The chill factor

When demolition contractors encounter refrigerants on the job site, they have several options for removing them, but if the fluids or vapors are not handled properly, they can spell trouble and lead to expensive fines. While some demolition contractors opt to handle refrigerant removal themselves, many others turn to companies that specialize in the safe removal of refrigerants according to guidelines set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Refrigerant removal and remediation companies can often provide services that may require more specialized employees and equipment than a demolition contractor has in-house. Since the refrigerant can often be cleaned and resold into the refrigerant market, a potential profit can also be gained. Refrigerants such as R-22, R-11 and R-12 can be sold back into the marketplace. In California, Carbon Offset Credits can even be earned for reclaiming refrigerant.

Rapid Recovery, Peoria, Arizona, a franchise with 39 locations nationwide, has been recovering refrigerant from demolition sites since 2002. “Refrigerant is a lot like glass or steel,” says company spokesperson Glenn Rose. “It is 100 percent recyclable, but because it is a liquid or a vapor, a lot of people just don’t look at it that way.”

In addition to the value of the refrigerant being recovered, Rose explains, it is the right thing to do for the environment. If that is not enough to assuage some people, he adds, it also is the law. While people can debate the impact refrigerants have on the ozone layer or global warming, he says venting a unit is illegal and carries with it a $37,500 fine.

For example, Rose estimates that a residential home with a refrigerator, freezer and air conditioning unit could carry more than $110,000 in fines if the refrigerant from each unit was not handled properly during demolition. EPA requires refrigerant to be recovered by a certified technician. The agency also requires documentation be kept for the refrigerant that is removed. Because contractors are responsible for proving they met EPA requirements for the refrigerant removal, they will often opt to handle the job at the demolition site as opposed to taking cooling systems and appliances to a scrap yard with the refrigerant still in them.

“Whether you agree with it or not, you have to comply with the law,” says Rose. “We follow up with complete EPA-certified documentation to eliminate any liability concerns the contractor might ever have. For every pound of refrigerant we remove or unit we recover, we assume 100 percent of the contractor’s liability,” he adds.

Rapid Recovery has performed refrigerant recovery for many high-profile jobs, including Giants Stadium in New Jersey and the Detroit-area former Ford and Willow Run Bomber Plant. During the recovery process technicians note the equipment details, serial number, refrigerant type and total pounds in order to meet EPA documentation requirements. They also place a sticker on each unit so it can be easily identified by the contractor as recovered.
 

Getting started

Almost every project a demolition contractor encounters will have refrigerant. The bigger the project the more significant the amount of refrigerant and number of cooling units. For example, a large office building could have a rooftop chiller, water pumps and cooling units in areas housing telephone and computer equipment all containing refrigerants.

Bob Sheehan, president of Tampa -based NoVent Refrigerant Services Inc., recalls a project his refrigerant removal and reclamation company performed as part of a mall demolition in North Carolina. In addition to a large chiller unit that was feeding several roof vents, all of the water fountains contained refrigerant. The food court had separate chillers that were used to refrigerate the food. In addition, some back offices had their own separate air conditioners.

“You really have and make sure you walk around and find everything,” says Sheehan. “It is everything from water fountains all the way to large chillers that could be feeding a system.”

Both NoVent and Rapid Recovery have been called in on demolition projects at various stages, but Sheehan says, the earlier a refrigerant recovery company is called in, the better.

“A lot of the time, the contractor wants us on-site first thing,” says Sheehan. “We’ve shown up the day that the contractor gets keys to the property.”

By being part of the process early, Sheehan says, “We can go in and get our work done and get out of the way.”

He admits, however, “We’ve also been brought in late in the game.” He says if demolition has already started before NoVent gets there—it could be a situation where a line was cut containing refrigerant and it is now leaking—it’s a scenario that affects how much a contractor is paid for the refrigerant, and also could be an incident reportable to the EPA.

“We really like jobs where we are giving back checks to our customers,” says Sheehan. “The way we structure our cost, we’ve put a lot of value on the refrigerant and we keep our recovery costs very low, so it’s a very unique mix for people.”

Sheehan recommends something he calls the Three Cs when choosing a refrigerant recovery company.

The first C is competence. “They need to know what they are doing and meet the requirements the EPA has put on the recovery company,” says Sheehan.

The second C is competitiveness, which Sheehan describes as “making sure you are taking care of everybody on both sides of the equation: the contractor hiring you and as well as your own company.”

The third C is credibility. “When you are competent and credible, that is a good place to be,” Sheehan remarks.

Sheehan says the Three Cs is the same approach he uses when partnering with scrap firms to recycle chiller units after the refrigerant is removed. He also cautions the best company to partner with may not be the closest geographically.
 

A cool process

NoVent’s process for removing refrigerants involves first determining what type of refrigerant is present. The two main classifications identified are low-pressure or high-pressure refrigerants. Sheehan says low-pressure refrigerants require a vacuum pump and are pulled into a deep vacuum. High-pressure refrigerants can be pulled out with a compressor. The company also uses ice coils, which Sheehan says helps to speed up the process.

The EPA determines the level to draw that vacuum to in order to capture as much of the refrigerant as possible.

The next question NoVent considers is the quantity. That determines how much storage tanks are needed. “Initially it is matching up what is the scope of the job so that we show up with the proper equipment, tanks and hoses to properly do it,” Sheehan explains.

Once back at NoVent’s facility the refrigerant is tested in a chromatograph, which analyzes the gas for its components. “We can take out all the basic impurities,” says Sheehan. “What we can’t change is the composition of that refrigerant.”

Recovered refrigerant must have 99.5 percent purity. If it is only 99 percent pure, then it is considered out of spec and cannot be reclaimed. Sheehan explains, “As long as the refrigerant is not mixed with other refrigerants, then it can be reclaimed and reused.” Refrigerant that does not meet spec is disposed of at an incinerator.

Other companies such as Coolgas, Magnolia, Texas, sell new and recovered refrigerant and contract with companies including Rapid Recovery for job-site refrigerant recovery.

“Our main business is selling new refrigerant,” explains Taylor Ferranti, director of sales, Coolgas. “The buy-back and recovery helps us complete the full circle of services for our customers and is a very important role in supply as certain refrigerants like R-22 are being phased out.

“If the customer cannot recover the gas on-site, we can subcontract the work to Rapid or send our own technicians,” adds Ferranti.

Coolgas weighs, samples and cleans the refrigerant. The cleaning process removes oil, moisture, and noncondensables, bringing the product back to industry-standard specifications so it can be sold into the refrigerant market.

Rapid Recovery’s Rose makes the case for contracting out refrigerant removal by saying, “If it’s got refrigerant in it, we can handle it for the contractor, so they can focus on other more productive tasks.”

The author is managing editor of Construction & Demolition Recycling and can be reached at ksmith@gie.net.