In an air-conditioning apparatus, an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are connected to each other by a refrigerant pipe through which refrigerant flows. The air-conditioning apparatus includes: a refrigerant detection unit that detects a leak of the refrigerant in the indoor unit; a notification unit that makes a notification indicating occurrence of the leak of the refrigerant; a controller that controls at least the notification unit; and a remote control unit configured to operate the indoor unit. When the refrigerant detection unit detects the leak of the refrigerant, the controller controls the notification unit to make in a first mode the notification indicating the occurrence of the leak of the refrigerant, and make the notification in a second mode different from the first mode after a predetermined time period elapses from time at which the notification in the first mode is made. Thus, since the notification of the refrigerant leak is made two steps, that is, in the first mode in a first step and in the second mode in a second step, it is possible to cause a user to pay more attention to the notifications, and thus cause the user to easily notice the notification. It is therefore possible to cause the user to sufficiently know the refrigerant leak.

A load unit includes a water circuit chamber configured to accommodate at least a part of a water circuit configured to allow water to flow therethrough, a fan, an air inlet formed at a height positioned different from that of the air inlet and configured to suck indoor air therethrough, an air outlet configured to blow indoors the air sucked through the air inlet, and an air passage formed between the air inlet and the air outlet so as to be isolated from the water circuit chamber. A load-side heat exchanger is provided in the air passage.

A system for separating a soluble solution includes a first freezer configured to receive a liquid feed stream and a refrigerant stream, and discharge a concentrated solution stream, wherein the first freezer is configured to exchange heat between the liquid feed stream and the refrigerant stream through direct contact within the first freezer and freeze a portion of the liquid feed stream, a first separator external to the first freezer and configured to separate ice particles from the concentrated solution stream and recirculate the concentrated solution stream to the first freezer, and a first ice washer coupled to the first separator and configured to receive the ice particles separated from the concentrated solution stream by the first separator and wash the separated ice particles to free the ice particles from contaminants.

A refrigerant cycle apparatus, that circulates a flammable refrigerant in a refrigerant circuit, includes: a gas-side cutoff valve; a liquid-side cutoff valve, where the gas-side cutoff valve and the liquid-side cutoff valve are disposed on opposite sides of a first portion of the refrigerant circuit; a detection unit that detects refrigerant leakage from the first portion into a predetermined space; and a control unit that sets a cutoff state in the gas-side cutoff valve and the liquid-side cutoff valve when the detection unit detects the refrigerant leakage from the first portion into the predetermined space. The cutoff leakage rate at the gas-side cutoff valve is higher than the cutoff leakage rate at the liquid-side cutoff valve.

An ice maker control system includes a low side pressure transducer on a suction line and a high side pressure transducer on a discharge line. The ice maker's refrigeration system is hermetically sealed and devoid of pressure taps for servicing gauges. The ice maker can display an indication of real-time suction or discharge pressure. The ice maker can store records of suction and discharge pressure over time and display time series data for suction and discharge pressure on the display. The ice maker can cycle the condenser fan based on the discharge pressure. An additional high pressure switch can shut off the compressor independently of the controller or transducers. During a pulldown routine, the ice maker refrains from delivering water to the ice formation device until the suction pressure is below a threshold.

An air conditioner which continues driving with a deteriorated gas leakage sensor is provided. An air conditioner of the present invention includes an outdoor unit including a compressor and an indoor unit connected with the outdoor unit and uses flammable refrigerant. The air conditioner includes: a refrigerant gas sensor; and a controlling unit configured to stop the compressor at occurrence of abnormality, when the refrigerant gas sensor detects refrigerant gas while the compressor is being driven. After the compressor is stopped as the refrigerant gas sensor detects the refrigerant gas, the controlling unit does not start driving of the compressor until an operation to cancel the abnormality is performed.

An apparatus using a heat pump includes a refrigerant circuit and a heat medium circuit. The refrigerant circuit is capable of performing a first operation, in which a load-side heat exchanger is used as a condenser, and a second operation, in which the load-side heat exchanger is used as an evaporator. A main circuit of the heat medium circuit has a branching part and a joining part. An overpressure protection device and a refrigerant leakage detecting device are connected to the main circuit. The overpressure protection device is connected to a connection part located between the load-side heat exchanger and one of the branching part and the joining part, or at the load-side heat exchanger. When leakage of refrigerant is detected, the state of a refrigerant flow switching device is set to a second state, an expansion device is set to a closed state, and a compressor is operated.

A refrigerator includes a first storage chamber, a second storage chamber spatially-separated from the first storage chamber, a first refrigeration cycle system to cool the first storage chamber using a first refrigeration cycle, and a second refrigeration cycle system installed to be separated from the first refrigeration cycle system to cool the second storage chamber using a second refrigeration cycle in an independent manner from the first refrigeration cycle. The first and second storage chambers maintain first and second target temperatures, respectively. The first and second refrigeration cycle systems circulate different kinds of refrigerants to cool the first and second storage chambers, respectively.

A support system includes a display and a server. Upon acquiring first information on arrangement of a first refrigerant shut-off unit, second information on each of utilization-side units in a first utilization-side unit group, and third information on one of or both a length and an internal volume of the first connection pipe group, the server determines, based on an allowable leakage amount of the refrigerant into a space where a corresponding one or more utilization-side units is installed, whether the first, second, and third information are suitable for the design, and causes the display to display a result of the determination; or the server calculates a first refrigerant amount as a sum of an amount of the refrigerant in the first refrigerant circuit and an amount of the refrigerant, and causes the display to display the first refrigerant amount.

The invention provides a gravity heat pipe having a working fluid selected from the group consisting of HFO-1234ze(Z), HFO-1234ze(E), HFO-1336mzz(Z), HFO-1336mzz(E), HFO-1224yd(Z), HFO-1233zd(E), and a mixture thereof. The heat pipes of the invention are environmentally friendly, have good cooling performance and low manufacturing costs, and are suitable for cooling of communication base stations, servers, or data centers.