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Could Ammonia Be Your Next Refrigerant?

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You would be hard pressed to find milk, cheese, drinks, meat, and more that didn't encounter some type of ammonia refrigeration before arriving at your house. The use of ammonia refrigeration has even expanded into being used in labs, hospitals, universities, and more applications. While many people do not understand how ammonia refrigeration is used, North America alone produces about 18 million metric tons of it every year in an effort to cool foods, beverages, and buildings. While some companies still use Freon for cooling purposes, companies are starting to jump on the ammonia bandwagon due to many advantages over Freon. In an effort to determine what is right for your company, here are some benefits to using ammonia as refrigeration for your company. 

More Efficient

When it comes to choosing ammonia over Freon, you have to decide how much of the refrigerant you are going to need. For larger applications that require a lot of refrigerant to move, you want to find the one that is most efficient. Ammonia is more efficient due to the fact that is has a more latent capacity per pound. This means you will be using much less ammonia than you would Freon for the same application. Being able to run ammonia as a refrigerant should help you conserve energy. 

Cost Effective

When building an ammonia refrigeration system, you could see a cost savings of 10% to 20% compared to other refrigerants. This savings is due to only needing a very narrow type of piping, while other refrigerants require a much larger size piping. You can also experience savings by using ammonia thanks to how much less refrigeration you need over other forms such as Freon. Since you don't have to move as many pounds for the same process as you would with other refrigerants like Freon, you do not have to use as much ammonia for the application. 

Ozone Friendly

Another perk of choosing ammonia as a refrigerant is that it won't affect the environment as much as other refrigerants. Ammonia is created and broken down naturally in the environment. It can be found in the soil, water, and air. It is comprised of nitrogen and hydrogen and is soluble in water. Only 3% of ammonia produced on the planet is done by some type of human activity. 

Self Alerting

When using any type of refrigerant in your company, you want to be careful of overexposure to it. In an effort to keep your employees safe, you need a system that will alert you that there are high levels of the substance. Even though an alert system is required for companies using a certain amount of ammonia, you can also detect it by smell. Fortunately, ammonia rises since it is lighter than air and usually evaporates so you can fix the issue before anyone is harmed. 

For more information, contact a company like Pro-Tech Equipment Service.


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