Two contractors hurt while repairing chiller unit

June 4, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Two contractors working to reinsulate a chiller unit at the University of Florida were burned Monday afternoon when a ball valve nearby broke sending a blast of refrigerant onto them.

The workers were transported to UF Health Shands Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. One of the men was treated and released from the hospital today after an overnight stay. The other remains hospitalized.

The chiller unit located in the Rabon Chilled Water Plant on Mowry Road was offline for repairs when the accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Chilled water is used to provide cooling for air conditioning systems in UF campus buildings. About 2,500 pounds of refrigerant, commonly referred to as Freon, and a gallon of oil were released in about 35 minutes.

“This was a very unfortunate accident and we wish them a swift recovery,” said Curtis Reynolds, UF vice president for business affairs. “We are working to understand why this valve failed and what we can do to prevent such a thing from occurring in the future.”

The Rabon Chilled Water Plant was initially evacuated and only re-entered once the refrigerant had dissipated and the area was tested with a hand-held leak detector. The oil was cleaned up.

UF’s Division of Environmental Health & Safety is investigating the incident. The chemical release falls below the threshold requiring reporting to the Environmental Protection Agency.