Ice skating facilities are an example of where soda tanks can be found.
A refrigerant tank is any container used to store or transport gaseous or liquid refrigerant. These tanks can be found in a wide variety of applications including air conditioning service and installation, food storage, ice skating facilities, and even in automobiles. Some contain freon, while others contain many other refrigerants. Each refrigerant tank must be carefully chosen to match the material inside and also to protect the refrigerant from leaks, damage or fire.
HVAC and refrigeration professionals use these tanks to add or remove refrigerant from a cooling system. They can simply transfer material from the tank to an air conditioning unit or hook the tank up to the unit and leave it in place to operate the system. An integrated gauge lets installers know how much refrigerant is left in the tank. Some applications also require the installer to connect a special pressure gauge called a manifold to the tank to measure the pressure within the tank or the cooling system itself.
Coolant tank manufacturers often produce many types of tanks, each designed to hold only one type of coolant. The tank may have a special shape or color to help users identify the material it contains. Many government and safety agencies have very specific requirements for labeling a refrigerant tank in order to minimize the risk of injury. While labeling requirements differ between countries, the color of these tanks is usually fairly uniform in many parts of the world.
Most governments and other organizations also institute strict storage and handling guidelines for refrigerant tanks. The refrigerant inside these tanks often poses health or environmental risks, and some varieties can be flammable. Most require tanks to be stored away from sources of heat or fire and specify a safe range of temperatures in which tanks can be kept. Refrigerant tank safety rules may also include procedures intended to prevent the safe handling or transportation of refrigerant tanks in a vehicle.
These tanks are often used to remove hazardous refrigerants from the system and replace them with safer alternatives. Government agencies have phased out many traditional refrigerants due to the damage they cause to the Earth’s ozone layer. Coolant tanks allow service personnel to collect old material and take it to local recycling or processing centers. A separate tank is then used to recharge the system with a new, less environmentally hazardous refrigerant.