BOC’s refrigerants team

According to BOC's refrigerants team, one in three plants runs on contaminatedrefrigerant. BOC's team tested over 50 industrial installations and found that 36% of refrigerant blends tested did not meet specifications and required complete recovery and recharge and 37% of the systems required immediate attention to address high moisture levels. One in five systems had acid contamination and oil levels above the 3% guideline limit were detected in 40% of the tested equipment. BOC refrigerants analyst John Rodriguez highlighted that contaminated refrigerant has a significant effect on system efficiency, reliability and operating costs; he also pointed out that refrigeration accounts for 14% of all electricity usage in the UK and that rising energy costs mean that the excessive energy use caused by contaminated refrigerants will become increasingly expensive. Refrigerant contamination and moisture ingress are thought to cause damage to compressors in the long term and BOC recommends sampling and testing refrigerants every 6 months.