Evaporator Leak Collection Assembly for Safe CO2 Refrigerant Venting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air conditioning systems for motor vehicles using CO2 as refrigerant face challenges in safely and efficiently preventing health hazards from refrigerant leaks, as current methods are not adequately effective in preventing exposure to elevated refrigerant concentrations.
Innovation Solution
An assembly is designed to collect and remove leaked refrigerant from the evaporator of air conditioning systems, utilizing a housing part with a channel element and connection element that directs the refrigerant to an outlet channel, often a condensate drain, for safe discharge outside the vehicle, reducing structural costs and installation space while ensuring a secure and efficient assembly process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing refrigerant leak prevention methods are used, then some level of safety is provided, but the methods are not adequately effective in preventing exposure to elevated refrigerant concentrations and require rather high structural costs and valuable installation space
Solution Approach 1:
The assembly integrates the housing part, channel element, and connection element into a nested structure where the channel element is positioned within the housing part and the connection element connects to existing outlet channels. This nesting approach reduces overall structural complexity and installation space requirements while maintaining effective refrigerant capture and discharge functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection element is designed to interface with existing outlet channels in the air conditioning system housing, allowing the same structure to serve both its original function and the new refrigerant discharge function. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional dedicated structures, thereby lowering structural costs and installation space requirements.
2Productivity
If CO2 is used as refrigerant, then air conditioning system performance is improved, but health hazards from refrigerant leaks increase due to CO2 being odorless and injurious to health at certain concentrations
Solution Approach 1:
The assembly acts as an intermediary system between the refrigerant circuit and the vehicle cabin environment. By providing a dedicated discharge path through the housing part, channel element, and connection element to outlet channels, it intercepts leaked CO2 refrigerant and directs it away from the cabin, thereby mitigating the health hazards associated with odorless CO2 leaks while maintaining system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The assembly extracts leaked refrigerant from the potential contamination zone (vehicle cabin) by providing a dedicated collection and discharge pathway. The housing part surrounds the refrigerant connection and line, the channel element captures leaked refrigerant, and the connection element directs it to outlet channels, effectively removing the harmful factor (CO2) from the cabin environment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The assembly effectively captures and discharges leaked refrigerant without exposing vehicle occupants to harmful concentrations, reducing manufacturing costs and installation complexity while ensuring safety and efficiency in refrigerant management.
Implementation Method 1
the refrigerant, leaked within the housing part, can be fed into the first channel element and can be discharged into the surroundings via the connection element and the outlet channel
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly for collecting and removing leaked refrigerant, in particular from an evaporator of an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle and/or from a periphery, provided for the refrigerant, of the evaporator with a housing part for the air-tight surrounding of at least one refrigerant connection and/or at least one section of a refrigerant line, and with a connection element, whereby the attachment element has at least one first attachment opening and a second attachment opening, whereby the first connection opening is fluidically connected to the housing part by a channel element and the second connection opening can be fluidically connected to an outlet channel opening into the surroundings such that the refrigerant leaked within the housing part can be fed into the first channel element and can be discharged into the surroundings via the connection element and the outlet channel.