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| Illustration 1 | g00647547 |
Refrigerant Flow Through Air Conditioning System (1) Compressor (2) Condenser Coil (3) In-line dryer (4) Evaporator Coil (5) Accumulator (A) Air conditioner refrigerant as a high pressure, high temperature vapor (B) Air conditioner refrigerant as a high pressure, high temperature liquid (C) Air conditioner refrigerant as a low pressure and low temperature liquid (D) Air conditioner refrigerant as a low pressure and low temperature vapor | |
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| Illustration 2 | g00647642 |
(5) Accumulator (6) Inlet (7) Desiccant (8) Liquid refrigerant (9) Oil drain hole (10) Outlet | |
The accumulator (5) is located at the outlet of the evaporator coil (4). The accumulator (5) separates the liquid refrigerant from the refrigerant vapor that passes through the evaporator coil (4). The accumulator (5) retains the liquid refrigerant (8) that is separated. Also, the accumulator (5) releases the vapor to the compressor (1) .
The oil drain hole (9) is located in the bottom of the accumulator (5). The oil drain hole will drain refrigerant oil that is separated. The oil drain hole will also drain some of the liquid refrigerant. This liquid refrigerant will go back to the compressor.
The flow of refrigerant out of the accumulator (5) to the compressor (1) is mostly vapor. The vapor contains a small amount of liquid refrigerant. This liquid refrigerant comes from the oil drain hole (9) .
When a dryer is not used in the system, desiccants (7) are located in the base of the accumulator (5). The desiccant is a moisture collection agent.
In an orifice tube system that has an in-line dryer (3), there is no desiccant (15) in the accumulator (5).