A spill over tank for an evaporator of a HVAC system may be configured to receive a refrigerant spilled over from the evaporator. The spill over tank may be configured to have an outlet that directs the refrigerant in the spill over tank out of the spill over tank. The refrigerant may flow through the outlet back to a compressor of the HVAC system. The spill over tank may be equipped with a refrigerant level sensor configured to measure a refrigerant level in the spill over tank. The measured refrigerant level in the spill over tank may be used to control and/or maintain a refrigerant level in the evaporator, and/or may be used to control a return refrigerant flow into the compressor of the HVAC system so as to manage an oil return to the compressor.

A condenser includes a shell having a vapor refrigerant inlet, a first tube bundle and a liquid refrigerant outlet. A second tube bundle is positioned in a subcooler component. The subcooler component has a center channel and at least two outer channels and conforms to the shell.

A deflector for a condenser. The condenser has an inlet in communication with a compressor, and a deflector for guiding a refrigerant gas flow from the compressor is arranged in the condenser and at a position close to the inlet. The deflector is provided with a deflecting structure projecting toward the inlet, and the deflecting structure is configured as impermeable to the refrigerant gas flow.

Methods and systems to manage refrigerant levels in a chiller system are provided. An evaporator of the chiller system may be configured to have a spill over port allowing oil containing refrigerant to spill over through the spill over port. The spill over port may be positioned at a place that corresponds to a desired refrigerant level in the evaporator. The spill over refrigerant may be directed into a heat exchanger that is configured to substantially vaporize refrigerant of the spill over refrigerant to a slightly superheat temperature. A method of maintaining a proper refrigerant level in the evaporator may include regulating a refrigerant flow to the evaporator so that the vaporized refrigerant of the spill over refrigerant is maintained at the slightly superheat temperature.

The invention relates to a condenser receiver adapted to receive and house a fluid used in a cold loop of an air-conditioning system, said condenser receiver comprising an outer wall and an inner wall. The inner wall defines an inner space for housing a fluid, while the outer wall is provided on its outer surface with a plurality of ribs that increase the heat exchange between the fluid contained in the inner space and the ambient air outside the condenser receiver.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vapor compression system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, a condenser disposed downstream of the compressor along the refrigerant loop, where the condenser includes a plurality of tubes disposed in a shell and a diffusion area configured to enhance thermal energy transfer within the condenser, where the diffusion area is defined by a cavity of the condenser without a tube of the plurality of tubes, and an evaporator disposed downstream of the condenser along the refrigerant loop.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vapor compression system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, and a heat exchanger disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to place the refrigerant in a heat exchange relationship with a cooling fluid. The heat exchanger includes a water box portion having a first length, a shell having a second length, a plurality of tubes disposed in the shell and configured to flow the cooling fluid, and a cooling fluid portion having a third length, where the water box portion and the cooling fluid portion are coupled to the shell, such that the first length, the second length, and the third length form a combined length of the heat exchanger that is substantially equal to a target length.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vapor compression system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, a condenser disposed downstream of the compressor along the refrigerant loop and configured to condense vapor refrigerant to liquid refrigerant, a subcooler coupled to the condenser, where the subcooler is external of a shell of the condenser, and where the subcooler is configured to receive the liquid refrigerant from the condenser and to cool the liquid refrigerant to sub cooled refrigerant, and an evaporator disposed downstream of the subcooler along the refrigerant loop and configured to evaporate the subcooled refrigerant to the vapor refrigerant.

An air conditioner and a heat exchanger therefor are provided. The heat exchanger may include a shell; an injection pipe to guide a heat source fluid to an inside of the shell; a first refrigerant tube formed with a first spiral tube; a second refrigerant tube formed with a second spiral tube having a radius larger than a radius of the first spiral tube; and a discharge pipe to which the heat source fluid heat-exchanged with a refrigerant is discharged. The first refrigerant tube and the second refrigerant tube may be connected in parallel, and the second spiral tube may have a larger pitch between turns and a smaller number of turns than the first spiral tube. The heat exchanger may provide a simple structure and a high heat-exchange performance.

Methods and systems to manage refrigerant levels in a chiller system are provided. An evaporator of the chiller system may be configured to have a spill over port allowing oil containing refrigerant to spill over through the spill over port. The spill over port may be positioned at a place that corresponds to a desired refrigerant level in the evaporator. The spill over refrigerant may be directed into a heat exchanger that is configured to substantially vaporize refrigerant of the spill over refrigerant to a slightly superheat temperature. A method of maintaining a proper refrigerant level in the evaporator may include regulating a refrigerant flow to the evaporator so that the vaporized refrigerant of the spill over refrigerant is maintained at the slightly superheat temperature.