26 November 2024
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The refrigerant removal process at Broadgate Tower took just six hours due to the use of connectors specifically designed to allow faster flow rates from York equipment carried on the Refrec Reclaim vehicle.
Refrec Reclaim has completed a project to quickly and efficiently remove 750kg of refrigerant at a 35-storey office block in central London.
Broadgate Tower is the tallest building in the 32-acre Broadgate Campus, which connects Liverpool Street Station with Old Street and Shoreditch.
Contractor Advanced Compressor Engineering Services chose Beijer Ref's Refrec Reclaim system to remove 750kg of R134a refrigerant from a York VSD liquid chiller to allow service and maintenance of the equipment, minimising system downtime.
The removal process was completed in six hours, giving a recovery rate of 125kg/hr. The fast flow rate was possible due to the use of connectors specifically designed to allow faster flow rates from York equipment carried on the Refrec Reclaim vehicle.
Broadgate Tower is the tallest building in the 32-acre Broadgate Campus
The refrigerant was stored in 16 recovery cylinders before being returned to the chiller on completion of the maintenance work. Refrec Reclaim dealt with the cylinder provision and associated paperwork using Beijer Ref's FGASmanager cylinder management software.
Cost-effective solution
Refrec Reclaim said it delivered a quick and cost-effective solution, with minimal attendance required by the client. The service simplifies the process of recovering refrigerant from larger systems, typically 100kg charge and above. It reduces the time contractors need to spend on site and saves them money by increasing the speed at which refrigerant is recovered and handling the administration process.
Alec Stilling, Head of Product Development at Beijer Ref UK, said: “Refrigerant was recovered on this site to allow maintenance on the system, but dismantling of current installations and retrofitting refrigerants are also perfect applications for this service. The process to recover refrigerant in the past has been time-consuming and labour-intensive for our trade customers, who could utilise their engineers’ specialist knowledge elsewhere. This is especially the case with the phase-out of F-gases, were we have a demand to recover high GWP refrigerants and replace them with lower-GWP alternatives or natural refrigerants.’’
