Chiller leaking refrigerant 1

[Sahkah]

Hello, In an office building , my company manages , a water cooled chiller has totally leaked ~250 kg of refrigerant (R134A)over its years of installation despite annual maintenance; what are your general thoughts of what caused such a big refrigerant loss and what would be the best approach to avoid future losses ? One more note is : from the technician site visit, to check on the chiller leakage , it was found that there is refrigerant saturated in the oil of the chiller even after isolation and as work is being conducted on the unit the refrigerant evaporates and thus refrigerant is released though not leaking ..why would that happen despite isolation and how to avoid it from happening again? please let me know.
Thanks

 

[EnergyProfessional]

electronic leak detector

 

[GT-EGR]

You need to hire someone to perform leak testing to identify the source of the leak - only after you find the location could we speculate on what would cause failure in that location.

Otherwise you’ll keep charging it and it will just keep leaking away.

 

[EnergyProfessional]

You know you can get fined/sued by the EPA for violating the clean air act? You NEED to identify and fix the leak before re-charging. Just re-charging isn't a legal option.

 

[Sahkah]

The chiller has been already decommissioned and no longer in use . My questions, as per my above post, are about the general thoughts of what caused such a release , ways of avoiding leakages/releases in chillers and, understanding how would the refrigerant get saturated in the chiller oil despite isolation ?

 

[EnergyProfessional]

Unless the chiller has a remote condenser, the refrigerant leak only could have been in the chiller itself. You don't say how much refrigerant is in the chiller total. So if the mechanic maintaining the chiller over the years didn't notice such a large loss, they didn't test the charge level and performance regularly. Otherwise they would have noticed the leak sooner. I assume this is an old chiller, so leaks happen.

The quality of our answers will depend on the quality of the question and information provided.

 

[bslam]

You can check the following links related to refrigerant leakage detection in chillers and refrigerant migration :

https://www.facilitiesnet.com/energ...rs-Performance-Challenges-and-Solutions--8262

https://patinstitute.ca/2695-2/

https://www.achrnews.com/articles/92910-refrigerant-migration-can-cause-problems

All the best

 

[Sahkah]

Thanks for your help

 

[cjw81]

Leak could be from the chiller tubes as well as any flanges or gaskets. The refrigerant is entrained in the the oil. To release it you need to pull a vacuum in the system you will see thee refrigerant boil off out of the oil