CHARACTERISATION OF A LEAK OF FLAMMABLE REFRIGERANT WITHIN EQUIPMENT ENCLOSURES

摘要

The flammability of hydrocarbon refrigerants necessitates special consideration in terms of design and construction of various air-conditioning and refrigeration (AC&R) appliances in order to minimise the risk. This paper presents a numerical model developed to describe the behaviour of the HC refrigerant concentrations from releases into different types of enclosures, associated with common AC&R equipment such as refrigerated cabinets and indoor air handling units, and under different operating conditions. The model is compared against experimental results from a number of different cases, where good agreement is found in most cases. Important observations are drawn from the results to guide equipment manufacturers towards better risk assessment and designs with improved levels of safety.