A purge unit on a chiller discharges to the outdoors several times an hour. How does that discharge stand against the prohibition on releasing refrigerant?
Correct Answer
B) It is allowed, because what leaves is non-condensable gas and any trace refrigerant is de minimis
What a purge unit sends outdoors is air and other gases that will not condense, which are not refrigerants and are not covered by the prohibition. A properly working purge separates refrigerant back out and returns it to the machine, and the small quantity that still goes with the air during normal operation falls under the allowance for tiny releases during good-faith practice. A purge that has failed and is discharging refrigerant is a different matter and has to be repaired.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
The prohibition is on knowingly releasing refrigerant. Purge discharge is mostly air drawn in through the machine's vacuum side, and a functioning purge condenses refrigerant out and keeps it. The trace that escapes with the air during correct operation is treated the same way as the puff from a hose disconnection during a careful recovery.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: It is a violation unless the discharge is captured in a recovery cylinder and weighed each month
There is no requirement to capture purge discharge, and no purge unit is built with a connection that would allow it.
Option C: It is a violation unless the owner reports the total quantity discharged at the end of the season
No seasonal reporting requirement of this kind exists. Owners keep service records, but purge discharge is not reported to anybody.
Option D: It is allowed, because the venting prohibition applies only to appliances holding fifty pounds or more
The fifty pound figure belongs to the leak repair provisions. The venting prohibition applies to appliances of every size.
Memory Technique
Air out is fine. Refrigerant out is not. A good purge knows the difference.
Reference Hint
The venting prohibition covers refrigerant; non-condensable gas removed by a properly operating purge is not a prohibited release.
More epa-608-type-3 Questions
Some jobs on a chiller count as a major repair under the refrigerant rules, which changes what a technician is allowed to do with a badly leaking machine. Which job falls into that category?
An owner asks how many pounds of refrigerant the rules allow to be left inside a chiller once the recovery has been signed off. What is the correct answer to give him?
The motor of a hermetic centrifugal chiller sits inside the pressure boundary rather than outside it on a shaft. What follows from that construction?
An oxygen monitor is used to decide whether a chiller machine room is safe to enter after a refrigerant release. Below what oxygen reading is the atmosphere treated as oxygen deficient?
A low-pressure chiller's rupture disc has a discharge line running from it. Where does that line have to terminate?
A refrigerant vapor detector in a chiller machine room reaches its alarm level. Besides sounding, what is that alarm expected to do?
Which piece of equipment requires a technician to hold Type III certification before it may be serviced?
What property of the refrigerant is what actually places an appliance into the low-pressure category?
During normal operation, what condition exists inside the evaporator of a running low-pressure centrifugal chiller?
In what unit is the required final recovery vacuum for a low-pressure appliance normally expressed?
People Also Study
Business & Financial Management
120 questions · 70% to pass
Contract Administration
60 questions · 70% to pass
Project Management
60 questions · 70% to pass