Refrigeration cycle apparatus

A refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising:

• a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger which form a circulation path for a refrigerant;
• a linear compressor having a piston and having a variable-volume compression chamber;
• a linear motor for reciprocating said piston so as to circulate the refrigerant in the circulation path by the reciprocating motion of said piston;
• an inverter for generating an AC current for driving said linear motor;
• an actual circulation rate detector for detecting an actual refrigerant circulation rate indicating the volume of the refrigerant that is discharged from or sucked into said linear compressor per unit time by the reciprocating motion of said piston;
• a target circulation rate derivation unit for deriving a target refrigerant circulation rate indicating the volume of the refrigerant to be discharged from or sucked into said linear compressor per unit time, on the basis of an ambient temperature of at least one of said first heat exchanger and said second heat exchanger, and a target temperature that is set for at least one of said first heat exchanger and said second heat exchanger;
• and
• a controller for controlling a driving current supplied from said inverter to said linear motor to adjust a stroke length of said piston so as to adjust a volume of said variable-volume compression chamber, thereby decreasing a difference between the actual refrigerant circulation rate and the target refrigerant circulation rate.