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Evaluation of flammable volume in the case of a catastrophic leak of R-32 from a rooftop unit
- Source :
- International Journal of Refrigeration. 91:39-45
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2018.
-
Abstract
- With the effort to use alternative refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP), the majority of these alternative refrigerants are classified as slightly flammable. In this paper we report on the numerical evaluation of a catastrophic leak scenario of R-32 refrigerant from a 3-ton roof top air conditioning unit (RTU) which serves a 12.2 × 9.14 × 2.4 m room. A full rupture of a 6.35 mm (¼ inch) pipe downstream of the evaporator coil is simulated. Two separate cases with refrigerant releases of 1.81 kg and 3.62 kg charge have been studied. The two charges are released in 10.2 and 20.4 s, respectively, just after the end of a unit cooling cycle. The flammable volume inside the room existed only for about 40 s with a maximum flammable volume inside the room of 1.12% of the total room volume for the 3.62 kg charge case.
- Subjects :
- Flammable liquid
021110 strategic, defence & security studies
Leak
business.industry
020209 energy
Mechanical Engineering
Nuclear engineering
Cooling cycle
0211 other engineering and technologies
02 engineering and technology
Building and Construction
Refrigerant
chemistry.chemical_compound
Volume (thermodynamics)
chemistry
Air conditioning
0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
Environmental science
business
Roof
Global-warming potential
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 01407007
- Volume :
- 91
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Refrigeration
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........16fcb357855952c690b592bbd1c3c588