Speciality chemicals supplier A-Gas South Africa is planning to expand its rapid recovery refrigerant service nationally this year.

This follows the appointment of A-Gas business development manager Grant McGill in September last year.

McGill explains that the strategy to expand this important service nationally is in line with A-Gas’ positioning itself as a key provider of environment-responsible refrigerant-recovery services in South Africa to diverse sectors, including the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) sector.

The legal recovery and reclamation of refrigerants is crucial in South Africa, as it is a key element of greenhouse-gas reduction frameworks, such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment, he says.

The AGas Rapid Recovery service aims to provide efficient, streamlined refrigerant recovery services for a wide range of industries, including the demolition and marine industries. Projects range in size from single residential split systems and chilling systems to projects with thousands of units.

“Our AGas Rapid Recovery engineers are fully trained to provide safe, high-speed refrigerant recovery and a value-added service,” McGill says.

The service uses a custom-designed, high-speed recovery machine, which operates independently of site power supply.

“We never compromise safety for speed and have engineered our machines to ensure the safety of our operators at all times,” McGill ensures.

He adds that all AGas Rapid Recovery equipment has been rigorously tested and certified according to Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) requirements.

One of the key benefits of the service is ensuring that, while the client goes through the complex process of retrofitting current systems to accommodate next generation refrigerants, Rapid Recovery will prevent gas emissions and losses, McGill tells Engineering News.

“Rapid Recovery is up to ten times faster than traditional refrigerant recovery methods,” McGill claims.

This circumvents the common challenge that sees supermarket fridges out of service for an extended period during maintenance and retrofitting, leading to a loss of produce.

McGill says the company’s use of portable AHRI-certified gas-powered equipment – with hoses able to reach units at any height and in any location, as well as improvement in the speed at which the gas is recovered – is an effective way of minimising fridge downtime.

When ensuring that gas recovery is carried out in accordance with SANS 10147, it can be challenging to limit the amount of emissions during this process. Therefore it is key to have suitably qualified recovery engineers to assist clients in reducing their carbon footprint with a complete and swiftly executed recovery solution, he adds.

McGill notes that the ability to meet the tight deadlines required when performing such a task is what makes the service unique.

“Our certified technicians, along with our high-speed AHRI-certified equipment, bring speed and compliance to every one of our jobsites,” he says.

The experience of A-Gas technicians and the speed of the company’s gas-powered machines allow for refrigerant recovery on site to be done more swiftly compared with standard, off-the-shelf equipment.

“After we complete the refrigerant recovery, we will provide the client with a certificate of waste disposal and this can be used towards the client’s green footprint calculations and for auditing purposes,” he concludes.