A purge system for removing contamination from a chiller system includes a purge chamber including a degassing membrane, the degassing membrane dividing the purge chamber into an inlet portion and an outlet portion, the inlet portion for fluid communication with the chiller system, the degassing membrane to pass contamination from the inlet portion to the outlet portion; a valve coupled to the outlet portion of the purge chamber, the valve providing an exit for contamination from the outlet portion of the purge chamber; and a controller to open or close the valve in response to pressure in the outlet portion of the purge chamber.

A flash tank economizer includes a sensor for sensing a condition indicative of pressure in the flash tank, and when that pressure is found to equal or exceed the critical pressure of the particular refrigerant being used, a controller responsively closes a valve in the economizer vapor line to shut off the economizer. A sensor is also provided to sense the pressure at the compressor mid-stage, and if that pressure is found to exceed the pressure in the flash tank, the controller causes the flow control device to function so as to prevent the flow of refrigerant from the compressor mid-stage to the flash tank. Provision is also made for selectively draining refrigerant from the flash tank to reduce the pressure therein from a supercritical to a subcritical condition.

A system for conditioning air circulated from an interior of a building includes a refrigerant path, an air-cooled condenser in the refrigerant path, a water-cooled condenser in the refrigerant path that transfers heat from refrigerant in the refrigerant path to the building water, an evaporator in the refrigerant path, and a control system. The control system moves the system between operation of the air-cooled condenser and the water-cooled condenser based upon predetermined system conditions.

A cryocooler includes: a compressor; a cold head; a bypass valve that is connected to the compressor to bypass the cold head; and a controller that is configured to stop the compressor, open the bypass valve with a delay from the stopping of the compressor, and operate the cold head during at least a portion of a period from the stopping of the compressor to the opening of the bypass valve.

A device (100) for separation of oil particles by a coolant for air conditioning systems comprises a hollow container body (110) and an inlet (111) arranged to let enter the hollow container body (110) a coolant with oil particles, mainly in liquid phase and having a temperature Ti. The device (100) also comprises an outlet (112) located at the top wall and arranged to cause regenerated coolant in vapor phase to exit from the hollow container body (110). An heating coil (120) is also provided arranged in the hollow container body (110) and containing fluid at a temperature T.sub.2>>T.sub.1, in such a way that the coolant evaporates when it comes in contact with the heating coil (120) and the oil particles can fall towards the bottom wall. The device (100) also comprises a first oil barrier (130) between said heating unit and said outlet (112) and arranged to prevent said oil particles to splash towards said outlet (112), said first oil barrier (130) arranged at a distance L from said top wall. A second oil barrier 114 is also provided located in the hollow container body (110) at the outlet (112), said second oil barrier (114) comprising holes having a diameter of a predetermined value D configured to prevent that oil particles having diameter larger than the predetermined value D pass through the outlet (112).

A method for distributing a refrigerant charge level in a refrigerant vapor compression system includes restarting a stopped refrigerant compression device in a first mode; operating a primary expansion device independent of refrigerant heat absorption heat exchanger superheat; comparing a condition at a refrigerant reservoir to a prescribed condition; wherein when the condition is below the prescribed condition for a prescribed interval, operating the primary expansion device to control the refrigerant heat absorption heat exchanger superheat; and transitioning the refrigerant vapor compression system to a second mode.

In various implementations, frost in a vapor compression system may be controlled. A property of a fan may be determined. A determination may be made whether a frost event and/or a nonfrost event has occurred based at least partially on the determined fan property.

An air-conditioning apparatus includes a low-pressure-side pressure sensor that detects the pressure of heat-source-side refrigerant that flows into a compressor and outputs it as a first detection value and a high-pressure-side pressure sensor that detects the pressure of heat-source-side refrigerant discharged from the compressor and outputs it as a second detection value. When switching the operation mode of the apparatus, a controller determines whether the ratio of the first detection value to the second detection value is higher than a first threshold. When the ratio is higher than the threshold, the controller causes a second refrigerant flow switching device to perform a switching operation. When the ratio is less than or equal to the threshold, the controller makes an adjustment such that an opening degree of an expansion device is less than a second threshold, and then causes the second refrigerant flow switching device to perform the switching operation.

A thermal cell panel system for heating and cooling using a refrigerant includes a plurality of solar thermal cell chambers, and a piping network for a flow of the refrigerant through the plurality of solar thermal cell chambers. In addition, the system includes a compressor having a motor coupled to a variable frequency drive (VFD), where the compressor is coupled to the piping network upstream of the plurality of solar thermal cell chambers and the VFD is configured to adjust a speed of the motor in response to the pressure of the refrigerant within the plurality of solar thermal cell chambers. The piping network includes an inlet manifold coupled to the inlet of each solar thermal cell chamber, and an outlet manifold coupled to the outlet of each solar cell chamber.

An air-conditioning apparatus includes: an outdoor unit including a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger, and configured to generate cooling energy or heating energy; an indoor unit including an indoor heat exchanger, and configured to perform an air-conditioning operation with the cooling energy or the heating energy that is generated by the outdoor unit; a refrigerant pipe provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and forming a refrigerant circuit in which refrigerant circulates; and a shut-off valve provided at the refrigerant pipe, and configured to be closed when a refrigerant leak is detected. The shut-off valve includes a service port communicating with the refrigerant pipe.