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information paper

Ammonia refrigerant in buildings: minimising the hazards

D J G Butler* and D J Hall
*BRE Centre for Environmental Engineering

IP 18/00

Envirobods Ltd

Ammonia is being increasingly used as refrigerant for building air conditioning systems on account of its low environmental impact and

excellent refrigeration properties. However, ammonia is highly toxic which means that greater care is needed in its use.

This paper shows that the design of safe ammonia systems must also take into account dispersal mechanisms.

Introduction
The phasing out of CFCs and HCFCs (chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons), and uncertainty about the environmental acceptability of the newer HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) refrigerants, has led to growing use of ammonia in air conditioning systems in buildings. Ammonia has excellent refrigeration properties and a low environmental impact. The high efficiency of ammonia-based refrigeration systems could reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of building cooling systems. However, ammonia is highly toxic and mildly flammable which means that more demanding safety measures are required than with the much safer HFC refrigerants and older CFCs and HCFCs. Until recently ammonia refrigeration systems were mainly used for industrial applications, especially in the food processing and brewing industries where the advantages of higher efficiency offset the higher cost of safety and maintenance. The environmental benefits of the use of

ammonia must be weighed against the higher safety risks. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is concerned[1] that deficiencies in the underlying management of industrial ammonia systems cause unnecessary incidents leading to injury, deaths and sometimes widespread evacuation of the vicinity. HSE is also concerned that wider use of ammonia could increase the incidence of such occurrences. Designers and consultants currently believe that a safe location for ammonia refrigeration systems is in the open air on a building roof, based on the premise that because ammonia vapour is less dense than air it should discharge safely skywards. This paper shows that this is an incorrect assumption which can lead to unsafe installations, and it gives preliminary guidance on how to overcome this problem.

The hazards of ammonia: toxicity and ammability

Toxicity

Ammonia is highly toxic. However, its characteristic pungent odour makes it readily detectable by smell at a concentration of

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around 5 parts per million (ppm), well below the level for toxic effects, giving early warning of its presence and making inadvertent and voluntary exposure to high concentrations unlikely. Industrial experience is that exposure to concentrations between 400 and 700 ppm causes immediate eye and throat irritation, and a level of 1700 ppm causes tissue damage and repeated coughing which can prove fatal after 30 minutes exposure. A significant fraction of the general populace is far more sensitive than the working populace, and would show much more severe reactions to these levels of exposure. The HSEs occupational exposure standards (OESs) have been set to protect workers from both long-term and short-term effects. The 8-hour time-weighted average is 25 ppm and the short-term limit measured over a 10-minute reference period is 35 ppm. This compares with an 8-hour time-weighted average of 1000 ppm for the majority of HCFC and HFC refrigerants. Although HCFCs and HFCs have low toxicities they can also be dangerous. Because they are practically odourless and are heavier than air, they can accumulate undetected in confined spaces. High concentrations can result in a risk of asphyxiation and other toxic effects including narcosis and cardiac sensitivity.
Flammability

Accidental releases of ammonia

There is little published information on the causes and frequency of ammonia discharges from refrigeration plant, or on the rates of discharge. The rate of discharge is important as it will strongly influence both the behaviour of an ammonia leak and the ambient concentrations that it produces. A small leak from a leaking seal or gland may be in the order of grams per second or lower. A catastrophic release, caused by a fractured or severed pipe or from a pressure relief device, could result in most of the machine charge being released in a very short time, perhaps at a rate of a 0.1 to 1 kg/s. The total discharge is determined by the machine charge, which depends on the cooling capacity of the machine and its design. Table 1 gives details of some recently installed ammonia chillers in air conditioned buildings in the UK. Specific refrigerant charge varies between 0.055 and 0.45 kg/kW of nominal cooling capacity. Clearly chiller selection is an effective way of minimising the quantity of ammonia used and the consequential hazards of accidental release.
Table 1 Ammonia charge of some recently installed ammonia chillers for air conditioning in UK buildings Nominal cooling Ammonia charge Specic charge duty (kW) (kg) (kg/kW)
250 175 316 1000 200 550 730 17 48 30 55 48 250* 49 0.068 0.270 0.095 0.055 0.240 0.450 0.067

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Ammonia is flammable in air at concentrations between 16 and 27%, although ignition is more difficult than for fuel gases.

Current ammonia safety standards, codes and other guidance

Current UK safety codes and standards on the safety of ammonia refrigeration systems include: q BS 4434:1995 Safety and environmental aspects in the design, construction and installation of refrigerating appliances and systems [2] q Health and Safety Executive Guidance Note PM81 Safe management of ammonia refrigeration systems [1] q Institute of Refrigeration Safety code for compression systems utilising ammonia [3] A European CEN standard is in preparation (prEN 378) which will eventually replace BS 4434:1995. Although these documents give detailed guidance on the design, installation, commissioning, maintenance and operation of ammonia refrigeration systems, none of them gives guidance on the discharge and dispersion of ammonia.

* The high charge was due to this chiller being a thermosyphon chiller with a ooded shell and tube evaporator

A crucial feature of ammonia discharges is the ambient density of the discharged ammonia. Ammonia vapour has a density between 0.6 and 0.7 that of air (depending on its discharge temperature), so that a cloud of released ammonia will be positively buoyant. Liquid ammonia releases behave differently and when released from a part of the plant which is at high pressure can produce flashing clouds of boiling liquid droplets and vapour. The cooling effect of the continuously evaporating droplets cools the cloud so that it becomes denser than air. Very large discharges from industrial plant, which sometimes contain tonnage quantities of ammonia, can therefore

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be very dangerous. The hazard from the majority of the building systems detailed in Table 1, which generally have total charges below 60 kg, would be less. Some liquid releases produce less flashing and can lead to relatively stable pools of liquid ammonia on the ground. The high latent heat of ammonia can mean that the ground cannot supply sufficient heat for rapid evaporation. Sudden input of heat, such as by spraying with water to clear the discharge (see Containment of accidental spillage and leakage of liquid ammonia ), would cause violent boiling and formation of vapour clouds. The high latent heat of ammonia can also result in liquid pools remaining in large plant after refrigerant recovery and evacuation, creating a safety hazard for maintenance personnel. ranges is usually unsteady. No account is taken of plume buoyancy or the influence of the surroundings (including buildings) on wind behaviour. Figure 1 shows curves for a range of plume concentrations plotted as a function of ammonia release rate and distance from the release, assuming a wind speed of 2 m/s. It is clear that quite high gas concentrations (above the level for toxic effects) are possible at significant distances from the point of discharge. It should be emphasised that Figure 1 shows worst-case short-term concentrations. Practical experiments with ammonia discharges are necessary to determine more typical concentrations.

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Dispersing plume behaviour

It is crucial to understand that the buoyancy of a discharging gas is not sufficient alone to determine whether the resulting plume rises or falls. The plume buoyancy is determined by the dimensionless buoyancy flux F/u 3L (2)

Gas concentration in dispersing plumes

Earlier wind tunnel experiments[4] have shown that the highest gas concentration (C ) in a dispersing plume is given by C = 9V/ux
2

(1) where F is the flux of buoyancy defined as

where V is the gas discharge rate, u is the wind speed, and x is the distance along the plume from its source. This gives the highest likely concentration at a given distance. In practice such exposure would be intermittent as plume motion at short
250.00
10

F = (V/) g (/)

(3)

where V is the volume discharge of ammonia, L is the scale of the release (in this case the height of the building), is the density difference between the discharged ammonia and ambient density , and g is gravitational acceleration. High values of the dimensionless buoyancy flux (Equation 2) above about 0.10.3, mean that the plume will have a positive buoyancy. A positively buoyant discharge (for example ammonia vapour) will rise, and a negatively buoyant discharge (for example a heavierthan-air cold ammonia droplet and vapour cloud) will fall. Conversely low values for the dimensionless buoyancy flux, below about 0.002, mean that the plume will have neutral buoyancy and will neither rise nor fall, regardless of the discharge buoyancy. These values have been determined from previous BRE work on fire plumes discharging from warehouses (D J Hall et al, 1995, unpublished). It is clear from these equations that the dimensionless buoyancy flux is proportional to

200.00

30

Distance (m)

150.00
m Plu

ion trat cen con e

3) /m (mg 00 =1

100.00

300

1000

50.00

3000

0.00 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Ammonia release rate (kg/s)

Figure 1 Approximate distances to a given predicted ammonia concentration in dispersing plumes (wind speed = 2 m/s) (Note: 1 mg/m3 1.43 ppm)

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the rate of gas discharge and its density difference from ambient as well as to the scale of the dispersion pattern. (For discharges from building roofs the dispersion scale is taken as the height of the building.) The dimensionless buoyancy flux is also very strongly dependent on wind speed (as u 3), so that the highest levels of the dimensionless buoyancy flux occur at low wind speeds and reduce rapidly with increasing wind speed. From the range of possible ammonia release rates estimated earlier, the range of values of the dimensionless buoyancy flux that may occur in practice can be calculated. Figure 2 shows plots of the values of ammonia release rate and wind speed that give rise to specific values of the dimensionless buoyancy flux, for positively buoyant discharges (for example ammonia vapour). The approximate divisions between negligible, partial and pronounced plume buoyancy effects are shown by dashed lines. Also shown are values of the 98th percentile (20 m/s) and typical annual mean (3 m/s) wind speeds in open country at 10 m height. In urban areas wind speeds are generally reduced significantly below these values. The scale L has been taken as the height of a typical building, 10 m. Figure 2 shows that smaller release rates at higher wind speeds show negligible plume buoyancy effects, while the larger release rates at lower wind speeds will show very pronounced plume buoyancy effects. Although not shown here, the equivalent effects occur for heavier-than-air releases: the larger release rates at lower wind speeds will show pronounced slumping of the plume, while the plume will have a neutral buoyancy with smaller release rates at higher wind speeds.

Wind tunnel visualisations of gas discharges

The flow patterns of negatively and positively buoyant ammonia discharges around buildings have been investigated using a small-scale model (representing a rectangular building of height 20 m) inside BREs dispersion wind tunnel at BRE Cardington. Figure 3 shows dispersion of neutrally buoyant discharges from the building roof and an upwind ground level source close to the building. It can be seen that both discharge plumes spread over the entire downwind face of the building. Clearly both locations would be unsuitable for neutrally buoyant ammonia discharges, as would be the case with smaller discharges at high wind speeds. Figure 4 shows flow visualisations of positively buoyant discharges from the same locations. In both cases there was pronounced plume rise, but when the discharge was at ground level the rising plume was spread over all sides of the building, making such a location highly dangerous in the event of ammonia discharges.

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Safety guidelines
The requirements of BS 4434:1995[2], the Institute of Refrigeration Safety Codes[3] and HSE PM81[1], as well as the general requirements of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act, should always be complied with. Even so, the work described in this paper shows that additional consideration needs to be given to the location of ammonia plant and possible ammonia discharges.
Minimise ammonia charge

100

Bu oy an cy flu x=

10

Discharge behaves as positively buoyant plume

0.01

Discharge behaves as neutrally buoyant plume

Typical UK mean wind speed Typical 98%ile UK wind speed

0.0 0

01

0.1

The hazards of ammonia discharges can be minimised by restricting the amount of ammonia charge in any single chiller. Careful chiller design can lead to very low ammonia specific charges, and values of around 0.05 kg per kW nominal cooling capacity are possible with current commercially available chillers using plate heat exchangers. Note that it is not recommended to use ammonia in direct expansion (dx) air cooler systems in which the refrigerant-containing parts of the system may be located in occupied parts of the building (see also BS 4434:1995[2]).
Location of ammonia chillers
100

Ammonia discharge rate (kg/s)

10 0 10 1 0.1 0.0 1

0.001 0.1 1

0.0 0

10

Wind speed (m/s)

Figure 2 Effect of wind speed and discharge rate on plume buoyancy for positively buoyant ammonia releases

The safest location for ammonia chillers is in a special plant room (complying with the safety requirements of BS 4434:1995[2] and the Institute of Refrigeration Safety Codes[3]). The

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Figure 3 Flow visualisations of neutrally buoyant discharges from the roof and upwind ground level sources

Figure 4 Flow visualisations of positively buoyant discharges from the roof and upwind ground level sources

siting of ammonia chillers out of doors, either at ground level or on a building roof, would result in any accidental release or leakage of ammonia dispersing in an unpredictable manner, depending on the rate of discharge and prevailing local wind conditions. The advantages of locating ammonia chillers in special plant rooms is that liquid spills can be contained and that external discharge rates of ammonia can be controlled. Discharge could be through a fan-assisted stack with high velocity efflux. Specific guidance on stack design is given elsewhere (for example ASHRAE Handbook Fundamentals [5]). An alternative to a special plant room for smaller systems is a container or box with its own ventilation system and ammonia vapour detectors. If designed and built correctly this should offer safety comparable to a conventional special plant room but with significantly lower cost and weight.
Pressure relief valve discharge locations

the ammonia is diluted with fresh air and then discharged through a vertical fan-assisted stack. However, this makes little difference to concentrations beyond a few metres from the discharge point and it is better overall to retain a high velocity vertical discharge of ammonia from an elevated nozzle as this maximises the plume rise. The design of the stack or elevated nozzle must prevent water and dirt ingress. Guidance on this is contained in the ASHRAE Handbook Fundamentals [5].
Containment of accidental spillage and leakage of liquid ammonia

It is fairly common for pressure relief valve discharge pipes to terminate with a 90 elbow to prevent ingress of water and dirt. However, this results in a horizontal discharge and therefore destroys much of the vertical momentum which assists the rise of the discharging plume. An improved arrangement has been suggested by Stoecker[6] where the relief valve discharges into a mixing box where

Liquid ammonia releases tend to remain in the liquid phase for a long time, owing to the high latent heat of ammonia and insufficient heat normally being available in the air or through the ground surface to cause rapid evaporation. This results in low rates of evaporation of ammonia, which is advantageous in avoiding high concentrations around the building. The fire brigade, who tend to be summoned to deal with large ammonia releases, are trained to drench the area of the spillage with water. This is actually potentially dangerous as the water provides sufficient additional heat to cause liquid ammonia to boil violently and create hazardous droplet and vapour clouds with a far higher effective rate of discharge. All plant, but especially when it is located out of doors,

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should be surrounded by an insulated bund to contain any liquid spills and reduce evaporation rates. Liquid ammonia should also be prevented from entering roof-top drains or ventilation inlets. Clearly it is safer for the plant to be contained in a special plant room, or box for smaller systems.

Acknowledgements
This work was carried out by BRE with funding from the DETR Construction Sponsorship Directorate. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

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Conclusion
The phasing out of CFC and HCFC refrigerants and environmental concerns about HFC-based alternatives mean that ammonia refrigeration plant will be increasingly specified for building air conditioning applications. However, ammonia is highly toxic and issues such as location of the plant and safety measures require careful consideration. In particular it has been shown that the dispersal of accidental releases of ammonia is not properly understood by the industry, and current practice could lead to hazardous concentrations of ammonia around the building which could enter any building opening. The safest location for ammonia plant is in purpose-built plant rooms, or boxes for smaller plant, complying with the relevant standards and codes (for example BS 4434: 1995[2] and the Institute of Refrigeration Safety Codes[3]). Any accidental release should be vented vertically above the roof in a controlled manner, so that it cannot be entrained back to the building. This may require the use of fanassisted stacks. Despite its toxicity ammonia is an excellent refrigerant, and industry experience has shown that accidents are rare if plant is designed, installed and maintained strictly in accordance with existing codes and standards. BREs research has shown that it is also necessary to consider the dispersion of ammonia to minimise the risk of it reaching building occupants or people on the ground. Further work is needed to determine actual rates of ammonia discharge so that the degree of hazard from ammonia leaks and discharges can be more accurately assessed.

References
[1] Health and Safety Executive. Safe management of ammonia refrigeration systems. Guidance Note PM81. London, HSE, 1995. [2] British Standards Institution. Safety and environmental aspects in the design, construction and installation of refrigerating appliances and systems. British Standard BS 4434:1995. London, BSI, 1995. [3] Institute of Refrigeration. Safety code for compression systems utilising ammonia. Part 1: Design and construction. Part 2: Commissioning, inspection and maintenance. Carshalton, Surrey, Institute of Refrigeration, 1990. [4] Wilson D J. Flow patterns over at roofed buildings and application to exhaust stack design. ASHRAE Transactions, 1979, 85 284295. [5] American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). ASHRAE Handbook 1997. Fundamentals. Chapter 15. Airow around buildings. Atlanta, ASHRAE, 1997. [6] Stoecker W F. Expanded applications for ammonia: coping with releases to the atmosphere. CFCs: Todays Options Tomorrows Solutions. CFC Technology Conferences, US National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 2728 September 1989. ASHRAE, 1989.

Further reading
BRE Digest
358 CFCs in buildings

BRE Information Papers

IP1/94 Minimising refrigerant emissions from air conditioning systems in buildings IP16/95 Safety and environmental requirements of new refrigerants IP6/98 Performance of air-conditioning systems with alternative refrigerants

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