Practical methods for measuring refrigerant mass distribution inside refrigeration system

The purpose of this paper is to present methods for measuring refrigerant mass distribution inside a refrigeration system conveniently and accurately. The quasi on-line measurement method (QOMM) was presented for measuring refrigerant mass inside heat exchangers. Compared with the existing liquid nitrogen method (LNM), QOMM can avoid the refrigerant waste and accelerate the measurement process. For measuring refrigerant mass inside the compressor, QOMM was used together with the oil level observation method. The liquid level method (LLM) was used to measure the refrigerant mass inside the accumulator and the receiver. In order to verify the accuracy of the measurement methods, not only the deviation of the measurement method for refrigerant in single component was analyzed, but also the prediction of the total refrigerant charge in an air conditioner was verified. The results showed that the maximal prediction deviation of the refrigerant charge in the whole refrigeration system is 1.7%.