Safety Rethought: Ultrasonic Technology for R290 Heat Pumps
December 2, 2024, 7 minute read
December 2, 2024, 7 minute read
This forum is the major conference of the German and even European Heat Pump industry with 400 participants, organized by the German Heat Pump Association (bwp). New trends, technical and political discussions are taking place here.
Allengra participated with an own booth to present the ALSONIC range, which are Ultrasonic Flow Sensors, especially made for Heat Pumps of different sizes. Further, Allengra presented for the first time the brand-new concept of R290 safety based on Ultrasonic Technology with a demonstration bench.
Allengra’s booth at the Heat Pump Forum with the R290 Demonstration Bench
The core idea is to detect R290 leakages and improving the gas separation in case of leakages. R290 (Propane) is highly flammable. Under all circumstances, it must be avoided that this gas enters a building and leaving the heat circuit uncontrolled through a degassing device or a manually degassed radiator.
With Allengra’s new and patented solution, the heating circuit will be checked for bubbles – before the primary heat exchanger and after. In case bubbles are detected only behind the heat exchanger, it can only be R290 which entered the heating water through a leakage inside of the heat exchanger. If there is just air in the system, the sensor before the heat exchanger would also detect bubbles. In case a leakage was detected, the heat pump should be immediately and automatically switched off and a technician be called.
The arrangement of the Ultrasonic Flowmeters with bubble detection:
One sensor is at the inlet of the heat exchanger and one at the outlet.
The alternative, based on the same technology, is to monitor the gas separation device – also with a sensor in the heat circuit before and after. In case bubbles are not only entering the gas separator, but also detected after, the pump speed should be reduced to increase the efficiency of the gas separator. If that does not have an effect, the gas separator is most likely defect, thus a technician should be called immediately to check the system.
The feedback on the new R290 Safety Concept was very positive. Heat Pump Manufacturers, Installers and Representatives of Institutes confirmed that this concept is a problem solver. Today there are no other satisfying solutions on the market.
There was a lot of interest in Allengra’s concept at the heat pump forum
