De minimus?

[allstar08]

I was working with a guy who vented some non-condensables off the top of a air cooled condenser. What are your feelings about this?

[jpsmith1cm]

I would do it.

Is is legal? Don't know, but given the option of blowing a little gas with non-condensibles and replacing an entire charge on a large piece of equipment, I'd do it.

[heavymetaldad]

ditto. some of the gas charges i deal with are huge. jp, what's de maximus?

[yellowirenut]

we all are going to die in a fireball inferno because your friend dumped some gas, thanks. I was looking forward to my date on Friday but guess that's canceled (sarcasm) are u worried about the legal ramifications or...a deeper feeling?

[jpsmith1cm]

ditto. some of the gas charges i deal with are huge. jp, what's de maximus?

Didn't he play with GWAR?

[heavymetaldad]

Didn't he play with GWAR?

hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

[acjourneyman]

I would be asking the question, why was there condensables in there anyways, what kind of a hack lets air into a system.

[y7turbo]

I was working with a guy who vented some non-condensables off the top of a air cooled condenser. What are your feelings about this?

look the other way if you dont like it.

[allstar08]

1200 lb charge. I was wondering if there are any legal issues?

[y7turbo]

I was wondering if there are any legal issues?

It really does depend on who is watching.

Look in the epa web site. The answers to your questions are on there, i just found them with 5 minutes of searching.

[thrashme]

Straight from EPA website

"The Prohibition on Venting

Effective July 1, 1992, Section 608 of the Act prohibits individuals from intentionally venting ozone-depleting substances used as refrigerants (generally CFCs and HCFCs) into the atmosphere while maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of air-conditioning or refrigeration equipment (appliances). Only four types of releases are permitted under the prohibition:

1. "De minimis" quantities of refrigerant released in the course of making good faith attempts to recapture and recycle or safely dispose of refrigerant.
2. Refrigerants emitted in the course of normal operation of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment (as opposed to during the maintenance, servicing, repair, or disposal of this equipment) such as from mechanical purging and leaks. However, EPA requires the repair of leaks above a certain size in large equipment (see Refrigerant Leaks).
3. Releases of CFCs or HCFCs that are not used as refrigerants. For instance, mixtures of nitrogen and R-22 that are used as holding charges or as leak test gases may be released.
4. Small releases of refrigerant that result from purging hoses or from connecting or disconnecting hoses to charge or service appliances will not be considered violations of the prohibition on venting. However, recovery and recycling equipment manufactured after November 15, 1993, must be equipped with low-loss fittings."

I guess line #2 is open to interpretation

[zw17]

The Chinese dump hundreds of thousands of pounds into the air every year.

A little off the top isn't going to kill.

As for being legal? Every purge machine in existence dumps a little gas when it's working.

[ga1279]

When all this EPA rules started back in the 90's, I was working at a chemical plant along the ship channel on a 1200 ton CVHB that was surging. The cond. press was way above the refrigeration/condensing temperature. So I told the operator I would have to pull the charge and attempt to distill it in vessels. He told me how he thought that was a great and him and I should go have a cup of coffee and discuss the procedure. Afterwards when we returned there was another operator there and you'll never guess what happened to the head pressure. It was rite to the numbers. Gee I wonder what could have happened to all that air?-GEO