ANSI/ASHRAE Addendum c to

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 15-2004

ASHRAE STANDARD
Safety Standard for
Refrigeration Systems

Approved by the ASHRAE Standards Committee on June 24, 2006; by the ASHRAE Board of Directors on June 29,
2006; and by the American National Standards Institute on March 3, 2007.

This standard is under continuous maintenance by a Standing Standard Project Committee (SSPC) for which the
Standards Committee has established a documented program for regular publication of addenda or revisions,
including procedures for timely, documented, consensus action on requests for change to any part of the standard.
The change submittal form, instructions, and deadlines may be obtained in electronic form from the ASHRAE Web
site, http://www.ashrae.org, or in paper form from the Manager of Standards. The latest edition of an ASHRAE
Standard may be purchased from ASHRAE Customer Service, 1791 Tullie Circle, NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-2305. E-
mail: orders@ashrae.org. Fax: 404-321-5478. Telephone: 404-636-8400 (worldwide), or toll free 1-800-527-4723
(for orders in US and Canada).

Copyright 2006 ASHRAE, Inc.

ISSN 1041-2336

www.ansi.org

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating

and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
1791 Tullie Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30329
www.ashrae.org
 ASHRAE Standing Standard Project Committee 15
Cognizant TCs:TC 10.1, Custom Engineered Refrigeration Systems,
and TC 9.1, Large Building Air-Conditioning Systems
SPLS Liaison: Steven T. Bushby
Douglas T. Reindl, Chair* Julian T. Parker
George C. Briley Norman Wanner Panabaker
James M. Calm* Joseph W. Pillis
Earl M. Clark William V. Richards
Dennis R. Dorman* Daryl K. Showalter
Stephen W. Duda Martin L. Timm*
Danny M. Halel* Eugene F. Troy*
Larry Kettwich John I. Vucci
Jay A. Kohler Thomas Watson
Daniel R. Kuespert Gary J. Zyhowski
*Denotes members of voting status when the document was approved for publication
ASHRAE STANDARDS COMMITTEE 20052006
Richard D. Hermans, Chair Jay A. Kohler
David E. Knebel, Vice-Chair James D. Lutz
Donald L. Brandt Merle F. McBride
Steven T. Bushby Mark P. Modera
Paul W. Cabot Cyrus H. Nasseri
Hugh F. Crowther Stephen V. Santoro
Samuel D. Cummings, Jr. Stephen V. Skalko
Robert G. Doerr David R. Tree
Hakim Elmahdy Jerry W. White, Jr.
Roger L. Hedrick James E. Woods
John F. Hogan William E. Murphy, BOD ExO
Frank E. Jakob Ronald E. Jarnagin, CO
Stephen D. Kennedy
Claire B. Ramspeck, Assistant Director of Technology for Standards and Special Projects

SPECIAL NOTE
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ASHRAE INDUSTRIAL ADVERTISING POLICY ON STANDARDS

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(This foreword is not part of this standard. It is merely Next, find the relieving capacity in mass flow of air, Wa,
informative and does not contain requirements necessary for an ASME-rated (Reference 5 in Appendix E) pressure-
for conformance to the standard. It has not been relief device:
processed according to the ANSI requirements for a
Wa = Wr rw (F-2)
standard and may contain material that has not been
subject to public review or a consensus process.
Ca T M
Unresolved objectors on informative material are not r w = ------ -----r ------a- (F-2a)
Cr Ta Mr
offered the right to appeal at ASHRAE or ANSI.)
where
FOREWORD rw = refrigerant-to-standard-air-mass-flow conversion factor
The current version of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 15-2004 Mr = molar mass of refrigerant (see table below)
includes an informative appendix, Appendix F, for determin- Ma = molar mass of air = 28.97
ing the required relief capacity for positive displacement com- Ta = absolute temperature of the air = 520 R (289 K)
pressors. This revision of Appendix F expands the list of
Ca = constant for air = 356
refrigerants and their corresponding properties for determin-
ing relief capacity. In addition, the methodology has been Cr = constant for refrigerant (as determined from
revised to more clearly demonstrate relief valve capacity cal- Equation F-2b)
culations for positive displacement compressors equipped Tr = absolute temperature of refrigerant = 510 R (283 K)
with capacity modulation. k+1
------------
2 k1
C r = 520 k ------------ (F-2b)
Addendum c to 15-2004 k + 1
where
Delete the current Appendix F in Standard 15-2004 and k = ratio of specific heats (Cp/Cv)
replace it with the following revised version of the appendix:
Cp = constant-pressure specific heat of refrigerant at a
(This appendix is not part of this standard. It is merely refrigerant quality of 1 at 50F (10C)
informative and does not contain requirements necessary Cv = constant-volume specific heat of refrigerant at a
for conformance to the standard. It has not been refrigerant quality of 1 at 50F (10C)
processed according to the ANSI requirements for a Constants for several refrigerants are listed in the
standard and may contain material that has not been following table.
subject to public review or a consensus process.
Unresolved objectors on informative material are not Refrigerant k* Molar Mass Cr rw
offered the right to appeal at ASHRAE or ANSI.) R-11 1.137 137.4 330.7 0.49

APPENDIX F R-12 1.205 120.9 337.7 0.51

METHOD FOR CALCULATING DISCHARGE R-13 2.053 104.5 403.6 0.46
CAPACITY OF POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT R-22 1.319 86.5 348.8 0.59
COMPRESSOR PRESSURE-RELIEF DEVICE R-23 2.742 70.0 439.3 0.52
The following calculation method provides the required R-113 1.081 187.4 324.7 0.43
discharge capacity of the compressor pressure-relief device in R-114 1.094 170.9 326.1 0.45
Section 9.8:1 R-123 1.104 152.9 327.1 0.47
Q PL v R-134a 1.196 102.0 336.8 0.56
W r = -------------------------- (F-1)
vg R-236fa 1.101 152.0 326.8 0.47
where R-245fa 1.107 134.0 327.5 0.50
Wr = mass flow of refrigerant, lbm/min (kg/s) R-290 1.235 44.1 340.8 0.84
Q = swept volume flow rate of compressor, ft3/min (m3/s) R-404A 1.279 97.6 345.0 0.56
PL = fraction of compressor capacity at minimum
R-407C 1.270 86.2 344.1 0.59
regulated flow
v = volumetric efficiency (assume 0.9 unless actual R-410A 1.434 72.6 359.0 0.62
volumetric efficiency at relieving pressure is known) R-500 1.236 99.3 340.8 0.56
vg = specific volume of refrigerant vapor as specified in R-502 1.264 111.6 343.6 0.52
Section 9.8, ft3/lbm (m3/kg) R-507A 1.284 98.9 345.5 0.55
1
R-600 1.122 58.1 329.2 0.76
Section 9.8 permits the discharge capacity of the relief device to
be the minimum regulated flow rate of the compressor when the R-717 1.422 17.0 358.0 1.28
following conditions are met: (a) the compressor is equipped with R-718 1.328 18.0 349.6 1.28
capacity regulation, (b) capacity regulation actuates to minimum
flow at 90% of the pressure-relief device setting, and (c) the pres- R-744 2.690 44.0 437.0 0.65
sure-limiting device is installed and set in accordance with the * Source: NIST Refprop, Standard Reference Database 23, Version 7, 2002.
requirements of Section 9.9. Source: IUPAC Atomic Weights, 2003.

ANSI/ASHRAE Addendum c to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 15-2004 1

 Example: Determine the flow capacity of a relief device 3
m
for an ammonia (R-717) screw compressor with a swept 0.7858 ------- 0.1 0.9
s kg
volume, Q, of 1,665 ft3/min (0.7858 m3/s). The compressor is W r = -----------------------------------------------
3
- = 0.343 ------
m s
equipped with capacity control that is actuated at 90% of the 0.206 -------
pressure relief device set pressure to its minimum regulated kg
flow of 10%.
lb m
W a = W r r w = 45.4 1.28 = 58.1 --------- of air (see F-2)
Q = 1,665 ft3/min (0.7858 m3/s) min

v = 0.90, assumed kg
W a = W r r w = 0.343 1.28 = 0.439 ------ of air
s
PL = 0.1
Converting to standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM),
vg =3.2997 ft3/lbm (0.206 m3/kg) where Va = specific volume of air = 13.1 ft3/lbm (0.818 m3/kg)
3
for dry air at 60F (15.6C),
ft
1665 --------- 0.1 0.9
min lb m SCFM = 13.1(58.1) = 761 ft3/min
W r = ---------------------------------------------
3
= 45.4 --------- (see F-1)
ft min
3.2997 -------- [SCFM = 0.818(0.439) = 0.359 m3/s].
lb m

2 ANSI/ASHRAE Addendum c to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 15-2004

 POLICY STATEMENT DEFINING ASHRAES CONCERN
FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF ITS ACTIVITIES
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