Inficon will be presenting its new multi-gas sniffer leak detector at Chillventa next month.
Chillventa will be held in Nuremberg from 8 to 10 October, 2024, where the Inficon Ecotec 4000 will be on display.
The enhanced device replaces its successful predecessor Ecotec E3000.
The new Ecotec 4000 is the most sensitive multi-gas sniffer leak detector on the market, the company said.
It detects up to four different refrigerant gases simultaneously, identifies leaks down to a size of 0.05 g R600a per year, and is suitable for demanding production environments – such as end-of-line tests on fully filled refrigeration and air conditioning systems, refrigerators, heat exchangers, or heat pumps.
Two other highlights at the Inficon booth are a fully automated robotic leak testing system with intelligent 3D image recognition and the new sniffing line SL3000EX, suitable for use in ATEX Zone 2 – making it ideal for natural, flammable refrigerant gases.
Ecotec 4000
While the predecessor of the Ecotec 4000 was designed for a low gas flow of 160 sccm, the new device can also operate with a medium and even a high gas flow of 3000 sccm.
Its inherently high sensitivity enables the Ecotec 4000 to reliably test against the industry-standard rejection leak rate of 0.3 g refrigerant/year even at high gas flow.
Another advantage of the high gas flow is that it also enables robotic and fully automated sniffer leak detection.
For this purpose, Inficon has equipped the Ecotec 4000 with a side connection for the sniffing line, which can be rotated by 180 degrees at any time – as integration into a robotic testing system requires all connections and interfaces to be oriented towards the back.
Eliminate CO2 Interference
The new device can detect up to four gases simultaneously, selectively identifying each. This makes the Ecotec 4000 ideal for mixed production lines where multiple refrigerants, such as R600a and R290, are used. At the same time, the Ecotec 4000 features an advanced IGS mode (Interfering Gas Suppression). This means that interfering gases from insulating foams, such as blowing agents like cyclopentane and isopentane, do not affect the accurate detection of the refrigerant gas – be it R600a or R290.
Additionally, the Ecotec 4000 uses an innovative gas modulation technique, where a specially designed sniffer handle with an integrated valve is employed.
This valve alternates between different states multiple times per second to determine the background gas concentration. The device’s software can then effectively filter out interference signals caused by high background concentrations of refrigerant gases at the test setup.
This is a significant advantage when using CO2 as a refrigerant, as any CO2 clouds are recognized as such by the signal evaluation algorithms and no longer cause false leak alarms.
3D Image Recognition
Inficon will also present a robotic leak testing system where intelligent 3D image recognition guides the sniffing tip automatically to all connection and weld points to be tested.
This test, which takes place after assembly but before refrigerant filling, uses the XL3000flex leak detector, for instance, which operates with either helium or hydrogen – specifically forming gas. Commercially available forming gas is a non-flammable mixture of 5 per cent hydrogen and 95 per cent nitrogen. Alternatively, Inficon uses the Sentrac Strix hydrogen leak detector in this system, which also uses forming gas as the test gas.
Inficon is showcasing the particularly compact refrigerant leak detector HLD6000 for the first time in conjunction with a CO2 test leak and a new calibration adapter – expanding the application range of the HLD6000.