REFRIGERANT MASS INSIDE AN EVAPORATOR IN A STEADY OR NONSTEADY STATE

The present study was undertaken to achieve an experimental determinat ion of the refrigerant mass inside an evaporator of a refrigerating ma chine operating under steady or non-steady conditions. The mass was me asured during the steady regime over a wide range of operating conditi ons and the mass variations were evaluated during steps of the expansi on valve. From the results of the laboratory experiments, a correlatio n of the refrigerant mass variation is proposed, taking into account t he compressor variable-speed and the vaporization temperature. An anal ysis of the results is presented and a theoretical method for predicti ng the refrigerant mass in the evaporator is proposed. (C) 1998 Elsevi er Science Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.