Test Results of A Screw Type Expander/. Compressor and the Implication of Phase. Separators on the Refrigeration Process

Running a refrigeration cycle at saturated liquid conditions at the evaporator inlet has a few interesting advantages in comparison to the conventional 2-phase situation. Opportunities in using novelty heat exchangers, increased cycle efficiency and significantly reduced main compressor sizes occur. Using the two rotor integrated compressor/expander idea developed by Olofsson (1993) in a refrigeration cycle theoretically offer the possibility of pure liquid evaporator inlet conditions, the device is called Phase Separator. This paper reports results from hardware tests as well as some theoretical results. To evaluate the efficiency of a Phase Separator three terms of efficiency are suggested. The test results prove that pure liquid conditions to the evaporator are obtainable with a practical Phase Separator.QC 20160607