ARMS Case Study

Category: Automatic Refrigerant Monitoring System

Client: NCS (Cumbria) Ltd

Background: NCS (Cumbria) Ltd aim to be a true independent control systems integration company.  They believe that having mechanical, electrical and controls design, installation, commissioning, support and after sales service under one roof allows the client to get best value.  As a company they have the in house expertise to work with any type of control system and have it integrated with their own equipment.

NCS’s vast experience & expertise within their client base gives them the scope to undertake any controls project with the emphasis on energy reduction.
NCS have worked extremely closely with one of their major retail clients, with a distinct aim to reduce their energy load and carbon footprint. As a part of this, the client has instigated the use of CO₂ as both a secondary and primary refrigerant in their retail stores, with Propane being used as the primary and CO₂ secondary gases at 2 of their flagship green stores.

The Challenge:

1. To provide continuous monitoring of selectable refrigerant gases.

2. To be able to sample 2 gases simultaneously on all channels.

3. To monitor from 16 to 32 channels.

4. Provide 2way IP network communication with a nominated refrigeration alarm and monitoring systems providers’ equipment, Resource Data Management – Data Manager System.

The Solution: a1-cbiss provided NCS with the Automatic Refrigerant Monitoring System, more commonly known as ARMS. The ARMS system helps customers comply with the refrigerant leak detection requirement of the F-gas directive and utilises multi gas infra-red sensor technology to provide wide area monitoring. In addition to these, the system features individual alarm relays per channel, a range of flexible I/O options as standard and fully configurable settings, accessed via the touch screen display.

The Result:

1. Multi point CO₂ and R404a leak detection system

2. Fully configurable system and relay output settings

3. Full integration via IP network to RDM data management system. 

The Client Says: “We are extremely pleased with the a1-cbiss Sniffer gas detection system. It is both compact and easy to install with a choice of 16, 24 & 32 sampling channels. It is extremely versatile with its ability to sample 2 different gases simultaneously with one sensor, from a vast list of refrigerant gas types, makes it unique within its competition base.

The door mounted user screen is clear and easy to configure, with step-by-step instructions to follow.

Another unique feature of the a1-cbiss Sniffer system is the ability to configure each of the 16 volt-free relays to be triggered from any single or multiple sampling channels.

But the great advantage this system has over all of its rivals is the ability to connect via a local IP network to an RDM Data Manager (widely used world-wide for monitoring and controlling refrigeration systems), giving the user/s the ability to configure it, monitor and report the complete gas detection system from both the RDM Data Manager and remotely via the internet.”

Colin Brown – Head of Controls, NCS (Cumbria) Ltd