Experimental study of liquid line temperature drop as a fault feature for detecting severe liquid line restrictions in residential air conditioning systems

Hu, Yifeng; Chen, Yuxuan; Yuill, David P.

doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2023.04.029

Experimental study of liquid line temperature drop as a fault feature for detecting severe liquid line restrictions in residential air conditioning systems

Journal Article · Tue May 02 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · International Journal of Refrigeration

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2023.04.029· OSTI ID:2432616

^[1]; ^[2]; Yuill, David P. ^[2]

University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Omaha, NE (United States); University of Nebraska - Lincoln
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Omaha, NE (United States)

Liquid line restrictions (LL) can occur in an air conditioning system in multiple ways, such as a clogged filter drier, kinked liquid line, etc., and impact the performance of the system. In this study, the objective is to test and refine fault diagnostic methods for LL faults. We tested the effects of four common installation faults in a laboratory - LL, improper evaporator airflow, improper refrigerant charge, and the presence of non-condensable gas in the refrigerant, singly and in combination. They were tested on a split residential heat pump and an air conditioner in cooling mode. The results are used to validate a method that uses the liquid line temperature drop caused by LL faults as a feature to detect LL faults. The sensitivity of this temperature drop to LL faults and other faults were also studied, so that an effective threshold for declaring an LL fault can be ascertained. Furthermore, the experiments are the first to show that this feature is effective in detecting LL faults even when multiple other faults are present, and that it does not cause false positives when no LL is present.

Research Organization:: University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Omaha, NE (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008689

OSTI ID:: 2432616

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2368924
OSTI ID: 2418655
OSTI ID: 2435640

Journal Information:: International Journal of Refrigeration, Journal Name: International Journal of Refrigeration Vol. 152; ISSN 0140-7007

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (12)

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Experimental study of liquid line temperature drop as a fault feature for detecting severe liquid line restrictions in residential air conditioning systems

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References (12)

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