It now flows into the outdoor coil, (known as the condenser). Again, as the name suggests, the refrigerant condenses here. As it condenses, it gives up heat to the outside air, which is blown across it by a fan.
The condenser removes heat from the hot refrigerant vapor gas vapor until it condenses into a saturated liquid state, a.k.a. condensation. After condensing, the refrigerant is a high-pressure, low-temperature liquid, at which point it's routed to the loop's expansion device.
Condenser: The condenser removes heat given off during the liquefication of vaporized refrigerant. Heat is given off as the temperature drops to condensation temperature. Then, more heat (specifically the latent heat of condensation) is released as the refrigerant liquefies.
The evaporator works the opposite of the condenser, here refrigerant liquid is converted to gas, absorbing heat from the air in the compartment. When the liquid refrigerant reaches the evaporator its pressure has been reduced, dissipating its heat content and making it much cooler than the fan air flowing around it.
If the liquid refrigerant doesn't do direct damage to the valve structures, it will do indirect damage to the internal drive components of the compressor when it dilutes the crankcase's oil and degrades its lubricity.
In reciprocating compressors, when a large volume of liquid appears inside the cylinder, and the piston cannot expel it through the discharge valve during the short duration when it is open, it leads to excessive pressure buildup inside the cylinder.
There are two methods of removing refrigerant from a system. The first is to pump all available liquid into an approved refrigerant cylinder using the refrigeration system containing the refrigerant. The second is to use refrigerant recovery equipment commercially manufactured for refrigerant recovery.
Compressor
After the refrigerant is boiled to a vapor in the evaporator, it is sent through the suction line to the compressor. Since refrigerant comes out of the evaporator as a superheated vapor, it will enter the compressor as a superheated vapor. The compressor's job is to increase the pressure of the refrigerant.
As its name implies, refrigerant in the evaporator "evaporates". Upon entering the evaporator, the liquid refrigerant's temperature is between 40° and 50°F; and without changing its temperature; it absorbs heat as it changes state from a liquid to a vapor.
When the refrigerant leaves the condenser, it is a warm gas in a vapor state. During the expansion phase, the vaporized refrigerant pressure is reduced and it becomes a liquid.
Principles of Refrigeration
For this reason, all air conditioners use the same cycle of compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation in a closed circuit. The same refrigerant is used to move the heat from one area, to cool this area, and to expel this heat in another area.
However, a condenser does three things: desuperheating, condensing (changing state), and subcooling. Desuperheating occurs early on in the condenser, at the top. Refrigerant enters the condenser as a highly superheated vapor.
The heat of compression raises the temperature of the refrigerant vapor causing it to be a high pressure superheated vapor. As this refrigerant moves into the condenser (2), the condenser rejects the heat in the refrigerant, causing it to change state and condense into a high pressure, high temp liquid.
Before the compressor, the refrigerant is a gas at low pressure. Because of the compressor, the gas becomes high pressure, gets heated and flows towards the condenser. 2 At the condenser, the high temperature, high pressure gas releases its heat to the outdoor air and becomes subcooled high pressure liquid.
Three important things happen to the refrigerant in the condenser: The hot gas from the compressor is desuperheated. The refrigerant is condensed from a vapor to a liquid. The liquid refrigerant is subcooled.
The removal of the refrigerant from the condenser outlet typically happens when the compressor is inoperative. This is inflicted when the compressor, which is the device responsible for moving the refrigerant through the cooling cycle, has malfunctioned or stopped working, causing the cooling cycle to cease.
The refrigerant enters the condenser as a gas and passes through the condenser coil which condenses the gas to a vapor and then to liquid form and releases heat into the outside air.
Pressure Drop – Any pressure drop in the suction line due to size, length, or fittings results in lower refrigerant density and higher compression ratio at the compressor without a corresponding decrease in evaporator temperature.
As refrigerant travels through the evaporator, it absorbs heat from the air. As it absorbs heat, it vaporizes. If the system operates according to design, the refrigerant will be 100% vapor as it nears the exit of the evaporator. Before leaving the evaporator, the vapor continues absorbing heat, becoming superheated.
In the condenser, the hot gaseous refrigerant releases heat to the surroundings, causing it to condense into a high-pressure liquid. From the condenser, the high-pressure liquid refrigerant then flows to the expansion valve.
Refrigerant enters the condenser as high pressure, high temperature vapor. It cools as it the coils come in contact with outside air, cooling into a liquid. So in the condenser, there is both vapor and liquid. In the metering device, refrigerant is fully liquid as it changes from high to low pressure liquid.
The evaporator functions by allowing the refrigerant to evaporate and expand in a controlled environment. As the liquid refrigerant enters the evaporator, it encounters low pressure, which causes it to vaporize and absorb heat from the surrounding air or medium that needs cooling.
Refrigerant migration occurs as a result of a difference in vapor pressure between the oil in the crankcase of the compressor and the refrigerant vapor in another part of the system.
Liquid recovery is performed the same way as stan- dard vapor recovery. The only difference is that you will connect to the high side of the system. Recovering liquid is ideal for recovering large amounts of refrigerant like refrigerant transfer or if the system you are servicing will allow you to recover liquid.
The Clean Air Act prohibits the knowing release of most types of refrigerant during appliance disposal. Partners in EPA's RAD program commit to collecting used refrigerated appliances and implementing best practices for the recycling/disposal of these units that go beyond federal laws.