Apparatus and method for lubricant management in an electric vehicle

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a lubricant management system () in a heat flux management system for an electric vehicle (), comprising a vehicle air conditioning circuit comprising a refrigeration cycle refrigerant circuit () comprising at least a heat pump condenser () in thermal communication with a heat source (), first and second evaporators () each associated with an expansion valve (), and a refrigerant compressor (), wherein the components are fluidly connected to one another by a refrigerant line (), an accumulator () having a lubricant storage capacity and comprising lubricant delivery means (), the accumulator being fluidly coupled in the refrigerant line downstream of the first and second evaporators () and upstream of the refrigerant compressor (), wherein the first evaporator and the second evaporator are fluidly connected in parallel downstream of the heat pump condenser () and upstream of the accumulator () and the associated expansion valves () are operable to control a refrigerant flow rate through the first and the second evaporators () sequentially to flush lubricant from the first and second evaporators to the lubricant storage capacity of the accumulator ().