- Patent Title: Refrigerant level management in heat exchangers of an HVAC chiller
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Application No.: US15616656Application Date: 2017-06-07
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Publication No.: US10422559B2Publication Date: 2019-09-24
- Inventor: Jon Phillip Hartfield , Harry Kenneth Ring , Lee L. Sibik , Benjamin Elias Dingel
- Applicant: TRANE INTERNATIONAL INC.
- Applicant Address: US NC Davidson
- Assignee: TRANE INTERNATIONAL INC.
- Current Assignee: TRANE INTERNATIONAL INC.
- Current Assignee Address: US NC Davidson
- Agency: Hamre, Schumann, Mueller & Larson, P.C.
- Main IPC: F25B49/02
- IPC: F25B49/02 ; F25B39/00 ; F25B49/00 ; F25B31/00 ; F25B40/02 ; F25B39/02 ; F25B39/04

Abstract:
Methods and systems to manage refrigerant levels in a chiller system are provided. An evaporator of the chiller system may be configured to have a spill over port allowing oil containing refrigerant to spill over through the spill over port. The spill over port may be positioned at a place that corresponds to a desired refrigerant level in the evaporator. The spill over refrigerant may be directed into a heat exchanger that is configured to substantially vaporize refrigerant of the spill over refrigerant to a slightly superheat temperature. A method of maintaining a proper refrigerant level in the evaporator may include regulating a refrigerant flow to the evaporator so that the vaporized refrigerant of the spill over refrigerant is maintained at the slightly superheat temperature.
Public/Granted literature
- US20170268807A1 REFRIGERANT MANAGEMENT IN A HVAC SYSTEM Public/Granted day:2017-09-21
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