Traçability of refrigerant leak tightness

Nowadays leak detection is widely used in various fields such as the automotive and the refrigeration industries. In France, the leak tightness of installations charged with refrigerants must be controlled periodically by refrigerant detectors, whose sensitivity thresholds are qualified according to several tests described in the European standard EN 14624. The tests described in the European standard are mainly a comparison between the detector signals and several appropriate calibrated leaks. In order to ensure the traceability of the calibrated leak flow rates, a project involving the Laboratoire National de Metrologie et d'Essais (LNE), the Centre d'Energetique et des Procedes (CEP) and the Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maitrise de l'Energie (ADEME) was carried out to develop a national standard for calibrating R-134a leaks which are used in the tests. Besides, to ensure the fidelity of the sensitivity threshold measurements, a study has been carried out to identify the potential influence parameters. This document presents the national standard and the conclusions of this study.