F-Gas leak testing compliance?

[sinewave]

How exactly are you supposed to conduct a realistic and meaningful test for leaks on a regular basis on systems over 3kG in compliance with the F-Gas regs on say a VRF system?


All comments welcome! :D

[philfridge]

Like any other system would you not just leak test any areas that are accessible once or twice yearly ? Or in the case of a breakdown repair unit and have to leak test after one month. I can see it might be a problem though checking refrigerant level with no visual means available.

[Brian_UK]

Take a good visual inspection of the parts that you can see. If no oil stains etc then OK.

Use a sniffer if you want too.

If there are no fault codes indicating possible gas shortages then also good news.

I don't think that we are supposed to go into major exercises over this (yet).

[Thermatech]

If you regularly work on VRF systems & read up the service manuals you can easily monitor key indicators which show if the system is SOG or OK.
For a spot check try the following.
Set the system to test cool & have a cup of tea.
Go to the outdoor unit & get data for the following.
1/ compressor discharge temp & discharge SH.
2/ indoor unit coil temp & SH data.

If the discharge temp & SH are within acceptable range & the indoor units are acheiving target SH then the system looks to have correct charge.

If you monitor vrf systems alot you can spot SOG symtoms even when only 2kg short.You just need to know what to look for in the data.

[Argus]

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It’s not difficult.

It’s a legal requirement for your client to have it done, done properly and to keep records; for your part, you need to be methodical in your approach and most importantly it needs to be done in writing.

You begin with a reading of the available data which is in the various regulations (there are lots of posts on that in this forum over the years) so that you know what you are supposed to do. The new F gas qualifications will add a lot of detail to this once the new qualification and training protocols are agreed.

Next you think it through, so that you understand it in relation to the type of equipment that you will be working on.

After that, for all but the smallest installations, you carry out a detailed site survey, noting the location of the equipment, piping routes, the type and location of the joints in the pipe work and any other relevant details, such as accessibility, condition etc.

You only need to do this once as it forms the basis of your next task that you do once only, which is the preparation of a method statement. This will become the work plan for you and everyone else that carries out the leakage checks after you and will then be written up as the equipment log book. In it you will describe point-by-point what you will do, and how and when you will do it.

Then you do the leakage checks, create and write up the log book before presenting your invoice.

It’s quite reasonable, in my view, to separate the preparatory work, such as the initial surveys and the method plans out and bill it separately.

As I said, it’s not difficult; the worst part is convincing the owner that it has to be done and he has to pay for it.




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[sinewave]

Hmmmmm, something to ponder about I feel!

[Makeit go Right]

I would suggest:

a) A visual test to start with, looking for any signs of gas loss (oil, performance etc). b) Then get out your electronic tester and go over the whole system, including interior of equipment casings, carefully checking for any leaks. The electronic units are very good and will show up a leak if set to correct sensitivity.

On your Report Form, note what tests you have carried out and state that no leaks were detected. Get the customer to sign it off and give him/her a copy of the report.

The customer should retain the Report Form in a System Log Book.

[Argus]

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There is no set answer to what has to be done across the board. Once an understanding of the task is in place it is the responsibility of the technician to decide what to do and how to do it. A complex installation covering an entire building will have different requirements to an assessment of small split AC or a butcher’s cold-room.

You will gain your understanding by reading the facts. So that we are all singing off the same hymn sheet, so to speak, here’s the chapter and verse that been posted quite a lot on the forum, but worth reviewing.


The EU F Gas Regulations:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file30123.pdf
If you’re only interested in leakage checking, go straight to Article 3 on page 4.


To put meat on the bones of Article 3, a further EU implementing regulation on leakage checks and how it’s done was published this year.
The legislators are not engineers – they simply lay down basic criteria for testing for leaks. The details of how it is done for individual machines is down to you – you are the experts in this area, which is why I recommended a method statement in my earlier post.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2007/l_335/l_33520071220en00100012.pdf


The only area of uncertainty at the moment is what constitutes a minimum qualification to carry out the tasks detailed in the regulation, (NOT the underlying qualifications to do your job as a whole) which need to be decided, and put into UK law.
Here’s a link to the implementing regulation that outlines what you will be expected to know and demonstrate that you know:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:092:0003:0011:EN:PDF
Until that happens, either of the two safe handling certificates CITB or C&G, are considered an interim qualification and MUST be possessed by anyone handling F Gas or ODS without exception. That's the law right now.


Finally, as it’s now law and if you or the equipment operator end up in court, this is what they will do you with, offences and penalties etc. under the UK SI (SI = statutory Instrument):
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080041_en_1


There’s a lot more on other aspects of the EU regulations on BERR’s site, including MACs, qualifications etc:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/sustainability/fgases/page28889.html


DEFRA have published some non-statutory guidance documents on the subject:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/fgas/pdf/fluorgasreg-guidance.pdf


A supplement to the guidance notes from last year that bring it up-to-date - there's an example of a simple, very basic log sheet on the final page:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/fgas/pdf/suppguidance-refrigeration.pdf


Some FAQ’s:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/internat/pdf/faq-070517.pdf


And if you are really stuck, there’s details here of a help-line and web site, (but they won't tell you how to do your job):
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/fgas/pdf/fgas-support-leaflet.pdf




Hope that this explains it all.



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[sinewave]

Cheers Argus!

[Peter_1]

Argus, very good post and very good links.
Peter

[grunchard]

You might be interested to visit the website called Figaroo (I am not yet allowed to include URLs), which is specifically dedicated to the F-Gas Regulation implementation.

Many UK and EU organizations are connected and contributing to it.

[edit by Mod] Figaroo link is - http://www.figaroo.org