The present disclosure generally relates refrigeration systems for temperature-controlled displays. For instance, one exemplary embodiment relates to a refrigeration system that includes a refrigeration circuit, a cooling circuit, a reclaim heat circuit, and a floor heating system. The refrigeration circuit includes a compressor driven by a brushless DC motor operable at multiple different speeds, a first heat exchanger, an expansion device, and a cooling unit in fluid communication using a first working fluid. The cooling unit is arranged to cool a temperature-controlled storage device. The cooling circuit includes a pump and a second heat exchanger in thermal communication with the first heat exchanger using a second working fluid such that the first heat exchanger is liquid-cooled by the second working fluid. The reclaim heat circuit is in fluid communication with the cooling circuit. The floor heating system is coupled to the heat reclaim circuit as a reclaim heat load.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward purge units of vapor compression systems, and methods of control thereof, that improve efficiency by selectively activating and deactivating the purge unit in response to one or more conditions to, for example, enable refrigerant-to-air ratios within the purge unit within certain industry standards while still minimizing the durations of the purge cycles. For example, in certain embodiments, these conditions may include conditions within the chiller condenser, time since last purge activation, time since last venting of non-condensables, and combinations thereof. By reducing an amount of time that the purge unit would be active without removing a substantial amount non-condensables from the vapor compression system, present embodiments reduce the power consumption of the purge unit, as well as the vapor compression system as a whole, while still being responsive to prevent or mitigate a loss of efficiency due to a substantial accumulation of non-condensables in the condenser of the vapor compression system.

A cooling system includes an ingress port to receive refrigerant in a vapor form from an evaporator, an egress port to return refrigerant in a liquid form back to the evaporator, a condenser coupled to the ingress port and the egress port, and a compressor coupled to the ingress port and the condenser. When the cooling system operates in a first mode, the condenser is configured to receive and condense the refrigerant from the vapor form into the liquid form and to return the refrigerant in the liquid form to the regress port. When the cooling system operates in a second mode, the compressor is configured to compress the refrigerant in the vapor form and to supply the compressed refrigerant to the condenser to be condensed therein.

A system includes a pressure exchanger (PX). The PX is coupled to a motor that controls an operating speed of the PX. The system further includes a first pressure gauge configured to generate first pressure data indicative of a pressure of a fluid of a condenser. A first controller is to generate a first control signal based on the first pressure data. The motor of the PX is configured to adjust the operating speed of the PX based on the first control signal. The system further includes a pump. The system further includes a fluid density sensor for generating fluid density data associated with a first output fluid of the PX. A second controller is to generate a second control signal based on at least the fluid density data. The pump is to adjust an operating speed of the pump based on the second control signal.

An adiabatic cooling system includes a condenser coil and one or more adiabatic pads positioned such that intake air for the adiabatic cooling system passes through the pads prior to contacting the condenser coil. The adiabatic cooling system includes a vibration device attached to each adiabatic pad. A controller is communicatively coupled to the vibration device for each of the adiabatic pads. The controller determines that cleaning of the adiabatic pads is needed. In response to detecting cleaning is needed, the controller causes the vibration device attached to each adiabatic pad to vibrate, thereby causing debris in the one or more adiabatic pads to become loosened and/or removed from the adiabatic pads.

A system includes a pressure exchanger (PX). The PX is coupled to a motor that controls an operating speed of the PX. The system further includes a first pressure gauge configured to generate first pressure data indicative of a pressure of a fluid of a condenser. A first controller is to generate a first control signal based on the first pressure data. The motor of the PX is configured to adjust the operating speed of the PX based on the first control signal. The system further includes a pump. The system further includes a fluid density sensor for generating fluid density data associated with a first output fluid of the PX. A second controller is to generate a second control signal based on at least the fluid density data. The pump is to adjust an operating speed of the pump based on the second control signal.

A refrigerant cycle device includes a compressor, a radiator, a first expansion valve, a second expansion valve, a first evaporator, a second evaporator, and a controller. The controller is configured to switch between a first evaporator priority control and a second evaporator priority control. During the first evaporator priority control, the controller controls a throttle opening of the second expansion valve based on at least one of a temperature of a first evaporator, a temperature of a refrigerant flowing through the first evaporator, and a temperature of an air having exchanged heat in the first evaporator. During the second evaporator priority mode, the controller controls the throttle opening based on a refrigerant state of the second evaporator. When the at least one of the temperatures is equal to or greater than a switching temperature, the second priority mode is switched to the first priority mode.

A system for controlling or optimizing the performance of a vapor compression system by modifying the actuator commands via an output interface, that realizes thermofluid property functions and their derivatives as spline functions which are represented in a coordinate system that is aligned with a fluid saturation curve. The system includes an interface configured to receive measurement data from sensors, a memory configured to store thermofluid property data and computer-executable programs including a B-spline method, and a processor for performing the computer-implemented method. The processor is configured to take as input two thermofluid property variables, and compute a coordinate transformation in which one axis of the coordinates is aligned with the liquid and vapor saturation curves. In the saturation-curve aligned coordinates, a spline function represents the thermofluid property function, with coefficients and knots stored in memory. The spline function is constructed in a manner such that derivatives of the thermofluid property function may be discontinuous across the saturation curve.

An HVAC system is disclosed, comprising: (a) a compressor, (b) a source heat exchanger for exchanging heat with a source fluid, (c) a first load heat exchanger operable for heating/cooling air in a space, (d) a second load heat exchanger for heating water, (e) first and second reversing valves, (f) first and second 3-way valves, (f) a bi-directional electronic expansion valve, (g) a first bi-directional valve, and (h) a second bi-directional valve to modulate exchange of heat in the first load heat exchanger when operating as an evaporator and to control flashing of the refrigerant entering the source heat exchanger when operating as an evaporator, (h) a source pump for circulating the source fluid through the first load heat exchanger, (i) a water pump for circulating water through the second load heat exchanger, and (j) a controller to control operation of the foregoing.

Methods and related systems for charging a refrigerant into a climate control system. In an embodiment, the method includes (a) coupling a storage tank to a refrigerant loop of the climate control system through a charging valve; (b) opening and closing the charging valve in a plurality of cycles; and (c) flowing refrigerant from the storage tank to the refrigerant loop through the charging valve when the charging valve is open, during (b). In addition, the method includes (d) determining a detected saturated temperature of the refrigerant within the refrigerant loop after each cycle of the plurality of cycles; and (e) adjusting an amount of time that the charging valve is open during each cycle of the plurality of cycles during (b) as a function of the detected saturated temperature from a previous cycle of the plurality of cycles.