TYPICAL REFRIGERANT CIRCUIT
Heat always flows from hot to cold and therefore, the ”heat load” supplied to the evaporator section by water gives up its heat to the refrigerant which is at a temperature below the freezing point of water. This refrigerant now passes through the heat exchanger back to the compressor, as a low pressure vapor.
This low pressure vapor is compressed in the compressor, as it leaves the compressor at a high pressure in vapor form it enters the top of the condenser. The condenser has a rapid flow of cool air across it which removes much of the heat from the hot refrigerant vapor.
As the vapor, passing through the condenser, loses heat it condenses back to a liquid since it is still under high pressure and cooler than when it entered the condenser. The liquid refrigerant then passes through the drier/filter still under pressure and goes through the heat exchanger where further cooling takes place. As the refrigerant leaves the automatic expansion valve, the pressure has dropped, causing the refrigerant to vaporize and boil off as it picks up heat in the evaporator and since the pressure is low, the refrigerant will be cold.
AXV
HEAT
EXCHANGER
EVAPORATOR
CONDENSER | COMPRESSOR |
|
DRIER/FILTER
FIGURE 5. TYPICAL REFRIGERANT CIRCUIT
166240009 | 10 |
