Anhydrous Ammonia News

Anhydrous Ammonia & PSM

Anhydrous ammonia is the gas or compressed liquid form of ammonia that contains no water.  In very large cooling systems, like those in food processing facilities, this is a common choice of refrigerant.  OSHA considers anhydrous ammonia to be “immediately dangerous to life and health” at a concentration of 300 parts per million (ppm), or 0.03%.  Ammonia refrigeration systems that have 10,000 pounds of ammonia (approximately 2,000 gallons) or more are subject to OSHA’s process safety management requirements. Specifically, this PSM standard is applicable to ammonia manufacturers and facilities with large ammonia refrigeration systems; it does not apply to retail facilities. The PSM Standard is not a one-time occurrence; rather, it is a continuous program that should be sustained as long as a facility is operating a covered industrial ammonia refrigeration system. Importantly, throughout the PSM Standard, ammonia refrigerant detection plays an important role. Ultimately, performing proper maintenance and ensuring safe operating procedures with industrial ammonia refrigeration systems is the key to OSHA PSM compliance and ammonia refrigerant leak prevention.