USA: Contamination of refrigerants may be far wider reaching than previously reported. A new white paper from the American Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) suggests that the R40 contamination is not restricted to R134a and has also been found in some counterfeit brand products.
The AHRI, which represents 300 US manufacturers including leading refrigerant producers Arkema, DuPont and Honeywell, says it has published the white paper to assist contractors and others in the industry in identifying and avoiding counterfeit refrigerants.

'Members of the chemicals and refrigerant reclaimers and mobile refrigeration product sections of AHRI are taking these claims very seriously,' said AHRI president and ceo Stephen Yurek. 'Refrigerants contaminated with R40 pose the risk of explosion, so we must make every effort to detect its presence and ensure that its concentration is below the maximum level recommended by AHRI Standard 700.'

Referring to the explosions and fatalities in 2011 caused by a deadly cocktail of R40 (methyl chloride or chloromethane) and R22 being sold as R134a, the AHRI white paper warns: 'For your personal safety and to avoid serious injury or death, special care must be taken when accessing the service ports to sample or work on systems that are not functioning properly or have been serviced by others.

The AHRI reveals that in addition to R40 and R22, R142b, R152a, and R12 have also been found mixed with R134a in newly filled refrigerant cylinders marked as containing R134a. It also reveals that there have also been instances of counterfeited brand name R134a cylinders being found to contain refrigerants other than R134a.

Research is being conducted by ASHRAE to identify the reaction mechanisms for R40 and aluminum inside systems, as well as other reaction products. It is also seeking to determine the concentration of R40 that is safe as a contaminant. However, the AHRI says that there have been no known issues arising from refrigerant that meets AHRI standard 700 which allows up to 0.5% of other volatile impurities.

The AHRI says it recently conducted a survey of several chemical manufacturers and found that typical R40 levels in virgin refrigerant from reputable sources were less than 100ppm but that there have been no known issues arising from presence of R40 impurity in virgin refrigerant, ie refrigerant that meets or exceeds the requirements of AHRI standard 700.

Worryingly, the AHRI maintains that the problem with counterfeit and contaminated refrigerants goes beyond just R134a. Other refrigerants, including R22, R404A, and R410A, have also been found to be counterfeit and in some instances badly contaminated.

As has been previously reported, cylinder labels and packaging have also been counterfeited and therefore are not reliable indicators of the authenticity of the contents of a cylinder. The AHRI recommends that refrigerant is only purchased from reputable, reliable sources. 'Failure to do so could result in the purchase of counterfeit refrigerants that contain substances such as R40,' says the AHRI.

ACR News was the first magazine to reveal that R40 contained in fake R134a was responsible for the explosions and three fatalities amongst service engineers in the refrigerated container industry in 2011.

The AHRI white paper can be downloaded from:
www.ahrinet.org/App_Content/ahri/files/News%20Room/Press%20Releases/2013/AHRI_R_40_Contamination_white_paper.pdf