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US 11,859,884 B2Granted
Refrigerant bypass solution
AssigneeSchneider Electric It Corporation
InventorHongwei Yang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems, methods, and computer-readable mediums are provided for improving the efficiency of a filter-type oil separator in a cooling system including a compressor that pumps a mixture of lubricating oil and refrigerant through the filter-type oil separator. The filter type oil separator is configured to receive a first portion of the mixture from the compressor, and a bypass line is configured to bypass a second portion of the mixture around the filter-type oil separator. The bypass line ensures a sufficient amount of oil is present in the compressor.
Claims15
A system improving efficiency of a filter-type oil separator, the system comprising:
- a compressor configured to compress and pressurize a mixture of refrigerant and lubricant;
- the filter-type oil separator configured to receive a first portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant from the compressor;
- a bypass line configured to bypass a second portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant around the filter-type oil separator;
- a bypass valve configured to receive the second portion of the mixture of refrigerant and lubricant and provide a bypass path around the filter-type oil separator for the second portion of the mixture;
- and
- a controller configured to process one or more input signals, determine a speed value of the compressor based on the one or more input signals, and adjust the bypass valve based on the speed value, the controller further being configured to
- adjust the bypass valve to a first predetermined percentage of openness in response to determining the speed value exceeding a threshold,
- adjust the bypass valve to a second predetermined percentage of openness, the second predetermined percentage being more than the first predetermined percentage, in response to determining the speed value increased, and
- adjust the bypass valve to a third predetermined percentage of openness, the third predetermined percentage being less than the first predetermined percentage, in response to determining the speed value decreased.
6 more elements
A system improving efficiency of a filter-type oil separator, the system comprising:
- a compressor having a speed value and being configured to compress and pressurize a mixture of refrigerant and lubricant;
- the filter-type oil separator configured to receive a first portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant from the compressor;
- a bypass line configured to bypass a second portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant around the filter-type oil separator;
- a bypass valve configured to receive the second portion of the mixture of refrigerant and lubricant and provide a bypass path around the filter-type oil separator for the second portion of the mixture;
- and
- a controller configured to process one or more input signals, determine the speed value of the compressor based on the one or more input signals, and adjust the bypass valve based on the speed value,
- wherein the controller further is configured to determine the speed value by calculating a value of refrigerant gas flow rate at a discharge side of the compressor and determining a correspondence between compressor revolutions per second (RPS) and the calculated refrigerant gas flow rate.
4 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon sequences of computer-executable instructions to instruct a controller to:
- command a compressor to compress and pressurize a mixture of refrigerant and lubricant, the compressor being coupled to a bypass line including a bypass valve, and the compressor being coupled to a filter-type oil separator configured to receive a first portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant from the compressor;
- process one or more input signals;
- determine a speed value of the compressor based on the one or more input signals;
- adjust the bypass valve included in the bypass line based on the speed value, the bypass line being configured to bypass a second portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant around the filter-type oil separator,
- wherein adjusting the bypass valve further includes
- adjusting the bypass valve to a first predetermined percentage of openness in response to determining the speed value exceeding a threshold,
- adjusting the bypass valve to a second predetermined percentage of openness, the second predetermined percentage being more than the first predetermined percentage, in response to determining the speed value increased, and
- adjusting the bypass valve to a third predetermined percentage of openness, the third predetermined percentage being less than the first predetermined percentage, in response to determining the speed value decreased.
5 more elements
A method of improving efficiency of a filter-type oil separator in a system including a compressor, the filter-type oil separator, and a bypass line configured to bypass the filter-type oil separator, the method comprising:
- compressing and pressurizing, by the compressor, a mixture of refrigerant and lubricant;
- receiving, by the filter-type oil separator, a first portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant from the compressor;
- bypassing a second portion of the compressed mixture of refrigerant and lubricant around the filter-type oil separator with the bypass line;
- adjusting a bypass valve to a first predetermined percentage of openness in response to determining the speed value exceeding a threshold;
- adjusting the bypass valve to a second predetermined percentage of openness, the second predetermined percentage being more than the first predetermined percentage, in response to determining the speed value increased;
- and
- adjusting the bypass valve to a third predetermined percentage of openness, the third predetermined percentage being less than the first predetermined percentage, in response to determining the speed value decreased.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.