Numerical investigation on effects of sub-cooling methods on performance of multi-split variable refrigerant flow systems with bypass and vapor injection cycles

摘要

The pipeline connected between outdoor units and indoor units is lengthened in the VRF systems because the VRF systems are generally used in light commercial buildings. Therefore, a sub-cooler is installed in the VRF systems to avoid flash gas caused by pressure drop and heat transfer in the liquid pipeline. Usually, the liquid refrigerant in the pipeline can be cooled by bypass and refrigerant injection techniques with an internal heat exchanger (IHX) and electric expansion valve (EEV). In this study, the performance of the VRF systems using bypass and refrigerant injection cycles are compared by numerical method. The simulation for multi-split VRF is developed with considering application of vapor injection and bypass cycle and validated with experimental data. The bypass and refrigerant injection have improvement potential for cooling capacity by 3.11% and 15.5%, respectively due to increasing enthalpy difference in evaporators. The vapor injection technique has more improvement potential of performance than bypass technique. Subcooling degree at inlet of EEV is above 10°C degree in two systems, which can avoid flash gas generation.