Advanced Refrigerants – Hazard Analysis
When ozone layer depleting refrigerants were banned they were replaced with chemicals that contributed significantly to climate change. Unfortunately, advanced refrigerants that have a lower impact on the environment are significantly more flammable than conventional refrigerants, leading to potential safety concerns if the refrigerant leaks into an enclosed space.
In a series of assignments for industry groups, we identified potentially hazardous scenarios and then conducted time-dependent computational fluid dynamics analysis of a variety of leak scenarios.
We simulated roof-top units, chillers and heat pumps in a variety of use cases. Our results were used to design field experiments in which the generation of hazardous conditions from actual leaks was tested.