Heat pump for air conditioning buildings - has buffer cylinder and valves to reverse direction of flow

摘要

The heat pump has a compressor with changeover valves so that when operating on a cooling cycle refrigerant passes from the compressor through an indoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve and an indoor heat exchanger before returning to the compressor. When the heat pump is operate on a heating cycle the changeover valves reverse the direction of flow from the compressor through the components. There is a buffer cylinder between the indoor and outdoor heat exchangers to balance the flow requirements at different conditions.