Systems and methods for refrigerant leak management
AssigneeJohnson Controls Technology Company
InventorJamie Weinert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerant leak management system includes a return inlet assembly and a purge exhaust outlet assembly. The system also includes a sensor configured to detect refrigerant proximate an air handling enclosure of a HVAC unit. The system further includes a controller configured to control the system to drive air from a conditioned interior space of a building into an external environment via the purge exhaust outlet assembly when the sensor detects the refrigerant proximate the air handling enclosure by: actuating the return inlet assembly to close the return inlet assembly, actuating the purge exhaust outlet assembly to open the purge exhaust outlet assembly, and activating a reversible supply fan of the HVAC unit in a reverse direction.
Claims27
A refrigerant leak management system for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit configured to provide a conditioned interior space of a building, comprising:
- a return inlet assembly;
- a purge exhaust outlet assembly;
- a sensor configured to detect refrigerant proximate an air handling enclosure of the HVAC unit;
- and
- a controller configured to control the system to drive air from the conditioned interior space of the building into an external environment via the purge exhaust outlet assembly in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant proximate the air handling enclosure by:
- actuating the return inlet assembly to close the return inlet assembly, actuating the purge exhaust outlet assembly to open the purge exhaust outlet assembly, and activating a reversible supply fan of the HVAC unit in a reverse direction.
An air handling system of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured to manage airflow with respect to a conditioned interior space of a building, comprising:
- a return inlet having a return inlet assembly;
- a purge exhaust outlet having a purge exhaust outlet assembly;
- a sensor configured to detect refrigerant proximate an air handling enclosure;
- a reversible supply fan configured to draw air from the conditioned interior space of the building when operating in a reverse direction;
- and
- a controller configured to control the air handling system to purge the air into an external environment by operating the reversible supply fan in the reverse direction while the return inlet assembly is closed and the purge exhaust outlet assembly is open, in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant proximate the air handling enclosure.
A method of operating a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system that provides a conditioned interior space of a building, comprising:
- in response to detecting, via a sensor, refrigerant proximate an air handling enclosure of the HVAC system:
- activating a reversible supply fan of the HVAC system in a reverse direction to draw a flow of air from the conditioned interior space of the building;
- closing a return inlet assembly disposed at a return inlet of the air handling enclosure to impede the flow of air from returning to the conditioned interior space of the building;
- and
- opening a purge exhaust outlet assembly disposed at a purge exhaust outlet of the air handling enclosure to guide the flow of air to enter an external environment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.