In my time spent working in ammonia refrigeration, documentation was among the greatest tools I had at my disposal. Understanding that information required various resources which I never had easy access to. Since each came from various sources all in the facility at different locations, a pressure enthalpy diagram in poster form in one engine room, a list of valves and how the stem was positioned for automatic modulation hung on the wall as a poster in the other engine room, the various formulas kept in a handbook in the desk drawer. I found myself spending as much time working data as I did any of the other responsibilities delegated to me. This, at that time, led me to searching for any resource online that could free up some time spent, but much to my dismay I was never able to find a good comprehensive source for all of the tools I needed, much less in a modern, digital form.
Well fortunately for all of us today, that application actually exists! GCAP Cool Works contains all of the digital tools necessary to streamline an operator’s workload. The app is available on both android and apple, and is free to download. It does require a quick login, but it just needs your name, phone number, and city/state you reside in. Once you log in, you immediately have a short list of assets before your eyes.
Broken into categories for ease of navigating, you will see calculators, valve positions, formulas, charts/graphs, animations, magnetic tool, industry contacts, and it finishes up with a tab to contact us here at GCAP.
Now, when you select the calculators tab, you will be given a short list containing 3 ways to use a saturation calculator allowing you to input PSIG, PSIA, or the degrees Fahrenheit, you’ll also have a pressure enthalpy calculator, a release calculator that allows you to determine the amount of NH3 lost in a release, and an easy to use calculator for superheat/sub cooling.
Next, the valve positions tab is broken into Parker or Hansen brand components, and within those you get a simple list of their valves and the position each is in for automatic. Now the risk associated with guess work is truly unnecessary.
After that, navigate to the formulas tab to be taken to a list of commonly used formulas in our industry or the charts/graphs tab for quick access to the IDLH graph representing the risk associated with the varying concentrations of NH3, a saturation chart for pure ammonia, and the pressure/temperature chart with several different refrigerants as well as a piping label abbreviation list.
Following those are the animations and magnetic tool tabs. Within animations you can find illustrations entailing three portions of heat transfer in a refrigeration cycle. The magnetic tool can be used to determine whether or not a solenoid is electrically energized. It is important to note that the device being used has to have the internal components associated with sensing the electromagnetic field to work correctly.
Finally the last two tabs are Industry contacts and our contact us screen. Inside industry contacts you can find a list of some of the best and most reputable vendors/suppliers in the industry. Within each company’s tab you will find contact person, phone, and email as well as website and physical addresses. There is also a short “about” portion describing each company, their history and their mission statements. Finishing up the tabs we left a simple way to get an email sent over to us.
Hopefully this much needed resources can become a regular tool in your arsenal, and we hope to see it become a common asset used to ease the daily tasks we all face in the industry. If there is anything we may have missed, and ideas that could be included, or if you have any questions about the app in general, don’t hesitate to drop us an email regarding such!
As always, be safe out there, and Keep It In The Pipes.
Mike Savoy (GCAP Assistant Instructor)
