General Piping Information

Goal of Good Ref. Piping

• Provide economical refrigerant pipe sizing
  
  
• Keep pressure drops to minimum
  
  
• Ensure adequate refrigerant flow to the evaporator
  
  
• Ensure adequate oil return to the compressor
  
  
• Prevent unplanned trapping of oil in system piping
  
  
• Protects the compressor from slugs of liquid refrigerant or oil
  
  

Guide Lines for Good Piping

• Keep the layout simple
  
  
• Keep line size as small as possible
  
  
• keep the number of joints to a minimum
  
  
• Avoid unnecessary traps
  
  
• Properly support piping
  
  
• Install vibration elimination devices where required
  
  
• Use a pump down system when ever practical
  
  

Refrigerant Piping Priorities

Factors that Effect Pressure Drop

• Pipe diameter
  
  
• Pipe length
  
  
• Number of fittings
  
  
• Fluid velocity