AirScan IRF9

Refrigerant Specific Detection Instead of a General Gas Reading

A refrigerant leak is expensive twice over. You lose the gas, and you lose the plant while someone finds the source. Detection that only tells you gas is present doesn’t solve that.

The AirScan IRF9 uses infrared absorption tuned to the gas it’s configured for. It responds to that gas and largely ignores the rest. In a plant room with several systems, that’s the difference between knowing which circuit failed and checking all of them.

Response is fast, too. The IRF9 reaches T90 in 10 seconds with full scale calibration gas at 0.75 litres per minute.

One Platform for Refrigerants, Ammonia and Carbon Dioxide

The same sensor platform covers three quite different jobs: refrigerant monitoring in machinery rooms, ammonia monitoring in industrial refrigeration, and carbon dioxide monitoring in beverage plants, cellars and secondary refrigeration circuits.

Refrigerant ranges are 0 to 500 ppm, 0 to 1,000 ppm and 0 to 3,000 ppm. Ammonia ranges are 0 to 2% and 0 to 4%. Carbon dioxide ranges are 0 to 1% and 0 to 3%.

For a site running ammonia in the engine room and CO2 on a secondary loop, that means one device type, one set of spares and one training session.

No Pumps, No Filters, No Sample Lines

Sample draw systems pull air from several points through tubing to a central analyser. Points are read in sequence, so there’s always a gap between a leak starting and that point being checked.

The IRF9 is a true diffusion sensor. Gas reaches the sensor through the air, and each installed point is monitored continuously. There are no moving parts, no pumps to seize and no filters to replace.

That lowers the running cost of a multi point installation. It also removes the tubing runs that need proving after any plant change.

Built for Cold, Wet and Washdown Conditions

Refrigeration plant is a hard place for electronics. It’s cold, often wet, and washdown is routine in food areas.

Honeywell offers the IRF9 in three temperature builds. Standard covers -30°C to +60°C. ATMOS extends that to -40°C. Superheat reaches -50°C. All three handle 0 to 100% relative humidity, including condensing conditions.

An internal reference channel compensates for dust, source degradation, humidity and temperature changes, food odours and chemical cleaners. That stops a sensor in a cold store drifting into nuisance alarms as conditions change around it.

The enclosure is 16 gauge painted steel or stainless steel, UL 508 listed and CSA certified for use with industrial control equipment. The stainless steel option is the one to choose for food and beverage areas.

SensorCheck Confirms the Sensor Is Working

A gas detector that has quietly failed is worse than no detector, because the plant believes it’s protected.

SensorCheck runs an internal microprocessor check of the sensor’s electrical viability on a 24 hour cycle. If the check fails, the sensor sends a 0.5 mA signal that a Manning gas monitor or PLC reads as a fault. An internal light also shows if a sensor has dried out or been disconnected.

So a failed sensor announces itself, instead of waiting to be found at the next service.

Works With Your Existing Manning Readout

The IRF9 outputs a linear 4-20 mA signal, proportional to gas concentration, into a load of up to 500 ohms. It works with any Honeywell Analytics Manning readout or alarm unit.

For sites already running Manning panels, that means adding or replacing detection points without touching the control layer. Power is 24 VDC regulated, at 1.2 A maximum. Use three conductor stranded shielded cable with a drain wire.

Australian Compliance Context

In Australia, machinery room requirements for refrigerating systems sit under AS/NZS 5149.3:2016, which covers the installation site, including detection and mechanical ventilation. The Australian and New Zealand Refrigerant Handling Code of Practice backs up the point that detectors should be refrigerant specific and placed where a leak will collect.

Refrigerant specific infrared detection is what the IRF9 is built for. Alarm thresholds, detector placement and ventilation interlocks depend on the refrigerant class, charge size and room volume, so set them against the standard for your installation. Our Technical Consultants can help work through it.

Where It’s Used

Cold stores and blast freezers, supermarket and produce refrigeration, breweries, wineries and beverage plants, ice rinks, chiller and machinery plant rooms, gas bottling plants, rack houses and product coolers, chemical process cooling, and data centre and hospital chiller plant.