Technical Safety BC (British Columbia) has issued two new safety orders regarding ammonia in refrigeration plants. Failure to comply with the requirements of these safety orders may result in enforcement action under the Safety Standards Act and associated regulations.
These two (2) safety orders are:
- Safety Order SO-BP-2021-01: Secondary Coolant
- Safety Order SO-BP-2021-02: Emergency Discharge Line
Both orders require facilities to update their ammonia refrigeration processes if not already compliant with the requirements found in these orders. Here is a breakdown of the new requirements…
Safety Order SO-BP-2021-01: Secondary Coolant
This safety order is being issued to reduce the risk of personal injury and damage to property as a result of an accidental leak from a refrigeration system, especially the systems utilizing ammonia as a refrigerant. Accidental ammonia leaks, from any pressurized system, have the potential to cause injuries and even death to any person within the immediate vicinity and surrounding area.
It is very important that the secondary coolant in an indirect ammonia system be tested for the presence of ammonia on a periodic basis. The presence of ammonia in the secondary coolant is an indication that an internal leak may have occurred in the heat exchanger (e.g. chiller) from the ammonia refrigerant side to the secondary coolant side of the heat exchanger.
It is critical that any indication of an ammonia leak is detected at the earliest possible opportunity and that corrective action is taken immediately.
https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/alerts/safety-order-secondary-coolant
Safety Order SO-BP-2021-02: Emergency Discharge Line
This safety order is being issued to reduce the risk of personal injury or damage to property as a result of an accidental release of refrigerants by opening an emergency discharge valve, especially systems that use ammonia as a refrigerant. The accidental release of ammonia charge into the atmosphere would severely contaminate the neighboring environment and have the potential to cause injuries and even death to any person within the immediate vicinity and surrounding area.
Emergency discharge lines were initially introduced as a safety provision to prevent over-pressurization. Now, it’s important for refrigeration plants to provide the over-pressurization safety provision through proper design and installation of safety relief piping, and remove the emergency discharge line to prevent accidental release of refrigerant charge.
However, if the safety relief piping is only compliant with the original code of construction, which is older than the 2005 revision of CSA B52, the safety relief piping may not provide adequate provisions to protect the system against over-pressurization and the emergency discharge line may still be required. In such cases, a detailed Emergency Discharge Valve Safe Operating Procedure must be developed and implemented to restrict the access and operation of the emergency discharge valve to those who are fully trained on exposure control plans.
Clause 6.10 of CSA B52, 2018 edition, states: An emergency discharge system shall be provided when mandated by the authority having jurisdiction; otherwise, an emergency discharge system shall not be required for a new or existing refrigeration system where the relief piping is in compliance with the current requirements of Annex H of CSA B52, 2005 edition and newer. For an existing refrigeration system where the relief piping is not in compliance with current requirements of Annex H, consideration shall be given to the provision of an emergency discharge system.
As CSA B52, 2018 edition is not yet adopted in the PEBVPR Safety Regulation, this safety order is being issued to provide interim direction on the emergency discharge line requirements.
https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/alerts/safety-order-emergency-discharge-line