# US 12,007,149 B2 · Expansion control system on a centrifugal chiller with an integral subcooler > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,007,149 B2 - Document ID: US12007149B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/889,505 - Filed: 2022-08-17 - Published: 2023-02-23 - Granted: 2024-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2021-08-20 - Assignees: Carrier Corporation - Applicants: Carrier Corporation - Inventors: Biswajit Mitra; Hsihua Li; Macey Parrott; Prashant Patel - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12007149B2 ## CPC - F25B 41/31: Expansion valves - F25B 40/02: Subcoolers - F25B 41/20: Disposition of valves, e.g. of on-off valves or flow control valves (expansion valves F25B41/31) - F25B 41/34: with the valve member being actuated by electric means, e.g. by piezoelectric actuators - F25B 49/005: {of safety devices (F25B49/02 and F25B49/04 take precedence)} - F25B 49/02: for compression type machines, plants or systems - F25B 2400/0411: for expansion valves or capillary tubes - F25B 2600/2501: Bypass valves - F25B 2600/2513: Expansion valves - Y02B 30/70: Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating - F25B: REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract A vapor compression system including: a condenser; an evaporator; and an expansion control system on the main flowpath between the condenser and the evaporator, wherein the expansion control system further includes: one or more electronic expansion valves; and a modulated ball valve. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vapor compression system comprising: a condenser; an evaporator; and an expansion control system on the a main flowpath between the condenser and the evaporator, wherein the expansion control system further comprises: one or more electronic expansion valves; and a modulated ball valve; wherein the modulated ball valve is located in a refrigerant flow path that is in parallel with the one or more electronic expansion valves; wherein the expansion control system further comprises: an economizer along the main flowpath between the condenser and the expansion control system; a ball valve junction point fluidly connecting the expansion control system to the economizer; an evaporator junction point fluidly connecting the expansion control system to the evaporator; a ball valve line extending from the ball valve junction point to the evaporator junction point, the modulated ball valve being located in the ball valve line; and an expansion valve line extending from the ball valve junction point to the evaporator junction point, the one or more electronic expansion valves being located in the expansion valve line, wherein the ball valve junction point is configured to split the main flowpath into the expansion valve line and the ball valve line, and wherein the evaporator junction point is configured to combine the expansion valve line and the ball valve line into the main flowpath. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vapor compression system of claim 1, wherein the one or more electronic expansion valves are each configured to perform fine flow control of a refrigerant through the main flowpath, and wherein the modulated ball valve is configured to perform coarse flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vapor compression system of claim 1, wherein the one or more electronic expansion valves are configured to close and open to any position between fully open and fully closed, and wherein the modulated ball valve is configured to close and open to set defined percentage open increment positions. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vapor compression system of claim 1, further comprising: a controller to control operation of the one or more electronic expansion valves and the modulated ball valve. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The vapor compression system of claim 1, wherein the condenser further comprises a subcooler located within the condenser. ### Claim 6 A method of operating a vapor compression system, the method comprising: detecting a surge, a low load, or a low lift situation in the vapor compression system; and metering a flow of a refrigerant through a main flowpath using one or more electronic expansion valves and a modulated ball valve based on the surge, the low load, or the low lift situation, wherein the modulated ball valve and the one or more electronic expansion valves are located in an expansion control system on the main flowpath between a condenser and an evaporator of the vapor compression system; wherein the expansion control system further comprises: an economizer along the main flowpath between the condenser and the expansion control system; a ball valve junction point fluidly connecting the expansion control system to the economizer; an evaporator junction point fluidly connecting the expansion control system to the evaporator; a ball valve line extending from the ball valve junction point to the evaporator junction point, the modulated ball valve being located in the ball valve line; and an expansion valve line extending from the ball valve junction point to the evaporator junction point, the one or more electronic expansion valves being located in the expansion valve line, wherein the ball valve junction point is configured to split the main flowpath into the expansion valve line and the ball valve line, and wherein the evaporator junction point is configured to combine the expansion valve line and the ball valve line into the main flowpath. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein prior to the detecting the surge, the low load, or the low lift situation in the vapor compression system, the method further comprises: metering the flow of the refrigerant through the main flowpath using the one or more electronic expansion valves and not the modulated ball valve. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the modulated ball valve is located in a refrigerant flow path that is in parallel with the one or more electronic expansion valves. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the metering the flow of refrigerant through the main flowpath using the one or more electronic expansion valves and the modulated ball valve based on the surge, the low load, or the low lift situation further comprises: performing, using the one or more electronic expansion valves, fine flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath, and performing, using the modulated ball valve, coarse flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the performing, using the one or more electronic expansion valves, fine flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath further comprises: adjusting the one or more electronic expansion valves to any position between fully open and fully closed. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the performing, using the modulated ball valve, coarse flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath further comprises: adjusting the modulated ball valve to one or more set defined percentage open increment positions. ### Claim 12 (depends on 6) A computer program product tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising the method of claim 6. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The computer program product of claim 12, wherein prior to the detecting the surge, the low load, or the low lift situation in the vapor compression system, the operations further comprise: metering the flow of the refrigerant through the main flowpath using the one or more electronic expansion valves and not the modulated ball valve. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the metering the flow of refrigerant through the main flowpath using the one or more electronic expansion valves and the modulated ball valve based on the surge, the low load, or the low lift situation further comprises: performing, using the one or more electronic expansion valves, fine flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath, and performing, using the modulated ball valve, coarse flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the performing, using the one or more electronic expansion valves, fine flow control of the refrigerant through the main flowpath further comprises: adjusting the one or more electronic expansion valves to any position between fully open and fully closed.