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Simplified Mass Balance Method For Refrigerant Emissions Management

By Daniel Stouffer

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 26Mar2010 Word count: 493 Viewed: 519 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

With the simplified mass balance method, current levels of harmful refrigerant gases or other chemicals that harm the environment, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CHCs), can be calculated and work to better predict of future levels of accumulated emissions formulated.

This emissions information enables environmental scientists and government regulators to better evaluate the rate of global climate change based on the usage of refrigerants and the related carbon emissions that contribute to the increases in greenhouse gases (GHGs).

A simplified mass balance method is used when determining the difference between the starting amount of a substance, such as refrigerant gas, and the end amount. The time period most commonly used is a calendar year. Consider this a similar concept to an accounting year for an organization's taxes. This emissions related calculation determines how much of the harmful chemical was used in daily operation and how much was discharged into the environment.

The equation used for the simplified mass balance method adds the amount of refrigerant gas or other harmful chemicals that enter a process, such as a HVAC-R system, plus the different ways in which those chemicals are used, such as waste, vented during servicing, breakage of the system, or accumulation as reserve stockpiles. This equates to the final amount of refrigerant gas entering the atmosphere that leads, in concert, to the depletion of the ozone layer and increased release of high global warming potential refrigerants.

Using refrigerant gas as an example, the calculation takes into account the starting amount, its transformation throughout the entire cooling process, and the waste amount that required end of year accounting and reporting to a government body like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

By using a mass balance method, a facility is tracking the amount of substances used for a specific function in a very systematic and process driven way. This enables tracking and accurate data management down to the pound threshold across an entire organization if needed. It is broken down by how much enters the system, how much leaves the system and how much is stored within the system. This approach is used when it is necessary to account for pollutants.

The improvements in operational efficiencies will fully out-weight the incurred overhead of more refined business processes when an organization considers the increased cost of refrigerant gases painted against the backdrop of phase out schedules, the mandatory reduction of greenhouse gases, and the looming future of a carbon cap and trade system.

The mass balance method is required by the EPA to monitor and track chemicals that have been identified as harmful contributors to air pollution, the deterioration of the stratospheric ozone layer, and to increased, negative effects on global climate. These chemicals include chloroflurocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, methyl bromide, halons, methyl chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride; essentially all of the substances tracked under The Montreal, Kyoto Protocols and future environmental regulations being drafted within the United States.

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