Patent ID: 8356491

Claim:
A refrigerant system comprising: a compressor assembly including at least two stages of compression connected in series, with a lower compression stage compressing refrigerant from a suction pressure to an intermediate pressure and passing this refrigerant to a higher compression stage compressing refrigerant from an intermediate pressure to a discharge pressure and with an intercooler positioned intermediate of said lower and higher compression stages; an outdoor heat exchanger positioned downstream of said compressor assembly; an expansion device positioned downstream of said outdoor heat exchanger and an indoor heat exchanger positioned downstream of said expansion device; an air-moving device for moving air over said indoor heat exchanger, and said intercooler being positioned such that it is in the path of airflow driven by said air-moving device; and a flow control device positioned on a discharge line of said lower compression stage, and between said lower compression stage and said intercooler, said refrigerant flow control device operable to move between an open position at which it allows refrigerant downstream of said lower compression stage to enter said intercooler, and said flow control device being movable to a bypass position at which the fluid downstream of said lower compression stage will bypass said intercooler and pass to said higher compression stage.