Improving the safety of ammonia refrigeration plants

On April 25, 2004, the rarest accident in the operation of ammonia refrigeration plants occurred at the Moscow Cold Storage Plant No. 14 - an ammonia explosion. Ammonia is explosive only in a very narrow range of concentrations in air - from 15 to 28%. Therefore, over the entire long history of the use of ammonia refrigeration machines in world practice, only a few cases of explosions have been recorded. The cause of the last accident was unacceptable wear of equipment, non-compliance by maintenance personnel with elementary rules for the safe operation of ammonia refrigeration systems, and the imperfection of the “Safety Rules for Ammonia Refrigeration Units” ПБ09-595- 03. This accident received a wide response in the press, and, what is most dangerous, it can lead to a ban on the use of ammonia refrigeration units and a massive transition to freons.