A device for use in a refrigeration or heat pump system. A device includes an outer casing which includes a longitudinal cylindrical shell and end plates arranged at both ends of the shell, and at least three units of the refrigeration or heat pump system arranged inside the same common outer casing, which units are selected from the group consisting of an evaporator, a superheater, an economizer, a condenser, a desuperheater, a sub-cooler and an oil cooler.

There are provided a heat exchange apparatus and an air conditioner in which an occurrence of uneven refrigerant distribution of a heat exchanger is reduced such that heat exchange performance improves. The heat exchange apparatus includes: a heat-transfer pipe through which a refrigerant flows; a heat exchanger in which a plurality of the heat-transfer pipes are connected to one another; a distributor that distributes the refrigerant to the plurality of heat-transfer pipes; an inflow pipe that causes the refrigerant to flow into the distributor; and a confluent pipe which is connected to an intermediate position of the inflow pipe and in which the refrigerant flowing through an inside thereof is to merge with the refrigerant flowing through an inside of the inflow pipe. A merging part between the inflow pipe and the confluent pipe is positioned in the vicinity of the distributor.

In one aspect of the invention, an apparatus for improving the efficiency of a heat exchange system having a compressor, condenser, expansion valve, evaporator and a flowing refrigerant is provided. The apparatus is a tubular device having a refrigerant entrance and a refrigerant exit and is positioned in the heat exchange system between the expansion valve and the evaporator. The device further comprises a means for removing heat from the refrigerant. According to an embodiment of the invention, the heat removal means is a cylindrical screen coated with diamonds.

The refrigeration cycle apparatus includes: liquid-side connection piping that extends from liquid-side refrigerant piping; gas-side connection piping that extends from gas-side refrigerant piping; a refrigerant storage tank that stores refrigerant, an intake side thereof being connected to the liquid-side connection piping, and a discharge side thereof being connected to the gas-side connection piping; an inlet-side electromagnetic valve that is disposed on the liquid-side connection piping, and that is opened when there is no passage of electric current; an inlet-side check valve that is disposed on the liquid-side connection piping, and that allows the refrigerant to flow only toward the refrigerant storage tank; and a valve apparatus that is disposed on the gas-side connection piping, that is opened during passage of electric current to the inlet-side electromagnetic valve, and that is delayed before being shut off after passage of electric current to the inlet-side electromagnetic valve is stopped.

A refrigerant diverter diverts inflowing refrigerant and to cause the refrigerant to flow out to a downstream side. The refrigerant diverter includes a vertically extending diverter case, and a vertically extending rod-shaped rod member disposed inside the diverter case. The diverter case has a plurality of diverting channels disposed along a circumferential direction, a diverting space arranged to guide the refrigerant to the diverting channels, and a plurality of expelling spaces that communicate with the diverting space through the diverting channels, the expelling spaces being disposed along a vertical direction. The diverting channels are configured from a plurality of holes extending in a longitudinal direction of the rod member and integrally formed in the rod member.

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.

A refrigerator includes a cabinet configured to define a low-temperature storage space and a machine room, in which a compressor is disposed; and a condenser disposed in the machine room. The condenser includes a header comprising a first header and a second header, which are spaced apart from each other, a plurality of tubes configured to connect the first header to the second header, and a heat exchange fin disposed between the tubes spaced apart from each other. The header includes a baffle configured to partition an inner space of the header so as to guide a flow direction of a refrigerant, each of the tubes includes a passage in which a hollow is defined so that the refrigerant flows, and the passage has a volume that gradually decreases along a flow path of the refrigerant.

A heat exchanger includes at least one flat tube configured to allow a refrigerant mixture inclusive of HFO1123, R32, and HFO1234yf to flow therethrough as a heat medium. The flat tube includes a plurality of flow paths for the heat medium. Each of the plurality of flow paths has a round rectangular shape in cross section, the round rectangular shape being defined by a pair of longitudinal line segments opposed to each other, a pair of lateral line segments opposed to each other, and a set of four rounded corners, each of the rounded corners being a segment of a circumference of a circle. The pair of longitudinal line segments are intersects with the pair of lateral line segments at the rounded corners. The round rectangular shape is configured to satisfy 0.005≦r/d≦0.8 where r is a radius of the circle, and d is a distance between the pair of longitudinal line segments opposed to each other.

An absorption chiller may include an absorbent circuit in which a liquid absorbent circulates and a working medium circuit in which a liquid working medium circulates. The absorbent circuit may include an absorber and a desorber. The working medium circuit may include an evaporator and a condenser. The absorption chiller may also include a low pressure membrane arrangement and a high pressure membrane arrangement each being permeable to a working medium vapour, impermeable to the liquid working medium and the liquid absorbent, and arranged between the evaporator and the absorber such that it is in contact with the working medium and the absorbent. At least one of the low pressure membrane arrangement and the high pressure membrane arrangement may include a working medium membrane and an absorbent membrane.

A refrigeration system includes a compressor connected to a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger. An expansion device is connected between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger. A ratio of a volume of the first heat exchanger to a volume of the second heat exchanger is between 0.6 and 1.8.