Surge control subcooling circuit
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorAndrew Zug
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The disclosure describes a system that includes an evaporator, an accumulator downstream of the evaporator, a centrifugal compressor downstream of the accumulator, a first heat exchanger stage downstream of the centrifugal compressor, and a second heat exchanger stage downstream of the first heat exchanger stage. The evaporator is configured to cool a conditioned air stream using a refrigerant. The accumulator is configured to store excess refrigerant. The centrifugal compressor is configured to compress the refrigerant. The first heat exchanger stage is configured to cool the refrigerant using environmental air. The second heat exchanger stage is configured to cool the refrigerant from the first heat exchanger stage using a portion of the excess refrigerant from the accumulator.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- an evaporator configured to cool a pressurized air stream using a refrigerant;
- an accumulator downstream of the evaporator and configured to store excess refrigerant;
- a centrifugal compressor downstream of the accumulator and configured to compress the refrigerant;
- a first heat exchanger stage downstream of the centrifugal compressor and configured to cool the refrigerant using environmental air;
- and
- a second heat exchanger stage downstream of the first heat exchanger stage, wherein the second heat exchanger stage is configured to:
- receive the refrigerant directly from the first heat exchanger stage;
- and
- cool the refrigerant from the first heat exchanger stage using a portion of the excess refrigerant from the accumulator.
A subcooling system for controlling surge in a vapor cycle system, comprising:
- an accumulator configured to:
- receive a refrigerant from an evaporator, wherein the refrigerant comprises a vapor fraction of the refrigerant and a liquid fraction of the refrigerant;
- separate the liquid fraction of the refrigerant from the vapor fraction of the refrigerant;
- and
- discharge the vapor fraction of the refrigerant to a centrifugal compressor;
- a condenser configured to receive the refrigerant from the centrifugal compressor;
- and
- a subcooler configured to:
- receive the liquid fraction of the refrigerant from the accumulator;
- receive the refrigerant directly from the condenser;
- evaporate at least a portion of the liquid fraction of the refrigerant from the accumulator by cooling the refrigerant from the condenser;
- and
- discharge the evaporated refrigerant to the centrifugal compressor.
A method for cooling a pressurized air stream, comprising:
- cooling, by a main circuit of a vapor cycle system, the pressurized air stream using a refrigerant, wherein the vapor cycle system comprises an evaporator, a centrifugal compressor, a condenser, and an expansion device;
- and
- diverting, by a subcooling circuit of the vapor cycle system, a liquid fraction of the refrigerant from the evaporator through a subcooler downstream of the condenser to evaporate the liquid fraction of the refrigerant, wherein diverting the liquid fraction comprises:
- receiving, by an accumulator of the subcooling circuit, the refrigerant from the evaporator cooling the pressurized air stream;
- separating, by the accumulator, the liquid fraction of the refrigerant from a vapor fraction of the refrigerant from the evaporator, and
- discharging, by the accumulator, the vapor fraction of the refrigerant from the evaporator to the centrifugal compressor and the liquid fraction of the refrigerant to the subcooler of the subcooling circuit;
- receiving, by the subcooler, the liquid fraction of the refrigerant from the accumulator;
- receiving, by the subcooler, the refrigerant from the condenser;
- evaporating, by the subcooler, at least a portion of the liquid fraction of the refrigerant from the accumulator by cooling the refrigerant from the condenser;
- and
- discharging, by the subcooler, the evaporated refrigerant to the centrifugal compressor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.