Methods of freezeout prevention for very low temperature mixed refrigerant systems
AssigneeHelix Technology Corporation
InventorsKevin Flynn, Mikhail Boiarski, Oleg Podtchereniaev
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Refrigerant freezeout is prevented by the use of a controlled bypass flow that causes a warning of the lowest temperature refrigerant in a refrigeration system that achieves very low temperatures by using a mixture of refrigerants comprising at least two refrigerants with boiling points that differ by at least 50° C. This control capability enables reliable operation of the very low temperature system.
Claims11
A refrigeration system containing a freeze out prevention circuit where the freeze out prevention circuit comprises a bypass loop connected either
- a) from the refrigeration process at a point where the warm refrigerant enters the refrigeration process and at a point prior to the exit of the refrigerant from the cold portion of the refrigeration process to the coldest low pressure refrigerant in the system and wherein the freezing point of the warm refrigerant is no higher than the freezing point of the refrigerant at the cold end of the refrigeration process where the freeze out is being prevented;
- b) from the refrigeration process at a point where the high pressure refrigerant is at its coldest temperature and to a point where the low pressure refrigerant is exiting the coldest heat exchanger in the refrigeration process;
- c) from the room temperature high-pressure refrigerant line and to the compressor suction line.
The process of claim 8 where the fluid flow is controlled automatically.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.