Refrigerating device

Abstract

In order to achieve an improvement in the efficiency of a refrigerating cycle and achieve quick and precise response to changes in the environment or the operating state while using carbon dioxide as a coolant, the refrigerating cycle according to the present invention is provided with a first expander and a second expander and further with a vapor-liquid separator provided between the first and second expanders. The components are arranged such that pressure of a vapor-phase coolant at high pressure, compressed by a compressor and cooled by a radiator, is reduced to an intermediate pressure level in a vapor-liquid two-phase range by the first expander. Then the coolant in a condition of a vapor-liquid mix is separated into a vapor-phase coolant by the vapor-liquid separator, so that only the liquid-phase coolant is expanded by the second expander, so that the vapor-phase coolant is taken into the intake side of the compressor while maintaining the intermediate pressure level. Therefore, no unnecessary energy is expended for compressing the vapor-phase coolant, and as a result, efficiency of the cycle may be improved.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.