A railcar backup cooling system may be added to an existing railcar (e.g., a boxcar) to provide supplemental or backup cooling to the railcar in the event that an HVAC failure or other circumstance occurs, which causes the interior temperature of the railcar to rise. The system includes a container of liquid or compressed gas mounted on the railcar, a valve controlling the flow of the liquid or gas from the container, and a controller configured to open the valve when the HVAC system fails or is otherwise unable to maintain the railcar at the desired temperature. When the valve is opened, the liquid and/or gas stored in the container may exit, expanding into a cool gas and thereby acting to cool the railcar environment.

A refrigerant metering system/method incorporating a manual expansion valve (MEV), condenser isolation valve (CIV), flow isolation valve (FIV), and evaporator isolation valve (EIV) is disclosed. The MEV is configured to replace a conventional automated expansion valve (AEV) that controls a refrigerant flow valve (RFV) that is positioned in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system between a refrigerant condenser coil (RCC) and a refrigerant evaporator coil (REC) and permits manual metering of refrigerant by the RFV from the RCC to the REC and also allows complete shutoff of refrigerant flow by the RFV from the RCC to the REC. The MEV allows rapid HVAC repair and restoration of service where a replacement AEV is not readily available. The CIV/FIV/EIV are positioned in the refrigerant flow lines to permit the AEV and/or REC to be isolated from HVAC refrigerant flow for repairs to the AEV and/or REC.

A refrigerated display case having a housing defining a temperature controlled space and a refrigeration system coupled to the housing is provided. The refrigeration system is configured to be operable to affect a temperature of the temperature controlled space. The refrigeration system includes an actuator, a controller, and a sensor. The controller is configured to continuously update a stored position of the actuator based on measurement of an electric current provided to the actuator, retrieve the stored position after a power failure, and restart control based on the stored position of the actuator. The sensor is configured to communicate with the controller.

An air-conditioning apparatus includes a refrigerant circuit including a compressor, a strainer, and an expansion valve, and a controller configured to control the expansion valve in the refrigerant circuit. In the air-conditioning apparatus, in a case where the expansion valve is closed, the controller performs control to close the expansion valve after opening the expansion valve to cause an opening port diameter of the expansion valve to be greater than a mesh diameter of the strainer.

An air conditioning system including a compressor having a motor; a condenser; an evaporator; a drive providing multiphase, AC output to the motor; a motor braking assembly electrically connected to the drive, the motor braking assembly including at least one switch and at least one braking resistor; wherein the at least one switch is held in an open state by power from the drive; wherein upon disruption of power to the motor, the at least one switch assumes a closed state shorting windings of the motor through the at least one braking resistor.

A reversible flow heat exchange system includes a heat exchanger system that includes a canister configured to receive a first fluid from a machine and a heat exchanger disposed within the canister. The reversible flow heat exchange system also includes a cooling system coupled to the heat exchanger and configured to circulate a second fluid between the heat exchanger system and the cooling system and a reversing valve coupled to the heat exchanger and configured to selectively direct a flow of the first fluid in a first direction through the canister and in a second direction through the canister that is opposite the first direction.

A heat pump is provided with a compressor; an oil separator provided on a discharge path of the compressor; an accumulator connected to the compressor via a suction path; and a bypass circuit configured to supply a gas refrigerant separated by the oil separator. The bypass circuit is connected to the suction path.

An ice maker comprising a refrigeration system, a water system, and a control system. The control system includes a controller comprising a processor and a water level sensor. The water level sensor is adapted to externally sense a capacitance corresponding to a sump water level. The controller is adapted to control the operation of the refrigeration system and the operation of the water system based upon the sump water level and to detect one or more failure modes of the water system based upon the sump water level.

A chiller system is provided and includes a compressor, a variable frequency drive (VFD) to drive the compressor at variable frequencies and a chiller controller to ascertain a chiller condition and to command the VFD to drive the compressor at one of the variable frequencies based on the chiller condition at a first sampling rate. The VFD is configured to drive the compressor at the one of the variable frequencies responsive to being commanded by the chiller controller, to ascertain the chiller condition at a second sampling rate, which is substantially higher than the first sampling rate, and to alert the chiller controller accordingly.

A refrigerant charge controller for heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) equipment includes a processing circuit configured to analyze usage data for the HVAC equipment using a machine learning model to estimate an amount of refrigerant used by the HVAC equipment, identify a refrigerant deficiency based on the amount of refrigerant, and initiate a corrective action in response to identifying the refrigerant deficiency.