period four

Liquid Line

notes
liquid line
Determine Refrigerant Velocity
pipe diameter, in. (mm)
1,000

5)
(6 )

0)

7/ 8 )
2)
(5.1)

2)
8)

13 )
5)
(18

(28
(1
(1

(1

(2

(3
6(
1/4

5/8
3/8

3/4
5 /1

1 /2

/8

/8
11

42)
(
500

5/8
1
(2.5)

4)
velocity, fpm (m/s)

(5
1/8
2
200
(1.0)

100
(0.5)

50
(0.25)
R-22
1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200
(3.5) (7.0) (17.6) (35) (70) (176) (352) (703)
evaporator capacity, tons (kW)
Figure 62

The chart in Figure 62 shows the velocity of liquid R-22 inside liquid lines of
various diameters at one particular operating condition—40°F (4.4°C) saturated
suction temperature, 125°F (51.7°C) saturated condensing temperature, 12°F
(6.7°C) of superheat, 15°F (8.3°C) of subcooling, and 70°F (38.9°C) of
compressor superheat.
For the same example 20-ton (70.3-kW) system, the refrigerant velocity inside a
5/8 in. (15 mm)-diameter pipe is about 520 fpm (2.6 m/s) at this condition.
Again, a computer program can be used to calculate the velocity based on
actual conditions, but without a program, a chart like this may be useful.

liquid line
Determine Refrigerant Velocity

pipe velocity, fpm (m/s)

diameter, 20 tons
in. (mm) (70.3 kW)
1/2 (12) 850 (4.3)
5/8 (15) 525 (2.7)
3/4 (18) 350 (1.8)
7/8 (22) 250 (1.3)
1 1/8 (28) 150 (0.8)
1 3/8 (35) 100 (0.5)

Figure 63

Using the chart in Figure 62, the refrigerant velocity at maximum system
capacity—20 tons (70.3 kW), for this example—is determined for various pipe
diameters. Use of the 1/2 in. (12 mm)-diameter pipe results in a refrigerant

TRG-TRC006-EN 49