Patent ID: 7104086

Claim:
A refrigeration apparatus comprising: a vapor compression type main refrigerant circuit including a compressor, a user-side heat exchanger, a heat-source-side heat exchanger, and a gaseous refrigerant circuit connecting the user-side heat exchanger and the compressor together; a contaminant collecting container configured to separate contaminants from refrigerant flowing in the gaseous refrigerant circuit when the refrigerant is directed through the gaseous refrigerant circuit; an inlet pipe branching from the gaseous refrigerant circuit to direct the refrigerant into the contaminant collecting container and connected to an inlet of the contaminant collecting container such that contaminants accumulated in the contaminant collecting container cannot return to the gaseous refrigerant circuit; an outlet pipe branching from the gaseous refrigerant circuit at a position downstream of where the inlet pipe branches and connected to an outlet of the contaminant collecting container to return the refrigerant from which the contaminants have been separated by the contaminant collecting container to the gaseous refrigerant circuit; and a main opening/closing device configured to shut off the flow of the refrigerant between a part of the gaseous refrigerant circuit where the inlet pipe branches therefrom and part of the gaseous refrigerant circuit where the outlet pipe branches therefrom.