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All the refrigeration systems are designed to run without moisture and non-condensable gases; else it may not work as designed and is likely to fail prematurely. The presence of moisture in the air conditioning system may lead to the formation of acidic sludge. It may cause restrictions on various places like expansion valves, evaporator coils, reducing the overall cooling effect. In case of a hermetic compressor, it may cause deterioration of the insulation winding, leading to a short circuit and compressor motor burnout. Non-condensable gases are just air that can enter during refrigerant charging, repair, or maintenance. These gases take up space in the condenser and limit the amount of liquid refrigerant leading to reduced cooling efficiency. Evacuation is carried out by using a vacuum pump and a recovery bottle, ones the system evacuates. We need to wait for about 20-25 min to check the pressure gauge is holding the negative pressure (vacuum) as shown in the image. This process may ensure that there are no leakages in the system as chances of air or moisture could enter via pipe cracks or leaky gaskets or joints while performing evacuation procedures. In the above image, we can see two devices fitted one is an analog pressure gauge showing the final negative reading, and another one is a digital vacuum gauge showing 500 microns as final reading, connected to the same line to ensure the system is 100% evacuated. 2. Liquid refrigerant chargingLiquid refrigerants are normally added to the liquid line following proper conditions. If any heating method is used to inject vapour refrigerant into the suction line, 100% vapour must enter the compressor. Liquid refrigerant is incompressible and can cause severe damage to any compressor. 3. Refrigerant Gas chargingAlways charge the vapor refrigerant from the point where the system pressure is lower than the pressure in the charging cylinder. If we try to charge from the discharge side of the compressor, then instead of refrigerant going from the charging cylinder to the system, it may start reversing, filling the charging cylinder itself. Remember that high pressure flows towards the lower side. Only during refrigeration system evacuation or when the system is insufficient of refrigerant, the refrigerant can be inserted into both the high and low-pressure sides of the HVAC unit. Mostly large charging cylinder has two valves. The red one is connected to the dip tube and is for liquid charging. The Blue one is connected from the top with no dip tube and is for gas charging. In both, the conditions cylinder is kept in an upright position while charging. If the refrigerant charging cylinder has only one valve, then we don’t have a dip tube, and in this case, It’s necessary to invert the cylinder for liquid charging. 4. What is Copper Plating process in a refrigerating system?When moisture is present in the system, it combines with the refrigerant to form an acidic solution. This acidic solution dissolves copper tubings and extracts copper from copper-based alloys like brass or bronze present in different parts of an air conditioning system, mainly pipings. This copper gets deposited into the compressor bearings and suction/discharge valves as a copper plating which may lead to refrigerant system leaks, long-running refrigeration plant, drop in the overall cooling efficiency of the refrigeration system, chocking of filter/drier, contamination of refrigerant, and oil. Continuing with our vapor charging process, the charging cylinder can be weighed before charging by using a weighing scale. Case 1: Refrigerant gas charging in ac | air conditionerConsidering that we have are very low in refrigerant and need to replenish whole of the system with a fresh charge.
CASE 2: Air Conditioning system: Low refrigerant chargeLow refrigerant charge or charging refrigerant without carrying out an evacuation process may cause the refrigerant to leak from the system into the environment. So it’s better to find out the cause of low refrigerant, as many refrigerants are falling into the category of ozone layer depletion and global warming potential. HFC refrigerant contains chlorine which reacts with ozone (O3) to convert it into oxygen (O2) hence leads to depletion of the ozone layer. Major HFC refrigerants:
The ozone layer protects life on earth by absorbing Ultra Violet rays from the sun; U.V rays are responsible for skin cancer, genetic damage, and immune suppression in humans. HFC refrigerants has a high global warming potential which can lead to increased sea levels, rising temperature, and damage to habitats. Now, coming back to charging up an HVAC system running short of refrigerant.
5. Liquid refrigerant charging procedure for an air conditioner, window a.c (HVAC system)
6. Liquid charging on large commercial plants:Liquid charging is on a liquid line, and it must get vaporized before it reaches the compressor suction. There is always a risk of liquid refrigerant entering compressor suction which can cause severe damage to the compressor as a liquid is non-compressible. To avoid liquid going into the compressor, we usually charge before the thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) or metering device, which ensures the degree of superheat gets achieved (i.e., liquid converted to 100% vapour) before reaching compressor suction. For large commercial refrigeration, an HVAC plant or industrial plant is provided with a large receiver tank attached to the refrigeration plant if provided to collect all the liquid refrigerant. The receiver tank has a gauge glass to see the amount of refrigerant during operation and stop conditions. Gauge glass helps to give an idea not to overcharge the refrigerant while filling. The procedure for a smaller quantity refrigerant charge in large refrigerating plants is performed by the pump down method. Pump Down means collecting refrigerant temporarily inside the receiver
For small HVAC systems like split air conditioners, window a.c we do not have a refrigerant gauge glass for a small-sized receiver to check the refrigerant level. |