Multichannel condenser coil with refrigerant storage receiver
View Patent ↗A chiller including a condenser having a refrigerant-storage vessel in fluid communication with a multichannel heat exchanger is disclosed. The chiller further includes a compressor, an evaporator and an expansion device connected in a refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant-storage vessel provides system volume for pump down operations.
1. A system comprising:
a refrigerant loop comprising a compressor, a condenser comprising at least one multichannel heat exchanger coil, an expansion device, and an evaporator;
a vessel configured to store refrigerant;
the vessel comprising a first connection in continuous fluid communication with the multichannel heat exchanger coil via a first line and a second connection to directly and continuously receive refrigerant from a portion of the refrigerant loop in continuous fluid communication with the compressor via a second line, the first connection and the second connection being in continuous fluid communication with each other; and
the vessel, the multichannel heat exchanger coil, and the first line being sized to store all of the refrigerant in the system during a pump down operation.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vessel is configured to store vapor refrigerant during non pump down operations of an operating system.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vessel is configured to store liquid refrigerant during pump down operations.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first connection is positioned at a bottom of the vessel.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the multichannel heat exchanger coil comprises a header configured and positioned to provide for at least two refrigerant passes in the multichannel heat exchanger coil.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the multichannel heat exchanger coil is a microchannel heat exchanger coil.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the multichannel heat exchanger coil is air cooled.
8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the first connection via the first line is in fluid communication with the header of the multichannel heat exchanger coil.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the multichannel heat exchanger coil comprises an additional header comprising both a vapor line in fluid communication with the compressor and a liquid line in fluid communication with the expansion valve, and the first connection being in fluid communication with the additional header via the first line at a position intermediate the vapor line and the liquid line.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the vessel is positioned downstream of the multichannel heat exchanger coil with respect to air flow through the multichannel heat exchanger.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one multichannel heat exchanger coil comprises a plurality of multichannel heat exchanger coils.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first connection via the first line is connected to only one multichannel heat exchanger coil of the plurality of multichannel heat exchanger coils.
13. A method of operating a refrigerant circuit including a compressor, a condenser comprising a multichannel heat exchanger coil, an expansion device, and an evaporator comprising:
fluidly connecting in continuous fluid communication a vessel via a first line to the multichannel heat exchanger coil at a location intermediate between a vapor feed line for the multichannel heat exchanger and a liquid discharge line for the multichannel heat exchanger;
fluidly connecting the vessel via a second line to directly and continuously receive refrigerant from a portion of the refrigerant circuit in continuous fluid communication with the compressor;
operating the refrigerant circuit under a normal operating condition; and
containing only refrigerant vapor in the vessel during operation of the refrigerant circuit under the normal operating condition.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising fluidly connecting the vessel to a refrigerant line containing refrigerant vapor during operation of the refrigerant circuit under the normal operating condition.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising operating the refrigerant circuit during a pump down operation, and receiving and containing in the vessel refrigerant liquid from the multichannel heat exchanger during the pump down operation.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein fluidly connecting a vessel to the multichannel heat exchanger comprises connecting to the vessel at a bottom of the vessel and connecting to the multichannel heat exchanger at a return header of the multichannel heat exchanger coil.
17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising configuring the multichannel heat exchanger coil to have two passes and connecting the vessel to the multichannel heat exchanger coil between the two passes.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the vessel and multichannel heat exchanger coil are configured to store all of the refrigerant in the system during a pump down operation.
19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising cooling the multichannel heat exchanger coil with a flow of air.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising positioning the vessel downstream of the multichannel heat exchanger coil.