Refrigeration cycle
AssigneeHitachi Air Conditioning Systems Co., Ltd.
InventorsKenji Matsumura, Susumu Nakayama
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to magnify capacity control of a refrigeration cycle for an increased efficiency and achievement of compactness, the refrigeration cycle includes a compressor, a four-way valve, a heat exchanger on a side of a heat source, a liquid receiver, a heat exchanger on a side of use, and an electronic expansion valve, all of which are connected other by pipes, and comprises a refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle and being a non-azeotropic refrigerant, a second liquid receiver for taking out a refrigerant vapor from an upper portion of the liquid receiver to condense and store the refrigerant, and a pipe connecting the second liquid receiver to the liquid receiver via a shut-off valve.
Claims5
An air conditioner using a non-azeotropic refrigerant as a circulating refrigerant, comprising:
- an outdoor unit including a compressor, a four-way valve, a heat exchanger on a side of a heat source and an electronic expansion valve;
- a plurality of indoor units;
- a liquid receiver provided between said heat exchanger on the heat source side and said electronic expansion valve, and having an upper portion storing a refrigerant vapor and a lower portion storing a liquid refrigerant;
- a second liquid receiver introducing the refrigerant vapor in said liquid receiver through a pipe so as to heat exchange with an ambient air and store as the liquid refrigerant;
- and
- a pipe connected to said liquid receiver from a lower portion of said second liquid receiver via a shut-off valve,
- wherein the air conditioner is operated by closing said shut-off valve at a time of a low load so as to store a low boiling point refrigerant in said second liquid receiver.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.