Industrial Heat Pumps

I usually observe the surroundings and watch for the color change of the trees during this time of the year.  As I was driving back from a project this last week I happened to notice something I thought was slightly ironic.  At one bend in the highway there were patches of steam over the horizon.  These are certainly more visible during this time of year with cooler ambient weather conditions.  As I drove closer to the facility the source of the steam became apparent.

(more…)

In the final entry on this series, the application of hand expansion valves (HEV) to liquid overfeed systems will be discussed.  The application of HEV’s in this type of system somewhat differs from those of the prior discussions.  When selecting HEV’s for the evaporators where liquid overfeed is being utilized the hand expansion valves take on a secondary function, which may not be obvious at first glance.

(more…)

In this entry a unique application for hand expansion valves (HEV) is discussed.  Many vessels in industrial refrigeration systems have what we call “float columns”.   These float columns usually have mechanical float switches which actuate on predetermined liquid levels within the vessel.  It is also common to find capacitance type level probes installed in the float columns to monitor liquid level in the attached vessel.

(more…)

In the previous blog entry we discussed the use of hand expansion valves (HEV) maintaining a liquid level in a vessel.  In this entry the discussion will center on the HEV being utilized as an expansion device to an evaporator being fed with liquid from a controlled-pressure receiver (CPR).

(more…)