Patent ID: 6901763

Claim:
A method of increasing the efficiency of a system including a vapor compression cooling cycle and having an evaporator with an inlet connected to an outlet of a gas cooler and an outlet connected to the inlet of a compressor, the compressor having an outlet connected to an inlet of the gas cooler and a suction line heat exchanger having two fluid flow paths in heat exchange relation with one another with one flow path being located between the evaporator inlet and the compressor outlet and the other flow path being located between the evaporator outlet and the compressor inlet, an accumulator downstream of said evaporator outlet and upstream of paid other flow path, and a refrigerant in said system that may exist as a vapor, a liquid or a mixture of vapor and liquid whose quality at a given point is defined as the weight ratio of the mass of refrigerant vapor to the combined mass of refrigerant vapor and liquid refrigerant at the given point, including the steps of: (a) introducing refrigerant into said other flow path of said suction line heat exchanger at a quality less than 1; and (b) introducing refrigerant that has passed through said other flow path into said compressor inlet at a quality that is substantially equal to 1; wherein said accumulator is characterized by a housing including a liquid refrigerant section and a refrigerant vapor section, a liquid outlet connected to said liquid refrigerant section, a vapor outlet connected to said refrigerant vapor section and a junction whereat said outlets are connected to each other to said other flow path.