Technical Paper
Performance Evaluation of an Automotive Air Conditioner with Expansion Valve Control Using CFC-12 & HFC-134a Refrigerants
1991-02-01
910218
Re-design of the thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) was necessary for the efficient use of HFC-134a refrigerant in mobile air conditioning applications. Laboratory work demonstrated the need for changing both valve characteristics and inside design. The use of the new expansion valve resulted in low HFC-134a system discharge pressures with either the serpentine or “proprietary” multiflow condensers. Vehicular wind tunnel and road tests both showed the HFC-134a A/C system to have better cooling performance and similar discharge pressures at less refrigerant charge than the conventional CFC-12 system, when using the new expansion valve and multiflow condenser.
