A thermal expansion valve regulates refrigerant pressures in air conditioning and refrigeration systems. It controls the varying levels of refrigerant as the temperature changes and is where liquid is released to become a gas and start the cooling process. The valve includes a thermal bulb that expands and contracts with temperature changes, allowing more or less refrigerant to pass through the evaporator. It is an integral part of refrigeration and air conditioning systems and is considered accurate and consistent.
A thermal expansion valve is usually a mechanical device in an air conditioning or refrigeration system that regulates refrigerant pressures. Within these systems, thermal expansion valves could be considered metering devices that simultaneously monitor and control the amount of refrigerant being used by a cooling system at any one time. As the temperature changes within a space, so does the amount of refrigerant required to maintain the desired temperature. The thermal expansion valve controls the varying levels of refrigerant.
In many cooling systems, the coolant is held as a liquid in one chamber and released as a gas in another. This action drives the cooling process by drawing heat from that space to change the phase of the refrigerant from liquid to gas and back to liquid again. A thermal expansion valve is normally the point in a cooling system where liquid is released to become a gas and start the cooling process.
This part of the process usually depends on the temperature of the internal components within the entire cooling system. A typical thermal expansion valve includes a component called a thermal bulb. This chamber is filled with a small amount of liquid refrigerant which is isolated from air temperatures and connected directly to a system of coils through which the refrigerant passes, usually called an evaporator. When temperature changes occur, the thermal bulb is affected by those changes through its connection to the thermal expansion valve and the rest of the cooling system.
As the temperature changes throughout the system, especially within the evaporator, this indicates a change in temperature for the environment to be cooled. The heat bulb material must expand and contract with any change in temperature because the heat bulb maintains a constant size despite changes in temperature. Higher temperatures in the cooling system force expansion of the liquid and gas inside the heat bulb. This expansion forces a valve open, allowing more refrigerant to pass through the evaporator. Lower temperatures, on the other hand, cause the liquid in the thermal bulb to contract, which closes the valve and lets less refrigerant through.
Thermal expansion valve installation is generally considered an integral part of refrigeration and air conditioning systems of virtually any size. Many cooling systems integrate at least one thermal expansion valve because they are considered quite accurate and consistent in their functionality. Systems that do not use a thermal expansion valve are often considered inaccurate or inconsistent.
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