Patent Application
20250003614
The present disclosure relates generally to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and methods of their use, and more specifically to refrigerant leak detection system and method.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are used to regulate environmental conditions within an enclosed space. Typically, HVAC systems include an evaporator coil and a condenser coil. A blower of the HVAC system pulls warm air from the enclosed space and pushes the air across the evaporator coil to cool the air. A refrigerant may leak from a component of the HVAC system. It is challenging to detect refrigerant leakage.
The system described in the present application provides several practical applications and technical advantages that overcome the current technical problems described herein. The following disclosure is particularly integrated into a practical application of improving the detection of refrigerant leakage within a refrigeration system.
In general, the refrigerant leak detection system improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of a refrigeration system. Within the refrigeration system, refrigerant leakage may occur at any location and any component. For example, the refrigerant may leak from a component of the refrigeration system due to corrosion, loose joints, loose physical connections, loose screws, and loose junctions, among other reasons. In current approaches, to detect refrigerant leakage from a component of a refrigeration system, a sensor is placed at a location within the refrigeration system, where the sensor is configured to detect the refrigerant when the refrigerant comes in contact with the sensor or within a detection range of the sensor. However, these approaches suffer from several drawbacks. For example, if a sensor is far away from the location where the refrigerant leakage has occurred, it will take a long time for the refrigerant to reach the sensor. This leads to the leakage not being detected in a timely manner and therefore not being addressed or remedied. In one example, the refrigerant may leak from a component that is at one corner of the refrigeration system and the sensor is at the opposite corner of the refrigeration system. In such cases, the refrigerant may accumulate until it reaches the sensor so the sensor can detect the refrigerant accumulation as a result of leakage. This approach leads to a long detection time. In some cases, the refrigerant is mildly flammable or fully flammable, such as propane. Thus, the long delay in detecting the flammable refrigerant is dangerous and may lead to the refrigeration system catching flames if the accumulated refrigerant is not dispersed out of the refrigeration system 100 by a blower. One potential solution to address the slow detection of refrigerant leakage may be to use multiple sensors at different locations within the refrigeration system. However, this potential solution leads to an excessive number of sensors which incurs additional costs and is not feasible to implement in large refrigeration systems, where maybe tens of sensors may be needed to disperse at different locations within the refrigeration system.
This disclosure contemplates an unconventional refrigerant leak detection system and method that actively detect refrigerant leakage throughout the refrigeration system as opposed to the current techniques where the system waits until the refrigerant passively reaches the sensor. In the disclosed system, a set of tubes are positioned within the interior of the refrigeration system. Each tube has holes on its surface to allow airflow to the interior of the tube. The fan may be located at the edge of a tube. The sensor is located downstream of the fan. When the fan is switched on, it pulls the air from the inside of the tubes toward the sensor. The air from the inside of the tubes may include sampled air from the holes on the surface of the tubes. If there is a refrigerant leakage, air that is mixed with refrigerant particles is pulled into a hole in the tube. This causes the sampled air (the mixture of the refrigerant particles and air) to be pulled toward the sensor. Therefore, the sensor can detect refrigerant leakage faster than conventional methods.
In this manner, the refrigerant leak detection system improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system by detecting the leakage faster than the conventional techniques, reducing the response time in detecting the leakage and reducing the number of sensors required to detect leakage throughout the refrigeration system. For example, because the tubes of the tubing system run though out the refrigeration system and draw air from different locations within the refrigeration system, there is no need to deploy multiple sensors within the refrigeration system.
Furthermore, in case water or other liquid droplets (as the result of defrost) accumulate within the refrigeration system (e.g., as the result of defrost), the droplets will be dispersed or spread out inside the tubes and will not reach the sensor. Thus, the sensor is not damaged by the droplets. Thus, in this manner, the refrigerant leak detection system improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system by reducing the amount of water or other liquid droplets that are formed after defrost operation, where the droplets can reach the sensor and degrade the sensor.
Accordingly, the disclosed system provides a practical application of improving the refrigerant leak detection by 1) reducing the refrigerant detection time and, therefore, the response time irrespective of the location of the leakage and the distance of the location of the leakage to the sensor compared to the current detection techniques; 2) reducing the number of sensor requirements for the refrigerant leak detection systems, especially in large refrigeration systems; 3) reducing the degradation to the sensors that occur due to water or other droplets that are typically carried to the sensors after defrost operations; and 4) initiating mitigation plans to address and remedy the refrigerant leakage faster than the current techniques, where the mitigation plans include switching on the blower of the refrigeration system, communicating an alert message that indicates the refrigerant leakage is detected, among others.
In certain embodiments, a refrigeration system comprises a tubing system, a sensor, a fan, and a controller. The tubing system comprises one or more tubes. The one or more tubes is located adjacent to one or more components of the refrigeration system. The sensor circuitry is configured to detect refrigerant. The fan is located downstream of the one or more tubes. The fan is configured to pull sampled air through the tubing system and direct the sampled air toward the sensor circuitry, wherein the fan is further located upstream of the sensor circuitry. The controller is operably coupled with the sensor circuitry and configured to receive, from the sensor circuitry, a signal that indicates that the sampled air comprises a mixture of air and refrigerant particles. The controller is further configured to determine that there is refrigerant leakage from at least one of the one or more components and trigger a mitigation plan associated with the refrigerant leakage in response to receiving the signal.
Certain embodiments of this disclosure may include some, all, or none of these advantages. These advantages and other features will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.
For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts.
As described above, previous technologies fail to provide an efficient, secure, and reliable solution for refrigerant leak detection, for example, in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Embodiments of the present disclosure and its advantages may be understood by referring to
The HVAC system 100 includes a working-fluid conduit subsystem 102, a condensing unit 104, an expansion valve 114, a cooling unit 116, a thermostat 134, and a controller 138. The working fluid conduit subsystem 102 facilitates the movement of a working fluid (e.g., a refrigerant) through a cooling cycle such that the working fluid flows as illustrated by the dashed arrows in
The condensing unit 104 includes a compressor 106, a condenser 108, and a fan 110. The compressor 106 is coupled to the working-fluid conduit subsystem 102 and compresses (i.e., increases the pressure of) the working fluid. The compressor 106 of condensing unit 104 may be a variable speed or multi-stage compressor. A variable speed compressor is generally configured to operate at different speeds to increase the pressure of the working fluid to keep the working fluid moving along the working-fluid conduit subsystem 102. In the variable speed compressor configuration, the speed of compressor 106 can be modified to adjust the cooling capacity of the HVAC system 100. Meanwhile, a multi-stage compressor may include multiple compressors, each configured to operate at a constant speed to increase the pressure of the working fluid to keep the working fluid moving along the working-fluid conduit subsystem 102. In the multi-stage compressor configuration, one or more compressors can be turned on or off to adjust the cooling capacity of the HVAC system 100.
The compressor 106 is in signal communication with the controller 138 using a wired or wireless connection. The controller 138 provides commands or signals to control the operation of the compressor 106. For example, the controller 138 may operate the compressor 106 in different modes corresponding to load conditions (e.g., the amount of cooling or heating required by the HVAC system 100). As described in greater detail with respect to
The condenser 108 is generally located downstream of the compressor 106 and is configured to remove heat from the working fluid. The fan 110 is configured to move air 112 across the condenser 108. For example, the fan 110 may be configured to blow outside air through the condenser 108 to help cool the working fluid flowing therethrough. The fan 110 may be in signal communication with the controller 138 using a wired or wireless connection such that the controller 138 provides commands or signals to control the operation of the fan 110. The fan 110 may be a motor-driven component. The controller 138 may provide a signal to a motor-drive circuit which powers a motor associated with the fan 110. The cooled working fluid from the condenser 108 flows toward an expansion valve 114.
The expansion valve 114 is coupled to the working-fluid conduit subsystem 102 downstream of the condenser 108 and is configured to remove pressure from the working fluid. In this way, the working fluid is delivered to the cooling unit 116 and receives heat from airflow 118 to produce a conditioned airflow 120 that is delivered by a duct subsystem 122 to the conditioned space. In general, the expansion valve 114 may be a valve such as an expansion valve or a flow control valve (e.g., a thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) valve) or any other suitable valve for removing pressure from the working fluid while, optionally, providing control of the rate of flow of the working fluid. The expansion valve 114 may be in communication with the controller 138 (e.g., via wired and/or wireless communication) to receive control signals for opening and/or closing associated valves.
The cooling unit 116 is generally any heat exchanger configured to provide heat transfer between air flowing through the cooling unit 116 (i.e., contacting an outer surface of one or more evaporator coils associated with the cooling unit 116) and working fluid passing through the interior of the cooling unit 116. The cooling unit 116 is fluidically connected to the compressor 106, such that working fluid generally flows from the cooling unit 116 to the compressor 106.
A portion of the HVAC system 100 is configured to move air 118 across the cooling unit 116 and out of the duct sub-system 122 as conditioned air 120. Return air 124, which may be air returning from the building, fresh air from outside, or some combination, is pulled into a return duct 126. A suction side of the blower 128 pulls the return air 124 through the duct 126. The blower 128 discharges airflow 118 into a duct 130 from where the airflow 118 crosses the cooling unit 116 or heating elements (not shown) to produce the conditioned airflow 120. The blower 128 is any mechanism for providing a flow of air through the HVAC system 100. For example, the blower 128 may be a constant-speed or variable-speed circulation blower or fan. Examples of a variable-speed blower include, but are not limited to, belt-drive blowers controlled by inverters, direct-drive blowers with electronic commuted motors (ECM), or any other suitable types of blowers.
The blower 128 is in signal communication with the controller 138 using any suitable type of wired or wireless connection. The controller 138 is configured to provide commands or signals to the blower 128 to control its operation. The blower 128 may be a motor-driven component. The controller 138 may provide a signal to a motor-drive circuit which powers a motor associated with the blower 128.
The HVAC system 100 generally includes one or more sensors 132a,b in signal communication with the controller 138. The sensors 132a,b may include any suitable type of sensor for measuring air temperature as well as other properties of a conditioned space (e.g., a room or building). The sensors 132a,b may be positioned anywhere within the conditioned space, the HVAC system 100, and/or the surrounding environment. For example, as shown in the illustrative example of
The HVAC system 100 includes one or more thermostats 134, for example, located within the conditioned space (e.g., a room or building). The thermostat 134 is generally in signal communication with the controller 138 using any suitable type of wired or wireless communications. The thermostat 134 may be a single-stage thermostat, a multi-stage thermostat, or any suitable type of thermostat as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. The thermostat 134 is configured to allow a user to input a desired temperature via a temperature setpoint 136 for a designated space or zone such as a room in the conditioned space. The controller 138 may use information from the thermostat 134 such as the temperature setpoint 136 for controlling the compressor 106, the fan 110, and/or the blower 128.
As described above, in certain embodiments, connections between various components of the HVAC system 100 are wired. For example, conventional cable and contacts may be used to couple the controller 138 to the various components of the HVAC system 100, including, the compressor 106, the fan 110, the expansion valve 114, the blower 128, sensor(s) 132, and thermostat 134. In some embodiments, a wireless connection is employed to provide at least some of the connections between components of the HVAC system 100. In some embodiments, a data bus couples various components of the HVAC system 100 together such that data is communicated therebetween. In a typical embodiment, the data bus may include, for example, any combination of hardware, software embedded in a computer readable medium, or encoded logic incorporated in hardware or otherwise stored (e.g., firmware) to couple components of HVAC system 100 to each other. As an example and not by way of limitation, the data bus may include an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCI-X) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or any other suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. In various embodiments, the data bus may include any number, type, or configuration of data buses, where appropriate. In certain embodiments, one or more data buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple the controller 138 to other components of the HVAC system 100.
In general, the refrigerant leak detection system 200 improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system 100 (e.g., any of conduit subsystem 102, condensing unit 104, expansion valve 114, cooling unit 116, thermostat 134, etc.). In one example, the refrigerant leak detection system 200 improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system 100 by detecting the leakage faster than the conventional techniques and reducing the response time in detecting the leakage. In another example, the refrigerant leak detection system 200 improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system 100 by reducing the number of sensors required to detect leakage throughout the refrigeration system 100. In another example, the refrigerant leak detection system 200 improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system 100 by reducing the amount of water or other liquid droplets that form after defrost operation, where the droplets can reach the sensor and degrade the sensor.
Within the refrigeration system 100, refrigerant leakage may occur at any location and any component. For example, refrigerant may leak from a component of the refrigeration system 100 due to corrosion, loose joints, loose physical connections, loose screws, and loose junctions, among other reasons. In current approaches, to detect refrigerant leakage from a component of a refrigeration system 100, a sensor is placed at a location within the refrigeration system 100, where the sensor is configured to detect the refrigerant when the refrigerant comes in contact with the sensor or within a detection range of the sensor. However, these approaches suffer from several drawbacks. For example, if a sensor is far away from the location where the refrigerant leakage has occurred, it will take a long time for the refrigerant to reach the sensor. This leads to the leakage not being detected in a timely manner and therefore not being addressed or remedied. In one example, the refrigerant may leak from a component that is at one corner of the refrigeration system 100, and the sensor is at the opposite corner of the refrigeration system 100. In such cases, the refrigerant may accumulate until it reaches the sensor so the sensor can detect the refrigerant accumulation as a result of leakage. This approach leads to a long detection time. In some cases, the refrigerant is at least partially flammable or fully flammable, such as propane. Thus, the long delay in detecting the flammable refrigerant is dangerous and may lead to the refrigeration system catching flames if the accumulated refrigerant is not dispersed out of the refrigeration system 100 by the blower 128 (see
This disclosure contemplates an unconventional refrigerant leak detection system 200 and method that actively detects refrigerant leakage throughout the refrigeration system 100 as opposed to the current techniques where the system waits until the refrigerant passively reaches the sensor. In the disclosed system 200, a set of tubes 212 is positioned within the interior of the refrigeration system 100. Each tube 212 has holes on its surface to allow airflow to the interior of the tube 212. The fan 220 may be located at the end, within, outside, or at the edge of a tube 212. The sensor 230 is located downstream of the fan 220. When the fan 220 is switched on, it pulls the air from the inside of the tubes 212 toward the sensor 230. The air from the inside of the tubes 212 may include sampled air from the holes on the surface of the tubes 212. If there is a refrigerant leakage, air that is mixed with refrigerant particles is pulled into a hole on the tube 212 next to the leakage in response to the air pulling force from the fan 220. This causes that the sampled air (the mixture of the refrigerant particles and air) to be pulled toward the sensor 230. Therefore, the sensor 230 can detect the refrigerant leakage faster than conventional methods.
In this manner, the refrigerant leak detection system 200 improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system 100 by detecting the leakage faster than the conventional techniques, reducing the response time in detecting the leakage, and reducing the number of sensors required to detect leakage throughout the refrigeration system 100. For example, because the tubes 212 of the tubing system 210 run throughout the refrigeration system 100 and draw air from different locations within the refrigeration system 100, there is no need to deploy multiple sensors 230 within the refrigeration system 100.
Furthermore, in case water or other liquid droplets (as the result of defrost) accumulate within the refrigeration system 100 (e.g., as the result of defrost), the droplets will be dispersed or spread out inside the tubes 212 and will not reach the sensor 230. Thus, the sensor 230 is not damaged by the droplets. Thus, in this manner, the refrigerant leak detection system 200 improves the detection of refrigerant leakage from a component of the refrigeration system 100 by reducing the amount of water or other liquid droplets that are formed after defrost operation, where the droplets can reach the sensor and degrade the sensor.
Accordingly, the disclosed system 200 provides a practical application of improving the refrigerant leak detection by 1) reducing the refrigerant detection time and, therefore, the response time irrespective of the location of the leakage and the distance of the location of the leakage to the sensor compared to the current detection techniques; 2) reducing the number of sensor requirements for the refrigerant leak detection systems, especially in large refrigeration systems 100; 3) reducing the degradation to the sensors that occur due to water or other droplets that are typically carried to the sensors after defrost operations; and 4) initiating mitigation plans to address and remedy the refrigerant leakage faster than the current techniques, where the mitigation plans include switching on the blower of the refrigeration system, communicating an alert message that indicates the refrigerant leakage is detected, among others.
The tubing system 210 comprises a set of tubes 212 that are positioned adjacent to different components of a refrigeration system 100. As can be seen in
A tube 212 may be connected to another tube 212 from at least one place. For example, a first tube 212 may be connected to an adjacent tube 212 from one end or from a location along the length of the first tube 212. In this way, the tubes 212 may form interconnected tubes 212 where air can flow through the tubes 212. A connection between two tubes 212 may be in any suitable configuration. In the example of
In some embodiments, the tubes 212 may be formed by a metal alloy, such as steel alloy, copper alloy, aluminum alloy, and the like. In some embodiments, the tubes 212 may be formed by a plastic alloy, such as Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC), Polyethylene (PE), and the like. In some embodiments, the tubes 212 may be coupled together by welding, adhesive, joint covers, and the like. In some embodiments, the tubing system 210 may be formed as a single unified mesh of tubes 212, for example, by molding the tubes 212 in a casting iron frame process. The tube 212 may have any suitable shape. For example, the tube 212 may be a cylindrical tube with a half-inch radios. Each tube 212 may have a hollow interior to allow airflow through the tube 212. In some embodiments, each tube 212 may include holes on its surface to allow airflow between exterior and interior of the tube 212. Referring to
Referring back to
Fan 220 is generally any electronic and/or mechanical device that is configured to move air and create airflow, for example, when propellers of the fan 220 rotate. For example, the fan 220 may comprise rotating propellers or impellers that pull air and propel the air in a specific direction. In the example of
Referring to
Referring back to
Sensor 230 may be a sensor circuitry that is configured to detect refrigerant. For example, the sensor 230 may include a circuit board comprising electronic devices and is configured to detect refrigerant particles in the air and monitor the presence of refrigerant particles (e.g., refrigerant gases) in the air. In some examples, the sensor 230 may be a gas sensor configured to detect refrigerant particles in the air. In some examples, the sensor 230 may include a sensing element, such as transistors that when exposed to at least a threshold concentration of refrigerant particles in the air (e.g., threshold number of refrigerant particles per unit space volume 254) may detect the presence of the refrigerant particles. The sensor 230 may detect the refrigerant leak from the refrigerant particles in the air when more than a threshold number of refrigerant particles per unit space volume 254 (e.g., more than 50 particles per cubic inch, 40 particles per cubic inch, etc.) are present within the detection range of the sensor 230. The detection range of the sensor 230 may be five inches, ten inches, twenty inches, and the like.
When the fan 220 draws in sampled air from the holes in the tubes 212, the sampled air travel through the tubes 212 and toward the fan 220. The sensor 230 is placed downstream of the fan 220. Therefore, the sampled air is flown toward the sensor 230. If there is a refrigerant leak at a component of the refrigeration system 100, the refrigerant particles may be pulled into an adjacent hole on the tube 212 next to the refrigerant leak. In response, the sampled air from the hole may include refrigerant particles (and/or refrigerant) and air. The sampled air is drawn toward the fan 220 and the sensor 230. When the sampled air comes in within the detection range of the sensor 230 and include at least threshold number of refrigerant particles per unit space volume 254, the sensor 230 may detect the refrigerant leakage.
The controller 240 may correspond to the controller 138 described in
The processor 242 includes one or more processors operably coupled to the memory 246 and I/O interface 244. The processor 242 is any electronic circuitry including, but not limited to, state machines, one or more central processing unit (CPU) chips, logic units, cores (e.g. a multi-core processor), field-programmable gate array (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or digital signal processors (DSPs) that communicatively couples to memory 246 and controls the operation of refrigeration system 100. The processor 242 may be a programmable logic device, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or any suitable combination of the preceding. The processor 242 is communicatively coupled to and in signal communication with the memory 246. The one or more processors are configured to process data and may be implemented in hardware or software. For example, the processor 242 may be 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit or of any other suitable architecture. The processor 242 may include an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) for performing arithmetic and logic operations, processor registers that supply operands to the ALU and store the results of ALU operations, and a control unit that fetches instructions from memory 246 and executes them by directing the coordinated operations of the ALU, registers, and other components. The processor 242 may include other hardware and software that operates to process information, control the refrigeration system 100, and perform any of the functions described herein (e.g., with respect to
The I/O interface 244 is configured to communicate data and signals with other devices. For example, the I/O interface 244 may be configured to communicate electrical signals with components of the refrigeration system 100 including the sensor 230, among other components. The I/O interface 244 may be configured to communicate with other devices and systems. The I/O interface 244 may provide and/or receive, for example, compressor speed signals, compressor on/off signals, temperature signals, pressure signals, temperature setpoints, environmental conditions, and an operating mode status for the refrigeration system 100 and send electrical signals 250a-b to the components of the refrigeration system 100 and send alert signal 252 to administrators, technicians, or other users. The I/O interface 244 may include ports or terminals for establishing signal communications between the controller 240 and other devices. The I/O interface 244 may be configured to enable wired and/or wireless communications.
The memory 246 includes one or more disks, tape drives, or solid-state drives, and may be used as an over-flow data storage device, to store programs when such programs are selected for execution, and to store instructions and data that are read during program execution. The memory 246 may be volatile or non-volatile and may include ROM, RAM, ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and static random-access memory (SRAM). The memory 246 is operable (e.g., or configured) to store information used by the controller 240 and/or any other logic and/or instructions for performing the function described in this disclosure. For example, the memory 246 may store instructions 248 for performing the functions of the controller 240 described in this disclosure. For example, when the instructions 248 are executed by the processor 242, the instructions 248 cause the processor 242 to perform one or more operations of the controller 240 described herein. The memory 246 may further store signals 250a-b, alert signal 252, threshold refrigerant particles per unit space volume 254, mitigation plans 256, and signals 258. These components are described further below in conjunction with the refrigerant leak detection operational flow.
The operational flow for detecting refrigerant leakage may begin when the fan 220 is switched on. For example, the controller 240 may detect that a blower (blower 128 in
When there is a refrigerant leakage at a component of the refrigeration system 100, the refrigerant and/or refrigerant particles may be pulled inside the holes adjacent to the refrigerant leakage and form a sampled air that comprises a mixture of air and refrigerant particles. The fan 220 pulls the sampled air through the tubing system 210 and direct the sampled air toward the sensor 230. The sensor 230 may detect the refrigerant particles in the sampled air when the sampled air includes at least the threshold number of refrigerant particles per unit space volume 254. In response, the sensor 230 may detect that the presence of the refrigerant and refrigerant leakage. The sensor 230 may communicate a signal 258 that indicates that the sampled air comprises a mixture of air and refrigerant particles to the controller 240. The signal 258 may also indicate that the sampled air includes at least the threshold number of refrigerant particles per unit space volume 254.
In response to receiving the signal 258, the controller 240 may determine that there is refrigerant leakage from at least one component of the refrigeration system 100. In response, the controller 240 may trigger the mitigation plan 256 associated with the refrigerant leakage. In some embodiments, the mitigation plan 256 may include switching on the blower 128 (see
At operation 802, the controller 240 receives a signal 258 from the sensor 230. The controller 240 may be communicatively coupled with the sensor 230 by wires or wirelessly. At operation 804, the controller 240 determines whether the signal 258 indicates that sampled air comprises a mixture of air and refrigerant particles. For example, the sampled air may the air pulled from the holes of the tubes 212 of the tubing system 210. If the controller 240 determines that the signal 258 indicates that sampled air comprises a mixture of air and refrigerant particles, method 800 proceeds to operation 806. Otherwise, method 800 returns to operation 802 to continue monitoring input from the sensor 230.
At operation 806, the controller 240 determines that there is refrigerant leakage from at least one component of the refrigeration system 100. For example, if the sampled air includes at least the threshold number of refrigerant particles per unit space volume 254, the controller 240 determines that there is refrigerant leakage from at least one component of the refrigeration system 100. At operation 808, the controller 240 triggers a mitigation plan 256 associated with the refrigerant leakage, similar to that described in
While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated with another system or certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.
In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled or communicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicating through some interface, device, or intermediate component whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein.
To aid the Patent Office, and any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants note that they do not intend any of the appended claims to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) as it exists on the date of filing hereof unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.
