Air, water, and non-condensable gases enter almost all ammonia refrigeration systems —from installation through daily operation— and work silently until capacity losses, higher energy consumption, or, in the worst case, an unplanned shutdown appear. Here is where these contaminants come from, what they do to the system, and how to remove them.

Almost all industrial ammonia systems have water inside —typically 2 to 6% by weight— and almost nobody sees it as a problem until evaporators perform below catalog specs. Here is what water does to an evaporator, why the damage spikes when you reduce overfeed or switch to dry expansion, and what can be done about it.

Every ammonia compressor hides a problem almost no one measures until it's too late: the oil degrades from the inside while the plant keeps running normally.