Recent Blog Posts

Q&A | Emergency Eyewash and Shower Equipment

January 20th, 2015

Question: Where am I required to install emergency eyewash and shower stations? Answer: Both CalOSHA and FedOSHA require eyewash and shower stations in “all work areas where, during routine operations or foreseeable emergencies” an employee’s eye or body “may come in contact with a substance which is corrosive or severely irritating to the skin” [Title 8 […]

Q&A | Emergency Control Boxes

December 23rd, 2014

Question: Should an Emergency Control Box (e.g. Fireman Dump Box) be installed when constructing a new ammonia refrigeration system in California? Answer: Up until 2007, California used the Uniform Fire Code (NFPA 1) as the model fire code for the state. Since codes are typically revised every three (3) years, the last year that NFPA 1 was a model […]

Q&A | Relief Valves Protecting Multiple Vessels

December 9th, 2014

Question: Can a single relief valve assembly be used to protect more than one ammonia refrigeration pressure vessel? Answer: While it is definitely not common-place, it is compliant to utilize one relief assembly to protect multiple pressure vessels, provided that the relief valves are sized correctly and the vessels are interconnected without allowance for independent isolation. […]

Q&A | Stop Valves on Relief Valves

November 11th, 2014

Question: Can a stop valve be installed before or after a relief valve? Answer: If your initial reaction to this question is “NO“, then you are in good company. Most refrigeration experts (and people with common sense) can see the danger in installing stop valves before/after pressure relief valves….However, as is the case with many issues, there […]

Q&A | Compressor Relief Valves

October 14th, 2014

Question: What is the proper procedure for selecting the pressure relief valve capacity for a positive displacement compressor? Answer: ANSI/IIAR 2-2008 Addendum B §6.1.2.1 addresses this very question. Furthermore, Appendix E (Informative) of that same document gives a detailed example of one acceptable method for determining the proper capacity. A summary of the steps in Appendix […]