Scribd
Upload
182 views3 pages

Understanding Hot Gas Bypass

Hot gas bypass introduces some high pressure, high temperature gas from the discharge side of the system into the evaporator coil. This provides an artificial load and prevents freezing of the coil when the load on the evaporator varies and is lower than design conditions. Standard hot gas bypass uses an external valve piped from the discharge line to inject gas downstream of the expansion valve. The valve is adjusted to open when suction pressure drops below 58 psig to maintain pressures and avoid the unit shutting off.

Uploaded by

Prophx Blizice
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
182 views3 pages

Understanding Hot Gas Bypass

Hot gas bypass introduces some high pressure, high temperature gas from the discharge side of the system into the evaporator coil. This provides an artificial load and prevents freezing of the coil when the load on the evaporator varies and is lower than design conditions. Standard hot gas bypass uses an external valve piped from the discharge line to inject gas downstream of the expansion valve. The valve is adjusted to open when suction pressure drops below 58 psig to maintain pressures and avoid the unit shutting off.

Uploaded by

Prophx Blizice
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

8/9/2016

UnderstandingHotGasBypass

UnderstandingHotGasBypass
July9,2007
Reprints
8

NoComments

Hotgasbypassisrecommendedwhentheloadonanevaporatorvariesandoperationoftheairconditioningsystemis
desiredatlowerthandesignconditions.Additionally,hotgasbypassisusedwhentheevaporatorcoilisdesignedfor
comfortcooling(latentandsensibleloads)versusprecisioncooling(allsensibleloading).Ifreturnairconditionswill
http://www.achrnews.com/articles/105262understandinghotgasbypass

be72F/50percentrhorlower,theunitshouldincorporatethehotgasbypassoption.

1/3

8/9/2016

UnderstandingHotGasBypass

Hotgasbypassprovidesanartificialloadontheevaporatorbyintroducingaportionofhighpressure,high
temperaturegastotheevaporator/suctionsideofthesystem.Theuseofhotgasbypasscanbeaccomplishedinseveral
ways.Thisarticlecoversstandard(external)hotgasbypass.
**Evaporatorsamelevel,lowerorhigherthancondensingunit(maxlift20feet).
**Pleasenotethemaximumliftwhentheevaporatorsectionsetslowerthancondensingsectionis20feet.

STANDARD(EXTERNAL)HOTGASBYPASS
Standard(external)hotgasbypassconsistsofavalvelocatedinthecondensingsection.Theinletofthehotgasbypass
valveispipedfromateeinthedischargelinebetweentheoutletofthecompressorandinletofthecondenser.The
outletofthebypassvalveispipedtoateebetweentheexpansionvalveandthedistributoroftheevaporatorcoil.A
checkvalveisinstalledintheevaporatorsectioninthehotgaslinebeforeitentersthesuctionside.Thisistoprevent
theliquidinthebypassoffcyclefromfillingthelineandsluggingtherefrigerantlinesonbypass/compressorstart
cycle.RefertoFigure1foranillustrationofhowasinglecircuitunitispiped.Duringoperation,ifthesuction
pressurefallsbelow58psig,thevalvewillmodulateopentointroduceaportionofthehotdischargegastobypassthe
condensercoilandbeinjectedintotheevaporatorcoilaftertheexpansionvalve,thusraisingthetemperatureand
pressure.Thiseliminatesthecoilfromfreezingandthesystemfromgoingoffonlowpressure.
Ifthesystemwillbesplit,athirdrefrigerantlinemustbeinstalledbetweenthecondensingsectionandtheevaporator
section.Thislinemustbeinsulatedtopreventheatlossfromthedischargelinetotheambient.
Linesizingshouldbecalculatedtonotexceeda6to12psipressuredrop.Toselectthecorrectrefrigerantpipesizefor
theexternalhotgasbypassreferenceTable1forunitsof50feetofrunorless.RefertoTable2forpipingruns
between50andupto100feet.Foranythingover100feet,contacttheequipmentmanufacturer.Afterbrazingandleak
checking,evacuatethehotgaslinesetandbreakthevacuumwithasmallamountofrefrigerantgas.Refertothe
operationandmaintenancemanualforadditionalchargerecommendationsforsplitunits.
Considerationsaffectingthechoiceofthishotgasbypassconfigurationarerelatedtolaborandmaterialtoinstallthe
thirdrefrigerantlineaswellasarchitecturalrestraints.

Caution:Thefollowingproceduresshouldonlybeperformedbyaqualifiedtechnician.
Figure1.Standard(external)hotgasbypassnonactivemode.

HOTGASBYPASSOPERATION
StrapathermocoupletotherefrigerantlineoutletofthehotgasbypassvalveasillustratedinFigure1.Connectaset
ofrefrigerantgaugestothesuctionanddischargeserviceportsofthecompressorsystem.Thesuctionpressurewillbe
usedtomonitorthebypassactivationpointwhichis58psig.Thedischargepressurewillbeforreferenceonlyduring
http://www.achrnews.com/articles/105262understandinghotgasbypass
2/3

8/9/2016

UnderstandingHotGasBypass

thisprocedure.Dischargepressureshouldremainstablethroughoutthecheckingandadjustment.Operatetheunitin
coolingmodelongenoughtoallowthesystemtostabilize.
Ifthepresentloadinthespacedoesnotallowthesuctionpressuretodropto58psigorbelow,partiallyblockingoff
theevaporatorcoilmayberequiredtodecreasetheloadonthecoil.Asthesuctionpressurestartstofallbelow58
psig,thehotgasbypassshouldstarttomodulateopentohelpstabilizethesuctionpressureatorjustabove58psig.At
thispoint,thetemperaturereadingatthethermocoupleshouldstarttoincrease.Areadingof120Forhighershouldbe
observed.Ifthesuctionpressurecontinuestofallbelow58psigandthehotgasbypassoutlettemperaturedoesnot
rise,thevalverequiresadjustment.
Figure2.Standard(external)hotgasbypassactivemode.

HOTGASBYPASSADJUSTMENT
Ifthehotgasbypassopensbelow58psig,thevalvemustbeadjustedtobringtheactivationpointto58psig.By
turningtheadjustmentstemonecompleteturnclockwise,thepressuresettingwillincreaseapproximately4psig.By
turningtheadjustmentstemcounterclockwiseonecompleteturn,thepressuresettingwilldecreaseapproximately4
psig.
Usinganadjustablewrench,removethecapthatcoverstheadjustmentstemofthevalve.Makesuretoadjustinsmall
incrementsallowingthesystemtostabilizebetweenadjustments.Recheckthesettingaftereachadjustment.
Changethethermostatsettingsafewtimesandallowthesystemtocyclethrough.Varytheloadabitandrecheckafter
thesystemstabilizestoensurethesuctiondoesnotfallbelow58psig.Replacethecapwhenadjustmentsare
complete.
Fieldinstallationofthehotgasbypassoptionisnotrecommendedbecauseofhavingtoopentherefrigerantsystem.If
thereareanyquestionsabouttheapplication,consulttheequipmentmanufacturer.

http://www.achrnews.com/articles/105262understandinghotgasbypass

3/3

You might also like