An oil separator includes a separation container. The separation container has a side surface portion to which an inlet pipe is attached. The separation container has an upper surface portion to which an outlet pipe is attached. An oil reservoir is provided in a lower portion of the separation container. The separation container has a lower surface portion to which an oil return pipe is attached. The separation container has an inner wall surface provided with a liquid passage section. The liquid passage section is provided with a groove. The groove is disposed to extend in a direction of gravity toward the oil reservoir. The groove is formed to be gradually increased in depth from an upper portion of the groove toward a lower portion thereof.

An oil separator is provided. The oil separator includes a housing providing an oil separation space therein. An inlet introducing oil/gas mixture into the oil separation space is provided within an upper portion of the housing. An outlet discharging oil is provided within the lower portion of the housing. A gas discharge conduit is connected to the oil separation space. A portion of a surface exposed in the oil separation space is provided with a nanorod layer.

An oil separator includes a capturing member inside a main body container, which includes a first capturing member portion arranged on a side closer to an inflow pipe and a second capturing member portion being arranged on a side closer to an outflow pipe and having a porosity smaller than that of the first capturing member portion. Therefore, a driving force is generated by the capturing member having the different porosities. Through the driving force, a force of gravity, and a capillary phenomenon, oil inside the main body container is transported to an oil return pipe to prevent re-scattering of the oil, thereby being capable of suppressing reduction in oil separation efficiency. At the same time, oil return efficiency to the compressor is improved.

An economizer includes a separation wheel, a motor, and a liquid storage portion. The separation wheel is arranged and configured to separate refrigerant into gas refrigerant and liquid refrigerant. The separation wheel is attached to a shaft rotatable about a rotation axis. The motor is arranged and configured to rotate the shaft in order to rotate the separation wheel. The liquid storage portion is arranged and configured to store the liquid refrigerant. The economizer is adapted to be used in a chiller system including a compressor, an evaporator and a condenser.

Provided are a separator with improved oil separation efficiency, and a refrigeration cycle apparatus including the separator. The separator includes an inflow pipe portion, an oil storage portion, an oil return pipe portion, and an outflow pipe portion. The inflow pipe portion includes a swirling portion that defines a flow direction of refrigerant so as to swirl the refrigerant. The oil storage portion is connected to the inflow pipe portion. The oil return pipe portion is connected to a vertically lower side of the oil storage portion. The outflow pipe portion includes an opening end that faces the swirling portion. The outflow pipe portion extends from a region that faces the swirling portion to the outside of the oil storage portion. The opening end is configured such that the refrigerant discharged from the swirling portion can directly flow thereinto.

An unconventional oil separator includes a vertical design. Generally, a refrigerant enters the vertical oil separator and spins downwards. The oil separator includes plates within the oil separator that either maintain the spin of the refrigerant or reverse the spin of the refrigerant, which causes oil in the refrigerant to separate from the refrigerant. A vertical outlet allows refrigerant that spins towards the bottom of the oil separator to travel back towards the top and out of the oil separator. Separated oil is collected at the bottom of the oil separator.

A bubble separator used in a fluid circuit for an automobile and that separates bubbles in a refrigerant may include a swirl flow formation part extending in a substantially horizontal direction, and including an internal space having a columnar shape. The bubble separator may also include a flow inlet disposed at one end of the swirl flow formation part, and being open so as to cause the refrigerant to flow in the flow inlet in a tangential direction of an inner peripheral surface of the swirl flow formation part and so as to form a swirl flow on the inner peripheral surface. The bubble separator may also include a flow outlet disposed at another end of the swirl flow formation part, and being open so as to cause the refrigerant to flow out of the flow outlet in a tangential direction from the inner peripheral surface. The bubble separator may further include a gas discharge port to discharge gas separated from the refrigerant in the swirl flow formation part outside of the swirl flow formation part, and at least one liquid drop nozzle provided on a wall surface of the swirl flow formation part.

A fluid treatment device includes a throttling part; a three-way pipe detachably connected to the throttling part; a drainage part detachably connected to the three-way pipe, with one end of the drainage part being provided with an expansion portion, and the throttling part and the drainage part being coaxial; and a separation part, the expansion portion extending into a space enclosed by side walls of the separation part, a fluid flowing in from a first fluid inlet and a fluid flowing in from a second fluid inlet flowing into the separation part through the expansion portion, and the separation part separating the fluids into a gas phase fluid and a liquid phase fluid. The fluid treatment device integrates the throttling part, the three-way pipe, the drainage part and the separation part.

A modular arrangement for use in vapor-compression refrigeration system includes an evaporator, oil separator, condenser and oil cooler, arranged inside an outer casing with a longitudinal cylindrical shell and the end plates in both ends of the shell. The shell includes three separate parts, separated from each other by arranging first and second partition walls between the parts. The first part includes the evaporator, the second part includes the oil separator and the third part includes the oil cooler and the condenser. The third part including a combination of the oil cooler and the condenser is constructed by arranging one plate pack into the third part, which is divided two functional plate pack parts by an intermediate plate arranged between the heat exchange plates of the plate pack. The first plate pack part functions as oil cooler and the second plate pack part functions as the condenser.

A linear compressor includes: a shell including an intake pipe configured to suction a refrigerant, a piston configured to reciprocate in an axial direction and including a piston body, and an intake muffler coupled to the piston and configured to flow the refrigerant into the piston body and reduce a noise from the refrigerant. The intake muffler includes a first muffler disposed inside the piston body, a second muffler disposed at a rear side of the first muffler and in fluid communication with the first muffler, and a third muffler including a third muffler body having a cylindrical shape with an empty interior and configured to accommodate a portion of a rear end of the first muffler and the second muffler in the third muffler body. The third muffler body includes a streamlined portion having diameters reduced toward a rear side of the third muffler body in the axial direction.