Refrigerated Asset Retrofit and Retirement Planning
- Joseph Yarborough (Unlicensed)
- Lamont Eddins
- Natalia Larina (Unlicensed)
Retrofit
Overview
Retrofitting is the process of taking out the refrigerant from a refrigeration or HVAC system and replacing it with another refrigerant.
It can also be a temporary removal — without replacing the original refrigerant. When the system is malfunctioning or leaking, the provider may need to pump out the refrigerant gas to be able to repair the system. After repairs are completed, the same refrigerant gas may be put back into the system.
Retirement
Overview
Retirement of a refrigeration or HVAC system implies that you remove the refrigerant gas from the equipment and then put the equipment out of service.
Reasons for Retrofitting
A refrigeration or HVAC system is leaking above the applicable leak rate, and the leak cannot be found or repaired within 30 days.
Your organization supports green initiatives and wants to eliminate refrigerant types with high Global Warming Potential (GWP) that deplete the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.
Changes have been made to laws and regulations on refrigerant types that can be used.
Reasons for Retirement
Refrigeration or HVAC units have been in operation for a long period of time and became inefficient. You consider replacing the worn-out equipment.
The appliance continues leaking above the applicable leak rate even after the required repairs and verification tests have been done.
Your company supports the initiative to protect the environment by cutting down the number of refrigeration and HVAC systems used.
Retrofit and Retirement Planning
Owners/operators must create a retrofit or retirement plan within 30 days* of an appliance leaking ODS above the applicable leak rate if:
- The owner/operator intends to retrofit or retire rather than repair the leak; or
- The owner/operator fails to identify and repair the leak; or
- The appliance continues to leak above the applicable leak rate after required repairs and verification tests.
Retrofit or retirement plans must contain: identification and location of the appliance; type and full charge of the refrigerant in use; type and full charge of alternative refrigerant (if retrofitting); itemized procedure for converting the appliance to a different refrigerant, including changes required for compatibility with the new refrigerant (if retrofitting); plan for disposition of recovered refrigerant; plan for disposition of the appliance (if retiring); and a schedule for completion within one year.
The retrofit or retirement must be completed within one year of the plan’s date unless granted extra time. Owners/operators must repair all identified leaks as part of any retrofit. Owners/operators may request relief from the obligation to retrofit or retire an appliance if they can establish within 180 days of the plan’s date that the appliance no longer exceeds the applicable leak rate and agrees in writing to repair all identified leaks within one year of the plan’s date.
*Some extensions may be available, particularly for industrial process refrigeration.
Creating the Retrofit/Retirement Category for Work Orders
Before you create a retrofit or retirement plan, you need to add a new Retrofit/Retirement category. When you create a retrofit or retirement plan, the system will generate a work order belonging to this trade.
- Navigate to Admin > Work Order Properties > Categories.
- Click Add Category above the categories list.
- In the overlay that appears, enter RETROFIT/RETIREMENT as the category name.
- Select the appropriate Primary Category. Then click Save.
- RETROFIT/RETIREMENT appears as a category.
You can now create retrofit and retirement plans.
Creating a Retrofit Plan
To be able to create a retrofit plan, make sure:
- You have the Refrigerant Tracking Admin user role set in Service Automation.
- There is no open leak record associated with the asset.
- You have the Completed / Pending Refrigerant Use status included in the list of work order statuses in Admin.
- You have the RETROFIT/RETIREMENT category included in the list of categories in Admin.
- Navigate to the hamburger menu, and select Assets (Equipment) > Manage Assets.
Find the desired asset, and click its tag ID to open the asset details page.
Use filters in the left panel to quickly find the asset you need.
- Switch to the Refrigeration Details tab.
- Scroll down to find the section with the Most Recent Plan, and click Create New Plan.
In the Create Retrofit/Retirement Plan overlay that appears, provide the required information.
- Plan Start Date and End Date
- Vendor who removed the refrigerant from the system
- Plan Type. The Retrofit radio button is selected by default. Switch it to Retire if you want to create a retirement plan.
- Generate Leak Record. The checkbox is selected by default, which prompts the system to calculate a leak rate and create a leak record whenever the threshold is met or exceeded. Clear the checkbox if you don’t want the system to generate leak records when you create a retrofit plan. Note that it's available for retrofit plans only. Read more about Leaks During the Retrofit Process.
- Description of the actions performed to retrofit the system
- Quantity of the Refrigerant Removed. Enter the quantity based on the unit of measurement your company uses to track refrigerant usage. For example, in pounds and ounces.
- Date of Removal. Pick the date when the provider removed the refrigerant gas from the system.
- Status of Refrigerant Removal. Select a status that describes what was done with the removed refrigerant:
DESTROYED The refrigerant was taken out of the system and destroyed.
REUSED The provider temporarily pumped out the refrigerant from the system in order to repair the malfunctioning or leaking appliance. The same refrigerant was then put back into the system. Read more about Reusing the Refrigerant.
RECLAIMED The refrigerant taken out of the system was put back into the location inventory. Read more about Reclaiming the Refrigerant.
BANKED The refrigerant removed from the system was sent to a special organization that stores refrigerants. Whenever you need to get the refrigerant gas back, you can take the refrigerant from the “bank” — but it isn’t necessarily going to be the exact refrigerant you left to be stored in there. It may be the refrigerant that was sent to the bank by another organization.
CHARGE LOST The system leaked its entire refrigerant charge, and no refrigerant was recovered during the retrofit.
- Refrigerant Type. Select the type of the refrigerant that was added to the system after the original refrigerant was removed.
- Quantity Entered. Specify how much refrigerant the provider added to the system. Note that if the provider Reused the refrigerant and didn’t add any refrigerant on top, enter 0 in the field — like in the screenshot above.
- New Charge Value. Select the checkbox so that the refrigerant amount you entered becomes added as a new charge to the system.
- Date of Refrigerant Added. Pick the date when the refrigerant amount was added to the system.
- Was It Taken from Inventory?
- If it was, select Yes, then opt for the Inventory Part that was added, Inventory Location the part was taken from, and Vendor who added a new charge.
- Select No if the refrigerant was supplied by the vendor. Enter the Part Number in the field below.
Click Save. The retrofit plan has been created.
- If you opted to Generate a Leak Record, and the leak rate threshold was met or exceeded, you should complete the leak record.
The plan details appear in the Most Recent Plan section.
The plan also shows up as part of the asset’s Refrigeration History, under Asset History.
A work order belonging to the Retrofit/Retirement category gets created and automatically moves to the Completed status.
A leak record may be created if there was a refrigerant leak during the retrofit, and the Generate Leak Record preference was enabled at the time you created the plan.
Reusing the Refrigerant
Select Reused as a refrigerant removal status.
Note that the Refrigerant Type field becomes inactive since you cannot use another refrigerant type in your system if the Reused status is picked.
In the Quantity Entered field, enter 0 if no new refrigerant charge was added to the system except for the refrigerant amount that was put back.
If the provider added a new charge (for example, 50 pounds and 5 ounces) on top of the refrigerant amount that was put back into the system, you need to specify the new charge amount in the Quantity Entered field.
- Select the New Charge Value checkbox to add the specified quantity as a new charge amount.
Otherwise, keep the checkbox empty if you don’t want the amount you entered earlier to be added as a new charge.
The New Charge Value checkbox gets automatically selected when you enter the quantity that is more than the current charge.
Enter the Date when you added the refrigerant back into the system. The date should equal or go after the date when the refrigerant was removed.
- Under the Was Refrigeration Added Taken from Inventory? question:
- Select No if the provider supplied the part. Then, enter the Part Number.
- Select Yes if the provider added a new charge to the system and took the part from the inventory location. Then, specify the Inventory Part that was added to the system, Inventory Location the part was taken from, Vendor who added the new charge, and Charge Description.
- Click Save. The retrofit plan has been created.
- If you opted to Generate a Leak Record, and the leak rate threshold was met or exceeded, you should complete the leak record.
Reclaiming the Refrigerant
- Select the Reclaim status.
- Specify the Inventory Location where the refrigerant gas should be put back in.
- Select the Inventory Part that corresponds to the refrigerant that is being reclaimed.
- Select the Refrigerant Type to be used in the system. You can select either the original refrigerant type or a new one based on your needs.
- In the Quantity Entered field, enter the amount of the refrigerant added. The New Charge Value checkbox is automatically selected if the added refrigerant amount is more than the current charge.
- Enter the Date when you added the new refrigerant charge to the system. The date should equal or go after the date when the refrigerant was removed.
- Under the Was Refrigeration Added Taken from Inventory? question:
- Select No if the provider supplied the refrigerant part.
- Select Yes if the provider took the part from the location inventory. Then, specify the Inventory Part that was added, the Inventory Location the part was taken from, the Vendor name who added the charge, and the Charge Description.
- Click Save. The retrofit plan has been created.
- If you opted to Generate a Leak Record, and the leak rate threshold was met or exceeded, you should complete the leak record.
Leaks During the Retrofit Process
During the retrofit process, some amount of the refrigerant may get lost, which implies that a leak rate should be calculated, and — if the leak rate meets or exceeds the configured threshold — a leak record should be created.
The preference to generate leak records is enabled by default. However, based on your business needs, you may disable the leak rate calculation process by removing the Generate Leak Record checkbox in the overlay for creating a retrofit plan.
- Locate an asset from the Manage Asset page and click on the Tag ID or Asset Tag to open its details
- Click the Refrigeration Details link to open the details
- Under Most Recent Plans, click the Create New Plan button to open the modal
- Complete the required Retrofit plan
- Click the Save button to continue with creating the plan
- Answer the leaks question
- Click Next to continue
- Click the Add Another Leak link to enter leak event
- Enter the leak details
- Add the Completion Date
- Click the Done button to finalize the plan
Creating a Retirement Plan
To be able to create a retirement plan, make sure:
- You have the Refrigerant Tracking Admin user role set in Service Automation.
- There is no open leak record associated with the asset.
Creating a retirement plan entails asset deactivation.
- Navigate to the hamburger menu, and select Assets (Equipment) > Manage Assets.
Find the desired asset, and click its tag ID to open the asset details page.
Use filters in the left panel to quickly find the asset you need.
- Switch to the Refrigeration Details tab.
- Scroll down to find the section with the Most Recent Plan, and click Create New Plan.
- In the Create Retrofit/Retirement Plan overlay that appears, provide the required information.
- Plan Start Date and End Date
- Vendor who removed the refrigerant from the system
- Plan Type. Select the Retire radio button.
- Description of the actions performed to retire the system
- Quantity of the Refrigerant Removed. Enter the quantity based on the unit of measurement your company uses to track refrigerant usage. For example, in pounds and ounces.
- Date of Removal. Pick the date when the provider removed the refrigerant gas from the system.
- Status of Refrigerant Removal. Select a status that describes what was done with the recovered refrigerant:
DESTROYED The refrigerant was taken out of the system and destroyed.
RECLAIMED The refrigerant taken out of the system was put back into the location inventory. When you opt for this status, you are required to specify the Inventory Part that corresponds to the refrigerant used in the system and select the Inventory Location where the part will be placed back.
BANKED The refrigerant removed from the system was sent to a special organization that stores refrigerants. Whenever you need to get the refrigerant gas back, you can take the refrigerant from the “bank” — but it isn’t necessarily going to be the exact refrigerant you left to be stored in there. It may be the refrigerant that was sent to the bank by another organization.
- Click Save.
The retirement plan has been created and appears under the Most Recent Plan section of the asset details page.
The plan also shows up as part of the asset’s Refrigeration History, under Asset History.
A work order belonging to the Retrofit/Retirement category gets created and associated with the asset. Note that the work order automatically moves to the Completed status.
The asset gets deactivated. The asset tag ID turns red indicating that the unit is no longer in operation. You can activate the asset if necessary.
