Refrigerant leak detection and management based on condensation from air samples
AssigneeJohnson Controls Technology Company
InventorsNeelkanth Gupte, William F. McQuade
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A refrigerant leak detection system for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a vessel configured to receive an air sample. The refrigerant leak detection system includes a cooling device configured to cool the vessel and a liquid detection device configured to detect liquid in the vessel. The refrigerant leak detection system further includes an actuator configured to actuate a transfer mechanism to collect the air sample in the vessel.
Claims30
A refrigerant leak detection system for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, wherein the refrigerant leak detection system comprises:
- a vessel configured to receive an air sample;
- a cooling device configured to cool the vessel;
- a liquid detection device configured to detect liquid in the vessel;
- and
- an actuator configured to actuate a transfer mechanism to collect the air sample in the vessel.
A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
- a sensor that includes a vessel, a compression assembly, a cooling device, and a liquid detection device;
- and
- a controller configured to instruct the sensor to collect an air sample in the vessel from a monitored air volume of the HVAC system, instruct the compression assembly to compress the air sample to a predefined pressure threshold, instruct the cooling device to cool the air sample to a predefined temperature threshold, instruct the liquid detection device to identify whether a condensed refrigerant is present in the vessel, and instruct the HVAC system to modify operation when the condensed refrigerant is present in the vessel.
A method of operating a sensor system of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building, comprising:
- collecting an air sample in a vessel of the sensor system from a monitored air volume of the HVAC system or the building;
- compressing and cooling the air sample within the vessel;
- and
- determining whether any condensed refrigerant is present in the vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.