Lubricant management for an HVACR system

A suction line heat exchanger comprising:

• a liquid side including:
• an inlet connected to a condenser of a refrigeration circuit;
• an outlet connected to an expander of the refrigeration circuit;
• and
• a shell defining an internal space;
• and
• a gas side including:
• an inlet connected to an evaporator of the refrigeration circuit;
• an inlet header connecting the inlet to a plurality of tubes, the plurality of tubes extending through the internal space from one end of the shell to an opposing end of the shell;
• a plurality of baffles within the shell, wherein each of the baffles includes a perimeter in contact with an inner circumference of the shell, a plurality of channels configured to allow at least some of the plurality of tubes to extend through said baffle, each of said channels contacting a corresponding one of the plurality of tubes, and a fluid passage, wherein the fluid passage comprises at or about 25% to at or about 35% of the area defined by the perimeter;
• and
• an outlet header connecting the plurality of tubes to an outlet,
• wherein the suction line heat exchanger is configured to increase a discharge superheat of a compressor of the refrigeration circuit such that the discharge superheat is at or about 3.3° C. or more.

A method of increasing superheat of a refrigerant, comprising:

• directing relatively hot liquid refrigerant from a condenser to a suction line heat exchanger;
• directing relatively cool gaseous refrigerant from an evaporator to the suction line heat exchanger;
• performing heat exchange between the relatively hot liquid refrigerant and the relatively cool gaseous refrigerant using the suction line heat exchanger, to increase the heat of the relatively cool gaseous refrigerant to obtain a heated gaseous refrigerant, wherein the relatively hot liquid refrigerant is directed through one or more baffles, wherein each of the baffles includes a perimeter in contact with an inner circumference of the shell, a plurality of channels configured to allow at least some of the plurality of tubes to extend through said baffle, each of said channels contacting a corresponding one of the plurality of tubes, and a fluid passage, wherein the fluid passage comprises at or about 25% to at or about 35% of the area defined by the perimeter;
• and
• directing the heated gaseous refrigerant to a suction port of the compressor,
• wherein the compressor heats and pressurizes the heated gaseous refrigerant to obtain a superheated gaseous refrigerant.