Q&A | Nameplates

Question: What pieces of equipment in ammonia systems are required to have nameplates?

Answer: The quick answer is that all equipment, valves, instruments, appurtenances, etc. should be equipped with nameplates as a best practice. Current codes and standards require nameplates on all major equipment. Here is a quick summary of relevant codes and standards on this topic:

• 2013 Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII UG-119(a) requires that “nameplates shall be used on vessels except when markings are directly applied in accordance with UG-118. Nameplates shall be metal suitable for the intended service and shall bear the markings called for in UG-116. The marking arrangement shall be substantially as shown in Figure UG-11B. Required nameplates shall be located in a conspicuous place on the vessel.”
• ANSI/ASHRAE 15-2013 §9.15 requires that “each unit system and each separate condensing unit, compressor, or compressor unit sold for field assembly in a refrigerating system shall carry a nameplate marked with the manufacturer’s name, nationally registered trademark or trade name, identification number, design pressures, and refrigerant for which it is designed…”
  
• ANSI/IIAR 2-2008 §6.1.4, 6.2.3,  7.1.3, 7.2.3, 7.3.3, 7.4.3, 8.1.3, 8.2.3, 8.3.3, 8.4.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2 specifies nameplate requirements for a variety of equipment types ranging from compressors to forced-air evaporators.