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Research into methods of detecting refrigerant leakage and monitoring refrigerant levels

Refrigerant leakage is one of the main challenges facing the commercial refrigeration industry. There are two main issues:

Routine leak detection is rarely carried out thoroughly and frequently enough, hence leaks are not detected early enough with this method;

Refrigerant level monitoring is often unreliable and does not provide a satisfactory method of identifying that systems are leaking.

We are therefore actively involved in researching different options for leak detection and monitoring, and in evaluating systems which are already available elsewhere in the world..

This work includes:

Testing and evaluation of different methods of hand held leak detectors, including ultra sonic and ultra violet types as well as conventional detectors. We have a range of working refrigeration systems running with different refrigerants which we use to check the effectiveness of detectors;

Research into methods of monitoring refrigerant level in working systems, such as a method used by a Danish manufacturer of weighing the liquid receiver to asses whether refrigerant is being lost. In the longer term such systems will be evaluated at our facility near Tewkesbury.

In addition to the points above, we will continue to work with ACRIB on the development of a practical leak test specification to meet the requirements of the Fluorinated Gas Regulations.