System and method for estimating quality of refrigerant at inlet of compressor in thermal system of electric vehicle

A system comprising:

• a compressor outlet temperature module configured to estimate a temperature at an outlet of a compressor in a thermal system of an electric vehicle based on an enthalpy at an inlet of the compressor, an enthalpy at the compressor outlet, and a mass flow rate of refrigerant flowing through the compressor;
• a refrigerant quality module configured to estimate a quality of refrigerant at the compressor inlet based on the estimated compressor outlet temperature and a temperature measured at the compressor outlet,
• wherein the refrigerant quality is a ratio of vapor refrigerant mass to total refrigerant mass;
• and
• an actuator control module configured to control at least one of the compressor and a heat exchanger in the thermal system based on the quality of refrigerant.

A method comprising:

• estimating a temperature at an outlet of a compressor in a thermal system of an electric vehicle;
• estimating a quality of refrigerant at an inlet of the compressor based on an enthalpy at the compressor inlet and an inlet enthalpy correction factor, wherein the refrigerant quality is a ratio of vapor refrigerant mass to total refrigerant mass;
• determining the inlet enthalpy correction factor based on the estimated compressor outlet temperature and a temperature measured at the compressor outlet;
• and
• controlling at least one of the compressor and a heat exchanger in the thermal system based on the inlet enthalpy correction factor.