Infrared refrigerant monitor

November 2000 Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring

Supermarkets and cold-room installations typically locate their refrigeration plant some distance from the actual display areas and storage facilities respectively. A leak detection system to alert service personnel that refrigerant is being lost somewhere in the system can be critical, if expensive replacement of both refrigerant and products is to be avoided. AFH Devers markets the Foxboro Arctic Fox refrigerant monitor which can effectively monitor the numerous points in an expansive system. With up to 32 sample points available for the standard system, plus monitoring sample locations over 200 m away, one Arctic Fox should be all that is required for even the largest supermarket or cold storage plant.

The Arctic Fox refrigerant monitor employs the latest technology in infrared detection, using a lightweight and extremely rugged optical beam. Gold-coated optics provide the greatest optical throughput possible, for a high signal-to-noise ratio. The detector in the infrared analyser never comes in contact with the sample. Instead, the gas is passed through a light chamber, and a beam of light passes through the gas. The detector therefore cannot be 'poisoned', like other detection systems, and calibration is unnecessary as the detector is not consumed by the sample.

Typically, small bore polyethylene tubing is run from a variety of points including refrigeration pits, remote headers, air return vents, to the Arctic Fox located in the machine room. For example, installing sample points in the refrigeration pits will provide an indication when a leak has occurred at an upstream junction. Using the onboard data collection and logging system of the Arctic Fox, the technician can get an idea of the severity of the leak. If the stored data indicates that concentrations have jumped up quickly, it is likely that a large release has occurred downstream from the pits.

The instrument incorporates two 4-20 mA output streams that can be linked to a facilities management system (FMS). Upon alarm, a signal will be sent to the FMS showing that a specific refrigerant has exceeded a preset alarm point.

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