Chinese code for cold store is not enough to ensure ammonia safety&nbsp;

Ammonia has to date been used by many existing refrigerated warehouses in China. However, cases of small and medium-sized refrigerated warehouses not complying with safety standards have seriously restricted the wide application of ammonia. Filling the ammonia training gap and better enforcement of regulations could be the way forward.

Defying safety codes hampers ammonia application in China’s cold storage industry

Ammonia refrigeration safety has seriously restricted the wide application of ammonia in China’s cold storage industry.

China’s Code for Design of Cold Store (GB50072-2010) requires all the ammonia refrigeration systems to comply with safety standards. In addition, facility owners must carry out regular system maintenance to ensure the refrigeration system is in good condition and minimise the risk of ammonia leaks.

However, these codes and standards are usually not well respected by construction and engineering companies and most facility owners of small and medium-size refrigerated warehouses in today’s China.

In order to reduce operation and maintaining costs, many facility owners of these small and medium-size refrigerated warehouses do not have strategy to help prevent accidental leaks and have no emergency plans for evacuation routes, designation of employees. Many of them do not have qualified and well-trained operators to ensure ammonia systems are run safely. Moreover, personnel in the plants usually lack the safety awareness and knowledge on the risk of ammonia contamination.

China could greatly benefit from introducing more strict enforcement to standardise the building and operation of ammonia refrigerated warehouses.

More ammonia refrigerated warehouses to be built

Ammonia has been applied in many of the existing refrigerated warehouses. Several Chinese industry stakeholders that ammonia21.com talked to at this year’s China Refrigeration Expo (11-13 April 2012) regard NH₃ and CO₂ as promising refrigerants: ammonia refrigeration systems and cascade systems with CO₂/NH₃ in particular have great potential for application in refrigerated warehouses in China in their view. It can therefore be expected that in the future, there will be more and more ammonia refrigerated warehouses built in China.

Fast growing Chinese cold storage industry

In recent years, thanks to the improved living standards of urban residents in China and the changes in their spending habits, the demand for aquatic products, milk, fresh vegetables and fruits is growing fast.

By 2015, the amount of products transported under temperature-controlled conditions in China is estimated to be more than 55,649 tons. The increasing market demand inevitably brings about the growth in cold storage capacity and cold chain logistics. According to “2010 Global Cold Storage Capacity Report”, from 2008 to 2010, China’s cold storage capacity grows 90% and by the end of 2010, its total cold storage capacity has reached 62 million m³.