Under ASHRAE Standard 15, what should an equipment-room refrigerant detector do when it senses refrigerant…

Safety · EPA 608 Type III. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

ASHRAE Standard 15 equipment-room requirements and refrigerant sensors.

The question

Under ASHRAE Standard 15, what should an equipment-room refrigerant detector do when it senses refrigerant above its set point?

• ASound an alarm and start mechanical ventilationCorrect answer
• BShut off all power to the building
• COpen the chiller rupture disc
• DStart the purge unit to remove the leak

Why “Sound an alarm and start mechanical ventilation” is correct

ASHRAE Standard 15 ties the equipment-room detector to visual and audible alarms and to mechanical ventilation, with a set point no higher than the refrigerant's occupational exposure limit. People are warned to leave, and fresh air is brought in to clear the leaked refrigerant.

Source: ASHRAE 15-2016 Addendum c (detector set point at OEL); EPA: Test Topics

Why the other answers are wrong

• Shut off all power to the building — The detector does not cut building power.
• Open the chiller rupture disc — Opening the disc would release the whole charge.
• Start the purge unit to remove the leak — The purge removes noncondensables from inside the chiller, not refrigerant from the room.

Practice more of this

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