Hydrocarbon venting

[Sturt]

Hi all

Not sure if this is just news to me but venting refrigerants is illegal, unless we are talking hydrocarbon 'natural refrigerants'

Current practice in the UK (in line with Europe) is to vent up to 150g of HC refrigerant when servicing systems.
This would apply to commercial cabinets that do not exceed 150g.

The HC must be vented to outside a building, at least 2 m from the building where the air is moving to disperse the refrigerant safely, away from sources of ignition and where it will not drop into below ground areas.

Lifes for learning.

[NoNickName]

Venting hydrocarbons is not illegal, up to now.
Actually, PE foams are expanded with HC gases, mainly isobutane. After the expansion, HC is replaced with air in special curing warehouses.
It is good practice, though,to properly avoid accumulation, as you mentioned.

[Sturt]

Hi NoNickName

Your absolutely right.

Cyclopentane is another natural hydrocarbon gas used as a foam propellant.

I know some manufacturers still use 134a in the commercial cabinet sector.