe the lack of this knowledge has been the limiting feature in the success of many a good operating engineer. The ideal operating engineer should have a thorough knowledge of the cost An operating engineer may be thoroughly conversant with the

teachings as well as David Brown, William Story, and others; the elite business class was imparting their values upon their skilled employees. The thought that they could be equals was still not common, but the thought that certain traits should be universal were beginning to take root. So, with that in mind, here is Mr. Day’s presentation, slightly modernized with clarifications where appropriate. Is it not true that ideal company presidents, department managers or engineers have characteristics which are so general in their application that those qualifications that are fulfilled by an ideal engineer could not be equally as well be applied to an ideal department manager or an ideal company president? For instance, who could imagine an ideal engineer who did not have strength of character? It is true we successfully maintain and operate a plant to the entire satisfaction of the manager but at the same time. would that manager consider the person for hire, in the light of an ideal, if they had neither character, education, or ambition? It is under the classification of character, education, and ambition that I qualify an ideal operating engineer from a department manager’s standpoint. Character, in that it applies to their involuntary personal characteristics; education, that factor qualifying them as an engineer; ambition, that characteristic which causes them to establish an ideal for himself and furnishes the motive power that impels them towards success. Character is a latent quality, a quality born and bred in a person. It is a force “ could probably find numerous operating engineers who could

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Education is a measure of someone’s ability to learn and adapt. Education also ties in very closely with ambition. Ambition in this instance is the desire to become better tomorrow than you are today. It is very hard to acquire an education without ambition. Many have, but those who have, may have peaked. Ambition is normally what drives us to complete a degree, or apprentice, or trade program. Ambition provides the desire to improve one’s lot in life. A desire to earn more money, or a desire to acquire more skills or a bigger house. All good things when combined with honesty and education. An ambitious employee without honesty may lead to problems. An ambitious employee without education / knowledge, may be motived to do things beyond his training, creating more problems. As Mr. Day outlines honesty, ambition, and education (knowledge) are the three legs of the stool of success. Hiring the “Ideal Operating Engineer” will help you on your road to success. The original insert author, C. I. Day, served on the Executive board of the Southern Ice Exchange. The revision author, VernM. Sanderson, is the Safety Services Group Leader at Wagner-Meinert LLC, as well as a part time instructor at the Tex Hildebrand Center, and author. Your feedback is certainly welcome. Vern can be contacted by emailing the Breeze Editor.

of everything with which they come in contact. They should keep a memorandum book (Master Maintenance Log), keeping the various costs of jobs therein. The knowledge of cost of output should be familiar to them, also the knowledge of rate of depreciation of the various parts of his plant. Or in other words, their education should not only cover the ability to operate continuously, a thorough knowledge of the technique of their subject. These should only be training towards the end that, in the maintenance and operation of their property, they should be able to get a maximum return on the expenditure of every dollar. Perhaps my characterization so far has been too idealistic, but our subject is that of ideals and we expect our operating engineer to have an ideal, and that ideal should be no other person than the manager himself. In fact, we question whether it would be logical for the manager to establish an ideal operating engineer. They could not treat the subject of an ideal without their being within an ideal organization, and such an organization should furnish opportunities for their advancement and their success. While it is true that there are operating engineers whose ambition may be strictly on the lines of wishing to be authority or consulting operating engineer, at the same time, I believe

that insofar as we are treating of an ideal operating engineer from a manager’s standpoint, our ideal should hold their manager as the Operating Engineers ideal and that his ambition should be to acquire the management of the property. All of their character, education and ambition combined should be such as to enable them to progress along from the position of operating engineer to manager, and even then their ambition should dictate another ideal.

”

Many years ago, as a young manager, I had the opportunity to ask

George Briley, Ron Cole, Larry Kelly, and Leroy Moseby, how they would layout a young engineer’s career path to assure they reach their fullest

potential. While interviewed separately, they all gave similar

responses. Those being; hire smart, hire character, hire a go-getter, and then expose them to as much of the industry as possible. Let them make little mistakes they can learn from and build their confidence. At the time I marveled at their wisdom, never imagining that the same philosophy had made print 75 years previous. Honesty is one gauge of an employee’s value. True honesty is when you’re honest while knowing no one would be able to catch the lie. Honesty is an internal value. Honesty to ones self, in most cases assures honesty to others.

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SERVICE

Carbon Dioxide Refrigerant Why Not? By Peter Lepschat Director of Engineering, Henningsen Cold Storage Co.

to be able to produce a synthetic compound that had the characteristics needed to be a good refrigerant, so the inventors of the time looked to chemicals occurring in nature that might be usable as a working fluid in their systems. Unfortunately, most of them had drawbacks, i.e. ammonia is toxic, and carbon dioxide operates at pressures that were considered very high for the materials available at that time. Nonetheless, they were the only thing available, so workarounds for their drawbacks were contrived and they were used in great quantity. Of course, everything changed during the 1920’s when rapid advances in the field of chemistry lead to the synthesis of chlorofluorocarbon compounds, which at the time were considered a miraculous invention. The original one (R-12) possessed very good physical properties, operated at relatively low pressures and was non toxic to people (but not ozone as we discovered much later!). It was also relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and so the industry

rapidly converted over to it and its “cousins” that came along soon after. Fast forward to recent times. We have discovered that the chlorine in CFC’s harm the earth’s protective layer of ozone, so we replaced them with HCFCs which had less chlorine, and then HFCs which contain no chlorine. Next, we discovered that the HFCs we thought were the answer were very effective insulators, trapping solar heat at the surface of the planet, so we decided they needed to go away as well. Unfortunately, our environmental knowledge has outrun our chemical engineering expertise and the industry has come to the point that they have no safe, non-ozone depleting, non- global warming, non-flammable, non-toxic synthetic chemical compounds available. In the meantime, advances in the fields of metallurgy and engineering allowed for the invention of much stronger ma- terials, and much more efficient ways to compress, condense and evaporate refrigerants. These advancements

You may have recently heard about a “new” refrigerant out there called carbon dioxide or “CO2” and wonder what all the fuss is about. You may have also heard a lot of stories about how it is inefficient, dangerous, and unreliable. This article has been written to help dispel mis- information that seems to sur- round the use of this compound in industrial refrigeration. Firstly, this refrigerant is by no means “new”. In fact, it, and our old friend am- monia are two of the original refriger- ants, and both were widely used from the dawn of mechanical refrigeration in the 1880’s up until the 1940’s for carbon dioxide, while ammonia con- tinues to be a refrigerant of choice for industrial systems to this day. Back in the early days, chemical engi- neering was not sophisticated enough

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enabled the industry to take a second look at the natural refrigerants, and we are seeing them beginning to be used in areas where they have either never been used, or haven’t been used for ages. Carbon dioxide is the latest natu- ral compound to be scrutinized, and shows a lot of promise for the future, even when compared to ammonia. Let’s look at the four most commonly stated “disadvan- tages” of carbon dioxide from the old days. NUMBER ONE, “Carbon dioxide has high operating pressures”. As any of us refrigeration savvy people know every refrigerant has a pressure/ temperature relationship curve, and

carbon dioxide is no exception. When compared with its natural cousin am- monia, carbon dioxide has a lot higher pressure at any given temperature. For instance, at -15°f., ammonia is saturat- ed at 6.2psig, while carbon dioxide will be at 220.5psig. At +85°f., ammonia will be at 151.4psig and carbon diox- ide at a whopping 1,018psig. The num- bers for carbon dioxide might alarm anyone who has been around am- monia systems for any length of time, considering that the typical ammonia system is equipped with 250psig relief valves, only slightly higher than the suction pressure of a carbon dioxide system running a 0°f. freezer! Similarly, on a warm day, the carbon dioxide system can have discharge pressures of well over 1,000psig, while we get really nervous if our ammonia system condensing hits 200psig.

In a relative sense though, 1,000psig is not that high. Consider that the forklifts running around most facilities have hydraulic oil flowing through flexible plastic hoses placed directly in front of the operators face at pressures of over 3,200psig. Seems scary, but no one worries about pulling back on the lift lever on a fully loaded forklift to raise a pallet up for stacking. The important takeaway is that any piping system simply needs to be designed to operate at the pressures it will experience by the fluid it contains. This is achieved on a carbon dioxide system by using stainless-steel or a special copper/iron alloy tubing, both of which are designed with adequate pressure safety factors. If the system is designed and constructed correctly, it poses no additional risk due to higher operating pressures.

We now know that when a carbon dioxide system is running at or very near trans-critical conditions, if we raise the discharge pressure, two things happen; 1- capacity goes up, and 2- energy consumed per ton goes down. This effect is totally counter- intuitive to everything we have been taught about refrigeration.

NUMBER TWO, “Carbon dioxide has a relatively low critical temperature”. Without getting too scientific, critical temperature is the point above which a gas cannot physically condense into liquid. Instead, it becomes a “super- critical fluid”with some of the char- acteristics of both liquid and vapor. It typically has a density very similar to its liquid state, but a viscosity very near its gaseous state. For carbon dioxide, this effect happens whenever it is at a temperature above 87.98°f. compared with ammonia which has a critical temperature of 270.3°f. I would bet that not many of you have seen your condensing tem- perature anywhere close 270.3°f, but most of your systems operate above 87.98°f condensing temperature at some point in the year. This could pres- ent a problem if you were operating a carbon dioxide system. If your refriger- ant cannot turn into a liquid because the condenser is too warm you will certainly have a problem with it being able to do refrigeration with any sort of efficiency. In the old days, condensers were not very efficient, and the properties of supercritical fluids were not so well understood. It was not uncommon that those systems ran trans-critical for many hours each year. Operation at or above trans-critical conditions is very energy intensive, kilowatts or horsepower per ton of refrigeration goes up dramatically. However, an important discovery was made at some point that provides some relief from this penalty. (Disclaimer; this next statement will likely blow your mind if my explanation of critical point above didn’t already do so!) We now know that when a carbon dioxide system is running at or very near trans-critical conditions, if we raise the discharge pressure, two things happen; 1- capac- ity goes up, and 2- energy consumed

per ton goes down. This effect is totally counterintuitive to everything we have been taught about refrigeration. However, charting and comparing the two refrigeration cycles on a carbon dioxide Mollier diagram can prove out this assertion. Modern control technol- ogy is truly amazing, especially when compared with what was available back in the 1880’s. This “smart” tech- nology allows a system to be operated as described above when the controls determine there is an efficiency advan- tage to doing so. A second way that we can avoid trans- critical energy penalties is by using wet bulb based or evaporative type condensing. It is worthwhile to note that at sub-critical conditions, a carbon dioxide system can run more effi- ciently than ammonia due to its lower compression ratio and higher energy density/lower specific volume per unit of refrigeration. Modern evaporative and adiabatic condensers can keep condensing temperatures below the critical point throughout most of the hours in any given year. Even for facilities located in the warmer regions of North America, a system can be designed that will keep the system op- erating in sub critical mode for enough hours that it will make it equal to or more efficient than an ammonia sys- tem (more on that later in this article). There are other innovations coming into the market that promise to help even more with the trans-critical penalty. Two good examples would be ejectors and parallel compression; however, those are topics for future articles. NUMBER THREE, “Carbon dioxide has a relatively high triple point”. Triple point is defined as the pressure & temperature at which a refrigerant can exist in all three possible states; solid, liquid and gas. Carbon dioxide

has a triple point of 60.4psig, much higher than ammonia at 28.15” of vacuum. This could in fact present a problem for someone unfamiliar and untrained on what precautions need to be taken when working on a carbon dioxide system. Issues with a triple point above atmo- spheric pressure can happen under a couple of common circumstances: • When charging liquid refrigerant into a system that has been pulled into a deep vacuum to remove water vapor and non-condensables. • When a vessel or piping that con- tains liquid refrigerant develops a large leak or is opened to atmo- sphere, causing the pressure to rapidly drop below the triple point pressure. In both above scenarios, when the pressure drops below 60.4psig, the liq- uid carbon dioxide in the vessel or pip- ing instantly solidifies, forming dry ice. Needless to say, it is not a good thing when your liquid refrigerant turns into a solid inside your system! The solu- tions to these issues are relatively easy. • When charging an evacuated sys- tem, simply break the vacuum with gaseous carbon dioxide and let the pressure come up above 60.4psig before introducing any liquid. • When you are bleeding off refrig- erant to service a system, use a back-pressure regulator to maintain a pressure of over 60.4psig on the system until all the liquid is gone, then lower the pressure allowing the pressurized vapor to drop to atmo- spheric pressure. • If you have had a large leak, repair the leak and close off the system from atmosphere, allowing the pres- sure to rise on its own in a slow and controlled manner. Do not add pres- sure from any outside source. When the pressure rises above 60.4psig, the dry ice will start to return to a liquid state. Wait until all remaining

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