Gas liquid separator for use in a refrigeration system

Claim 1

A liquid gas separator for use in a refrigerating system employing a refrigerant and a lubricant of low solubility for the refrigerant, said separator being in communication with the discharge side of a compressor and the inlet side of the condenser, said separator comprising a cylindrical housing defining an upper swirl chamber portion and a lower liquid collector chamber portion, said cylindrical housing having an end wall portion extending across the top of saiD upper swirl chamber portion, said end wall portion having a centrally disposed opening coaxial with said cylindrical housing, a refrigerant outflow passage communicating with the upper swirl chamber portion, a lubricant flow exit passage communicating with the lower region of said housing, an entrance nozzle communicating with said upper swirl chamber portion of said cylindrical housing, said nozzle being in communication with the discharge side of said compressor and adapted to introduce an admixture of lubricant and refrigerant into said swirl chamber, the flow direction of the admixture through said nozzle being generally tangential with respect to the internal cylindrical surface of said swirl chamber, and a coalescer in the form of a pervious member arranged in general coaxial disposition with respect to said housing within said swirl chamber, said coalescer having a central collector region in communication with said refrigerant outflow passage, the lubricant introduced into said swirl chamber being centrifuged and drained under the force of gravity into said collector chamber and hence to said lubricant flow exit passage, said swirl chamber being defined in part by a cylindrical baffle concentrically disposed within said housing and surrounding said coalescer, said end wall portion having a central part which abuts said cylindrical baffle to which said cylindrical baffle is attached the axial length of said baffle and said coalescer being foreshortened a predetermined amount to avoid submerging of said coalescer in liquid collected in said collector chamber, said coalescer comprising a cylindrical wire mesh having multiple layers, a cylindrical fitting secured to the housing in said opening in said end wall portion and located within the upper end of said multiple layers of cylindrical wire mesh, said cylindrical fitting having an outflow opening coaxial with said cylindrical housing, said outflow opening receiving said refrigerant outflow passage, an end plug secured in the lower end of said multiple layers of cylindrical wire mesh, a spring situated in said wire mesh between said cylindrical fitting and said plug to prevent collapse of said wire mesh due to the pressure existing in said separator and a second coalescer screen situated in said lower liquid collector chamber portion and extending across the base of said collector chamber portion, liquified lubricant received in said lower liquid collector chamber portion being allowed to pass through said second coalescer screen prior to entering into said lubricant flow exit passage.