Systems and methods for refrigerant leak management

A refrigerant leak management system of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit comprising:

• a sensor configured to detect a refrigerant in an interior of an air handling enclosure;
• a plurality of airflow management assemblies configured to fluidly isolate the interior of the air handling enclosure in a closed configuration, the plurality of airflow management assemblies comprising a return inlet assembly, a supply outlet assembly, and a purge exhaust outlet assembly;
• and
• a controller configured to actuate the purge exhaust outlet assembly based on detection of the refrigerant by the sensor such that the purge exhaust outlet assembly transitions from a closed position of the purge exhaust outlet assembly to an open position of the purge exhaust outlet assembly that opens the interior of the air handling enclosure to an external environment.

A method of operating a leak management system of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system comprising:

• in response to the HVAC system entering an OFF-cycle, closing a return inlet assembly and closing a supply outlet assembly of an air handling enclosure to block air from entering and exiting the air handling enclosure of the HVAC system;
• measuring a concentration of refrigerant within air of the air handling enclosure;
• and
• in response to the concentration of refrigerant being greater than a predetermined threshold, opening a purge exhaust outlet assembly and activating a supply fan disposed within the air handling enclosure to purge the air within the air handling enclosure through the purge exhaust outlet assembly and into an external environment.

A refrigerant leak management system of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit comprising:

• an air handler having a return inlet, a supply outlet, and a purge exhaust, the purge exhaust routing from an interior of the air handler to an external environment and being normally closed;
• a sensor configured to detect a refrigerant in an interior of the air handler;
• and
• a controller configured to open the purge exhaust upon detection of the refrigerant by the sensor.