Refrigeration system with evaporative subcooling

摘要

A refrigeration system including a compressor, condenser and evaporator utilizes an evaporative subcooler downstream of the condenser for subcooling the refrigerant for increased system efficiency. The strategic placement of the subcooler for cooling in the liquid zone allows the operating pressure and temperature of the refrigeration system to be reduced and the refrigerant in the system to provide the greatest cooling effect in the evaporator. As an additional feature, a counterflow heat exchanger is provided in the liquid zone adjacent the subcooler in order to provide additional subcooling and also provide for warming of the cooling water used for evaporative cooling. The subcooler can be readily used as a retrofit in an existing system and is particularly adapted for increasing efficiency in high capacity use situations, such as in the food industry. Preferably, condensate water is used for cooling in the evaporative subcooler, but tap water is used for makeup cooling water. The water is pumped by a cone pump and delivered by a slinger integral with the cone pump to the coils. An intercepter panel adjacent the coils provides a metered overflow of cooling water in order to provide dilution of any minerals from the makeup tap water in order to avoid build-up of mineral deposits.