Air conditioning apparatus and refrigerant quantity determination method

Abstract

An air conditioning apparatus and a refrigerant quantity determination method are provided, whereby a refrigerant quantity can be determined in a simple and accurate manner without compromising the reliability of a compressor. A refrigerant circuit () has a compressor (), an outdoor heat exchanger () that functions as a condenser, an indoor expansion valve (), an indoor heat exchanger () that functions as an evaporator, an indoor unit interconnection pipe (), a liquid refrigerant connection pipe (), a gas refrigerant connection pipe (), and an outdoor unit interconnection pipe (). A controller () performs liquefaction control for liquefying refrigerant and placing the refrigerant in a portion extending from the indoor expansion valve () to the outdoor heat exchanger (). The controller () directly or indirectly regulates the flow rate of refrigerant flowing through a liquid bypass circuit () from a liquid reserving portion (Q) toward the gas refrigerant connection pipe (). A liquid level detection sensor () detects at least one of either a volume of liquid refrigerant in the portion where liquid refrigerant accumulates and a physical quantity equivalent to the volume.