Ammonia is a toxic substance and therefore, throughout the world, there is a
resistance of supervisory bodies to allow their use in any
application without limitation. The terms "Risk Analysis" and "Risk Management"
from chemical process facilities are now
a design of a refrigeration system. However, the lack of knowledge
inspectors and also by users, installers and designers, can
generate great difficulties in the implementation of an ammonia project.
Therefore, before any conclusion is reached regarding the risk of an installation with
ammonia, it is necessary to mention some facts:
• A refrigeration installation is not made up of a single component or
container, but several interconnected components, with a series of locks
(service valves, solenoid valves, expansion valves,
retention, compressor settings, etc.) that it becomes physically impossible to lose
total of its load in the event of a leak - at worst,
only 20 to 30% are lost.
• A Cooling System is not:
- A large-scale storage system in a container.
- A form of transport of the substance ammonia.
- Ammonia processing industry.
• Since ammonia is used more widely in refrigeration than in
refrigeration systems should be
considered. Most references and negative scenarios involving ammonia
presents accidents that are not related to refrigeration systems, but rather
in other applications. Historically, in spite of the large number of
ammonia refrigeration, the number of accidents with them and their
have been minimal.
• Another serious mistake is to compare ammonia with other chemical elements such as dioxide
sulfur or chlorine. These 3 normally condensed gases are very common
but have different properties. Sulfur dioxide and chlorine are heavier
than air and have a much lower latent heat level for the same
(enthalpy differential of condensation / evaporation). Ammonia, on the other hand
side, it is lighter than air and has a higher latent heat level, which facilitates
the handling of the other two.
• For the risk analysis of an installation, it is necessary to use statistical data
on probabilities of failures in equipment and operations, taking as a
refrigeration systems, rather than data relating to a process
because in this case the risk assessment will be incorrect. The
will be the determination of wrong priorities, or even the impossibility of
design systems.
