Characterization of leakage verification procedures in refrigeration circuits applied to maritime containers

Abstract

The evolution of portable refrigeration units and the refrigerants used with them has facilitated enormous advances in autonomous refrigerated maritime shipping containers and temperature control. This has permitted the shipping of products with very strict temperature requirements. It is very important to have a correctly designed system in which the amount of fluid is calculated for a specific construction. A mass above design requirements increases the cost of the finished product. If the mass of refrigerant is below design requirements, more energy is required to maintain the target temperature and, therefore, maintenance costs increase. This paper describes a process to test for leaks in refrigeration equipment. This process can assure the tightness of refrigeration circuits against small leaks over their working lives.