Refrigeration purge and/or recovery apparatus

Abstract

An improved refrigerant recovery method and apparatus by which a refrigerant charged in a refrigerator is transferred into a refrigerant tank are disclosed. The apparatus is adapted to discharge almost all the refrigerant gas from the refrigerator and purge non-condensible gases from a safety valve to the atmosphere with little refrigerant gas accompanying the non-condensible gases. There are provided a vacuum pump at the upstream side of a line connected between the refrigerator and a liquid separator, and a compressor at the downstream side thereof, the vacuum pump and compressor being connected in series with each other. The vacuum pump is intended to nearly zero the pressure of the remaining refrigerant gas in the refrigerator and the compressor is to give the liquid separator a desired internal pressure, thereby minimizing the amount of refrigerant gas purged along with the non-condensible gases to the atmosphere. Also a bypass valve is provided to bypass the vacuum pump. By opening the bypass valve to activate the compressor independently with the vacuum pump put out of operation to circulate the refrigerant liquid accumulating in the lower portion of the liquid separator to the refrigerator, it is possible to purge the non-condensible gases to the atmosphere during operation of the refrigerator.