Ammonia Pipe Marking

Ammonia Marking Specifications

Anhydrous ammonia is widely used as a refrigerant in food and drink production sites, including meat, poultry and fish processing facilities, dairy and ice cream plants, juice and soft drink processing facilities, and wineries and breweries.

Ammonia is considered a high health risk that poses significant threat to workers. It is corrosive to the skin, eyes, and lungs, and can be deadly at elevated levels of exposure. It is also flammable at high concentrations.

To prevent accidents and reduce the risk of worker exposure, both the ANSI A 13.1 standard (used for non-ammonia piping), along with The International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR), requires thorough and specific labeling of all pipes and ducts that contain ammonia-based refrigerants

Ammonia Pipe Maerking Requirements - IIAR Standards: All piping mains, headers and branches must identify the physical state of the ammonia-based refrigerant (either vapor or liquid), its relative pressure level and the direction of its flow. All components of the refrigeration systems, including receivers and heat exchangers, should be consistently labeled as well.

The contents of a pipe is primarily identified by the textual information on a label. The label should provide the name of the contents of the pipe in an abbreviated form, with arrows indicating the directional flow of the contents. Identificaton of additional details of the hazard such as temperature, pressure, should also be included.

Labels have to be applied on any differing segment of a piping system, including pipes that change direction or pass through walls and floors. Labels must also be placed at regular intervals on long runs of straight pipe.

Non-Ammonia Pipe Marking: ANSI A13.1 requires a specified label lettering height depending on the outside diameter of the pipe it will mark. Any insulation and lagging should be included when determining the outside diameter. Lettering heights range from 1/2 inch for pipes with diameters that range from 3/4" to 1.25", up to 3-1/2 inches for pipes over 10" in diameter . DuraLabel offers the printers and supplies to fully comply with these ANSI pipe marking requirements.

You can create your own fully compliant pipe markers using DuraLabel Continuous Vinyl and ribbons with either the DuraLabel PRO or DuraLabel PRO 300 printer. DuraLabel PRO industrial quality supplies come in the colors needed for ammonia pipe markers and is resistant to UV rays, moisture, chemicals and scratching. DuraLabel printers offer thermal transfer printing that never smudges, smears or fades.

The large format DuraLabel 7000 and DuraLabel 9000 printers can produce extra large pipe markers, that exceed the code requirements and provide greater visibility.

Promote safety and improve productivity while reducing mistakes by getting your facility outfitted with code-compliant pipe markers made by DuraLabel printers.

Use DuraLabel vinyl tapes and specialty supplies to label Medical Piping, Marine Piping, and all HVAC components.

We recommend the DuraLabel PRO
as a general purpose label printer