Cylinder Re-certification

Per DOT regulations, recovery cylinder certification expires five years from the date of manufacture. By the five-year mark, the recovery cylinder must be certified by a facility approved by DOT. 

When a cylinder is recertified, the recertification date is marked on the cylinder in one of two ways. 

  1. If the certification date is hammer-stamped into the cylinder, the cylinder’s certification expires 5 years from the date of recertification. 
  2. If the certification date is noted on a label that is epoxied onto the cylinder, the cylinder’s certification expires 10 years from the date of recertification. 

DynaCycle utilizes an enhanced certification process that certifies recovery cylinders for 10 years. These cylinders have a date label epoxied to the cylinder. 

Here are examples of how certification dates are marked on recovery cylinders processed by DynaCycle.

Certification Date Stamped on Cylinder (certification expires 5 years from date)

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Steel 6/18, expires 6/2023Steel 9/18, expires 9/2023Composite 4/19, expires 4/2024

Certification Date label epoxied to Cylinder (certification expires 10 years from date)

Steel 10/19, expires 10/29   Steel 5/20, expires 5/2030      Composite 11/19, expires 11/2029

​DynaCycle is receiving high volumes of expired tanks with refrigerant contents. This would indicate that service technicians are transporting expired cylinders, which may be in violation of DOT regulations. You are not in violation of DOT regulations if you ship or transport an expired cylinder to an EPA Certified Reclamation facility. Expired cylinders are permitted to be shipped to an EPA Certified Reclamation facility since the cylinder will be emptied and recertified, or taken out of service. 

Effective July 15, 2020, a $30 fee will be charged for expired cylinders received that do not have a DynaCycle sleeve. Expired cylinders with a DynaCycle sleeve will not be charged this fee. The charge will be assigned to the technician noted in the receiving report.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding cylinder certifications.​

An Update On The AIM Act

Did you miss the United States House of Representatives hearing titled the “American Innovation and Jobs: Legislation to Phase Down Hydrofluorocarbons”? If you did, you can check out the recorded version here.

As a reminder, this is the House version of the Senate’s AIM Act (S. 2754), which was introduced in October and is currently in committee. The AIM Act establishes a 15 year HFC phasedown schedule, while also giving the EPA the authority it needs to enforce the phasedown. Both bills have bipartisan congressional support as well as HVACR industry and environmental group support. In addition, Dynatemp Refrigerants was among thirty-two HVACR industry CEO’s to sign a letter of support for a federally mandated HFC phasedown. In the absence one, we will continue to see a patchwork of state by state phasedown legislation as we have seen with California, Vermont, Washington, and now New Jersey.

What are the next steps? Both the Senate bill and the House bill are in committee, you can track their progress through congress.gov. Senate Bill S.2754 and House Bill H.R.5544

If you haven’t already, use HARDI’s tool to email your Representatives and ask them to support a federally mandated HFC phasedown to give the HVACR industry the clarity it needs to plan for the next generation of refrigerants.

Additional Sources:

https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/11/carper-and-kennedy-introduce-bill-to-phasedown-use-of-hfcs

 

Big Change to Refrigerant Cylinders Coming in January 2020

Beginning January 2020 per Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute’s (AHRI) Guideline N, Assignment of Refrigerant Container Colors, all refrigerant cylinders should be painted a gray-green color, specifically RAL 7044. This is a change from previous guidelines set by AHRI that stipulated specific cylinder colors for specific refrigerants. However, as more refrigerants have been created, an increased number of cylinder colors have caused confusion and created safety issues in the field. Charging a system with the wrong refrigerant can cause damage to the equipment and to the user.

What will remain the same, is that AHRI mandates specific PMS colors for each refrigerant to be used on the outer packaging, like labels and cartons. You can find that list of colors here. Thus, the carton and cylinder markings should remain the source of identification of the contents inside.

For more information on these guidelines from AHRI, click here. 

AHRI Asks CARB To Delay GWP Limits On Proposed Refrigerant Regulations

In hopes of reaching their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and to reduce HFC emissions to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030, California’s Air and Resources Board (CARB) has proposed regulations that would cap GWP limits on refrigerants and equipment. Throughout their regulatory process, CARB has requested industry and stakeholder comments regarding different aspects of their plans. Recently, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) submitted an alternative regulatory proposal requesting a longer phase-down on GWP limits and changes to what classifies as “new equipment”.

CARB’s Proposal:

  • 150 GWP cap on refrigerant used in new systems with more than 50 lbs of refrigerant by 1/1/2022
  • A ban on the sale of virgin refrigerants with a GWP above 1500 by 1/1/2022
  • 750 GWP cap for new stationary air-conditioning systems by 1/1/2023

AHRI’s Suggested Changes:

  • 1500 GWP cap on medium-sized commercial refrigeration units with between 50 and 300 lbs of refrigerant in 2021 but delaying the 150 GWP cap until 2024, contingent on the adoption of safety standards in the California State Code
  • AHRI is also recommending that new remote condensing units and those used in new construction, with 50-300 lbs of refrigerant, have a 1500 GWP cap in 2021, and a 300 (as opposed to 150) GWP cap in 2024

AHRI also hoped to clarify the definition of “new equipment” to which these GWP limits apply. Currently, CARB’s definition encompasses new stores and existing stores with equipment modified to handle an expanded cooling load or where equipment is replaced in whole or part so that the cost of the components exceeds 50% of the cost of replacing the entire system. AHRI’s concern is that under this definition a store’s entire system may need to be replaced long before it is due to be retrofitted. In AHRI’s new proposal they suggested that retrofit, maintenance, and replacement of equipment components “cannot be done for all applications given the current equipment limitations and restrictions of safety codes and standards.”

CARB is expected to approve final regulations in May 2020.

 

Source:

http://hydrocarbons21.com/articles/9166/ahri_asks_california_for_more_time_on_gwp_changes