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Oil return measurements in a unitary split system air conditioner using different refrigerant mixtures.

Number: pap. 2102

Author(s) : FEICHTER G. A., GROLL E. A., KURTULUS O., et al.

Summary

The aim of the study presented in this paper is an experimental investigation of the oil return characteristics of alternative drop-in refrigerants for residential air conditioning systems using R22. Due to the phase-out of HCFC refrigerants, the production of R22 will be stopped by the year 2020. In some cases, it will be necessary to replace the refrigerant R22 of already installed vapor compression systems with an alternative refrigerant. It may be necessary to change the type of oil used inside the system when retrofitting an existing R22 system with an alternative refrigerant. R22 systems typically use mineral oils and HFC replacement refrigerants use POE or PAG oils. Changing all the oil contained in a vapor compression system is an expensive process due to the required flushing and cleaning steps before refilling the new oil. Therefore, refrigerant manufacturers are searching for alternative drop-in refrigerants, which are compatible with mineral oils and which have similar working performances and properties as R22.
The quantity of the returned oil in the suction line helps to draw conclusions about the ability of the oil properly circulate back to the compressor. In this study, a unitary spilt-system air conditioner with a cooling capacity of 8.5 kW was equipped with an oil separator and an oil-measuring cylinder in the suction line. The experimental test setup was designed and built to measure the mass of oil flowing back to the compressor. Two different compositions of the alternative drop-in refrigerant blends R438 and the refrigerant R407C were tested. The weight of the oil collected in the suction line using the three different compositions are compared with the mass of the oil whilst using R22.

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Pages: 9

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Details

  • Original title: Oil return measurements in a unitary split system air conditioner using different refrigerant mixtures.
  • Record ID : 30018913
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 2016 Purdue Conferences. 16th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2016/07/11

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