A Sensor for Estimating the Liquid Mass Fraction of the Refrigerant Exiting an Evaporator

Solberg, J.R.; Miller, N.R.; Hrnjak, P.S.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/11909 Copy

Description

Title

A Sensor for Estimating the Liquid Mass Fraction of the Refrigerant Exiting an Evaporator

Author(s)

• Solberg, J.R.
• Miller, N.R.
• Hrnjak, P.S.

Issue Date

2000-02

Keyword(s)

mobile air conditioning systems

Abstract

A traditional method of controlling evaporator superheat in a vapor compression air conditioning system is the thermostatic expansion valve (TXV). Such systems are often used in automotive applications. The TXV depends on superheat to adjust the valve opening. Unfortunately, any amount of superheat causes that evaporator to operate at reduced capacity due to dramatically lower heat transfer coefficients in the superheated region. In addition, oil circulation back to the compressor is impeded. The cold lubricant almost devoid of dissolved refrigerant is quite viscous and clings to the evaporator walls. A system that could control an air conditioner to operate with no superheat would either decrease the size of its existing evaporator while maintaining the same capacity, or potentially increase its capacity with its original evaporator. Also, oil circulation back to the compressor would be improved. To operate at this twophase evaporator exit condition a feedback sensor would have to quantify the quality of liquid mass fraction (when the exit stream is a mixture of droplets and superheated vapor) of the refrigerant exiting the evaporator.

Publisher

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center. College of Engineering. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center TR-161

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/11909

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Project 78

Owning Collections