Refrigerators and air conditioners

Providing two-stage, oil-sealed rotary-vane vacuum pumps for refrigerators and air conditioners.

Vacuum pumps for refrigerators and air conditioners

Refrigerators and air conditioners are typically manufactured using a circulating belt-system wherein the cooling circuits are evacuated and subsequently charged with refrigerant gas. Each cooling circuit is typically connected to an individual vacuum pump. The target vacuum level is typically <0.1 mbar.

Leybold provides two-stage and oil-sealed rotary-vane vacuum pumps for refrigerators and air conditioners. We have a variety of products available, from the well-established ‘work horse’, the TRIVAC B to the TRIVAC T and the NEO D, which includes exhaust filtration. Depending on the size of the cooling circle, some installations also use a Roots blower, RUVAC WAU pump range is an established solution.

Multitude of processes need vacuum in refrigerators and air conditioners:

Helium leak detection
Refrigerant charging
Cooling circuit leak detection
Repairing

Helium leak detection

Helium leak detectors for compressor

Compressors of air conditioning are leak detected before they are assembled into coolant circuit. For such applications, Leybold offers a competitive range of Phoenix helium leak detectors.

Refrigerant charging

The compressor and coolant circuit needs to be evacuated before refrigerant charging. If the vacuum is not up to the mark, it will cause high vibration and noise in the running compressor or poor refrigerating efficiency. After evacuation, the refrigerant is charged into the circuit. The evacuation is typically done with 2-stages rotary vane pumps such as Leybold’s TRIVAC pumps or NEO D.

Cooling circuit leak detection

After charging, the equipment is transferred into a leak detection system. The chamber is evacuated to a pressure typically <0.1 mbar and a leak detector is used to sniff for leaking refrigerants. If the circuit is within the specification, it is transferred to the assembly line, if not, it goes to the repair station. The evacuation of the leak detection chamber must be done in seconds. Depending on chamber dimensions, Leybold can size a suitable vacuum system.

Repairing

Leaky circuits must be discharged before they can be repaired. As most modern refrigerants are flammable (and as the circuit is leaky and air could leak in), often explosion protected pumps are used for this. Leybold specially developed ATEX Cat. 1 (i) certified version of the TRIVAC B pumps for this application.

Helium leak detectors for compressor

Compressors of air conditioning are leak detected before they are assembled into coolant circuit. For such applications, Leybold offers a competitive range of Phoenix helium leak detectors.