KR940003734B1 - Refrigerant reclaim method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A refrigerant reclaim system includes a compressor (30), a heat exchanger (10), an oil separator (20), a condenser (40), a chill tank (50), a filter-dryer (63) and a cooling coil (65) in the chill tank. Refrigerant to be reclaimed is drawn through the cold side of the heat exchanger (10) converted to a gas which is discharged into the oil separator (20) where the gas is directed upwardly in an expanding stream. The flow of the stream is abruptly interrupted to separate oil from refrigerant.

Description

[Name of invention]

Refrigerant regeneration method and apparatus

Detailed description of the invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing a coolant from a cooling system during repair, limiting the shrinkage of an atmosphere tank of the coolant, separating contaminants from the coolant, and refilling the coolant in the repaired cooling system or discharging it into a storage container. . The present invention is particularly suitable in connection with mobile units of the general type described in US Pat. Nos. 3,232,070 and 4,476,688.

[Background of invention]

Many years ago, for example, when it is necessary to repair a cooling system in an air conditioner, or when a refrigerant sold under the trademark “freon” is heavily polluted and affects the cooling effect, It was a standard practice. This method is not only economical, but also unhealthy for environmental issues.

More recently, a method has been employed in which a refrigerant is harvested and liquefied during separation of contaminants to remove the refrigerant as a means of recharging or storing the refrigerant in the cooling system. Two such regeneration systems are described in US Pat. Nos. 4,476,688 and 4,646,527. Each system includes a compressor, where the suction side of the compressor sucks the refrigerant from the cooling system into the compressor through the contaminant removal means and discharges the refrigerant to the condenser, which condenses the refrigerant and discharges it to the storage means. When necessary, the refrigerant can be recharged in the cooling system.

Conventional systems of this type have generally not provided adequate means for the refrigerant entering the compressor to be in a gaseous state, which is necessary to prevent damage to the compressor. In addition, prior art systems also do not provide a means for cooling and regulating the temperature of the liquid refrigerant while the refrigerant is stored in the regeneration system so that an appropriate amount of refrigerant can be returned to the cooling system. Often when the cooling system of a repaired air conditioner must be refilled with a refrigerant, the gas present in the system is still at elevated temperature and the pressure is so high that the liquid refrigerant at room temperature cannot enter the system by gravity, It can only go in slowly. When the refrigerant in the regeneration system is sufficiently cooled below the gas temperature in the vessel to be filled, the gas in the process is cooled to lower the pressure of the gas and the resistance to the flow of the refrigerant, so that the refrigerant of the cooling device partially flows into the heated gas. Flows into.

In the prior art, it is known that means for maximally removing acid and water vapor by repeatedly circulating a refrigerant through a standard filtration drying apparatus during repair work, one such circulation loop is disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,476,688. It is. However, without the means for cooling the circulating refrigerant, the temperature inevitably rises, lowering the efficiency of the standard filtration-drying apparatus and making it more difficult to return the refrigerant directly from the regeneration system to the repaired cooling system.

[Summary of invention]

The present invention provides a method and means for withdrawing a refrigerant from a vessel, i.e., a cooling system to be repaired, for heating the refrigerant sufficiently to keep it in a gaseous state as it passes through the oil separator to the suction side of the compressor. The compressed gaseous refrigerant is taken out of the compressor, passes through a heat exchanger, heats the sucked liquid refrigerant, and then liquefies through the condenser. The liquefied refrigerant passes from the condenser to the storage tank, from which the liquid refrigerant passes through a filtration-drying device and an expansion device for recovering the liquid refrigerant in gaseous form. The gaseous refrigerant from the expansion device passes through the coil submerged in the liquid in the storage tank and then again through the suction side of the compressor. The liquid temperature in the storage tank is lowered by the cooling effect of the expanding gaseous refrigerant passing through the coil contained in the liquid, and because of this cooling effect, the storage tank is referred to as a "cooling tank". The refrigerant may repeatedly pass through the filtration-drying device, the expansion device, the cooling coil, the compressor, the heat exchanger, the condenser and again the cooling tank from the cooling tank, gradually reducing its temperature in the cooling tank, as well as from the refrigerant. It can completely remove acid and water vapor.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The drawings show a schematic illustration of the invention, in which the parts shown in the drawings are available as standard merchandise or are described in sufficient detail with reference to this description, to those skilled in the art to know how the invention is practiced. It is supposed to be.

[details]

As illustrated in the figure, the regeneration system of the present invention includes a heat exchanger 10, a portion of which is in fluid communication with the refrigerant intake fluid conduit 11 controlled by the solenoid valve 12. The conduit 11 is in fluid communication with the conduit 13 which forms the cooling section of the heat exchanger 10. Conduit 13 is illustrated as being connected to conduit 15 by heat conducting welds 14. The conduit 15 forms the heating portion of the heat exchanger 10. The arrangement of heat exchangers shown in the figures is for illustration only. In the practice of the invention, the suction section 11 is in fluid communication with a helical fin or ridge and grooved conduit to facilitate installation in the conduit to form a so-called in-tube tube heat exchanger. desirable. In addition, the intratube structure is preferably in the form of a coil that can provide a greater length in a narrower space than is possible with a straight intratube structure. Tubes in coiled tubes are a standard form well known in the field of heat exchange, with the inner tube being the cooling part of the heat exchanger and the outer tube being the heating part.

Conduit 16 forms an outlet from the cooling section of heat exchanger 10 and is in fluid communication with oil separator 20 via conduit 21. The oil separator 20 is preferably an elongated pressure cylinder which has a partially spherical end and is installed such that its longitudinal axis extends vertically. The fluid conduit 21 extends through the outer wall of the tank slightly above the lower end of the oil separation tank 20 and continues inward so that its open end is located near the axis of the tank. Another fluid conduit 22 has an open end fixed near the inner surface of the spherical top of the tank. This fluid conduit extends downward and supports an annular baffle 24 comprising a disc shaped portion 24 and a partially conical skirt 25 extending downward. Conduits 22 are arranged to extend along the axis of the tank and connect to fluid conduits 26 and 31, which are controlled by a low pressure actuated electrical control device 27 having a pressure gauge indicator. The regulator 27 automatically stops the compressor 30 when the pressure in the conduit 31 drops to virtually zero PSIG. Oil may be discharged from the bottom of the oil separator 20 through the fluid conduit 28 controlled by the solenoid valve 29.

The fluid conduit 31 extends briefly therein through the outer wall of the compressor 30 as shown. The compressor 30 has a fluid conduit outlet 32, an oil sight gauge and an oil supply device 33. The outlet conduit 32 has a high pressure actuated electrical control device 34 and is in fluid communication with the conduit 15 of the heat exchanger 10 and likewise in fluid communication with the conduit 41. ) Is then in fluid communication with the condenser 40 through the condenser inlet conduit 42. If the pressure in the conduit 32 is too high, the regulating device 34 automatically operates to stop the compressor 30.

The outlet conduit 43 is connected to the condenser 40 in fluid communication with the cooling tank 50, which, as illustrated, has an upper and lower end that extends vertically and has a partially spherical shape, as illustrated. It is an elongated cylindrical pressure tank. The outlet end 51 of the fluid conduit 43 is located substantially on the axis of the cooling tank 50. At the bottom of the cooling tank 50 is a fluid conduit 52 which is controlled by the solenoid valve 53 and is arranged in fluid communication with the interior of the cooling tank 50. At the upper end of the cooling tank 50 is an air outlet conduit 54, which is controlled by a solenoid valve 55, which has a pressure gauge indicator. Conduit 54 discharges into the atmosphere through a small orifice to prevent explosive discharge of air. Fluid conduits 52 and 54 preferably open into the cooling tank 50 at points on the longitudinal axis of the tank. In addition, a high pressure safety valve 58 is located at the upper end of the cooling tank 50. A cooling and circulation system 60, which is in fluid communication with the conduit 52 and includes a conduit 61 controlled by the solenoid valve 62, is located partly inside the cooling tank 50 and partly outside. . The fluid conduit 61 is in fluid communication with the filtration-drying device 63, which is then connected in fluid communication with the expansion device 64 illustrated in the figure as a mother tube. The expansion device 64 is in fluid communication with a conduit 65 arranged in coil form within the cooling tank 50. The cooling coil 65 is in fluid communication with the conduit 66, which in turn is in fluid communication with the inlet conduit 31 of the compressor 30.

All elements of the regeneration system of the present invention can be installed in a mobile cabinet (not shown) having a throttle on its outer surface and a caster thereunder.

The throttle includes a power on-off switch that, depending on the position of the various valves and the pressure at various positions in the system, controls the compressor 30 and the valves 12, 29, 55, 53 and 62. Apply voltage. When power is applied, the regulating devices 27 and 34 automatically start and stop the compressor 30 and the relief valves 56 automatically respond to the pressure, so that the throttle contains a switch for manually operating these devices. There is no need to do it. Therefore, in addition to the power on-off switch, the throttle may be provided with only a valve 12 (coolant blow), a valve 29 (oil blowout), a valve 53 (coolant blowout), a valve 55 (air discharge) and a valve ( 62) (only for switches for cooling and circulation system 60), i.e. six switches in total. The throttle plate also includes two pressure gauge indicators, one representing the pressure entering the conduit 31 and the other representing the pressure at the top of the valve 55 and the cooling tank 50. Detailed circuitry of switches, regulators, valves and gauges that are electrically connected will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Since the cooling tank 50 is about 48 inches in height as the largest element of the regeneration system, the cabinet should be about 62 inches including the height of the caster. If the cabinet has only one cooling tank 50, such as the system illustrated in the figure, the cabinet can be 28 inches wide and 24 inches deep. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, if the cooling effect from one cooling tank 50 is insufficient, one or more separate cooling tanks may be provided and connected in parallel with the first cooling tank 50. Each cooling tank is preferably 6 inches in diameter, has a capacity to store 45 pounds of refrigerant, such as “freon” 12, 22 or 502, and meets ASME and Underwriters Laboratory specifications for pressure tanks. The tank for oil separator 20 meets the same specifications and is 36 inches long and 6 inches in diameter. The compressor 30 has a form in which a visual gauge and an oil inflow cap 30 are provided to maintain proper oil supply in the compressor 30.

The following is an edit of the product name of a standard device available with its confirmation number.

TABLE 1

The device, configured as disclosed above, weighs about 325 pounds.

When the illustrated system is used for repair of the cooling system of the air conditioner, for example, the fluid conduit 11 is connected to the refrigerant outlet of the cooling system and the valve 12 is opened upon application of power. The regulating device 27 at the compressor inlet is activated when it senses the pressure in the fluid conduit 31 and starts to actuate the compressor 30. Refrigerant from the cooling system is sucked into the regeneration system through the conduit (11). Normally the refrigerant at this time is a liquid, which is shown in the figure by a double transverse line inside the conduit. At some point in the fluid conduit 13 of the heat exchanger 10, the refrigerant is converted to the gas phase by the heat transferred from the conduit 15 carrying the exhaust of the compressor 30. A single cross line in the fluid conduit 13 illustrates the gas phase of the refrigerant. Throughout the drawings, the double transverse lines refer to the liquid phase and the single transverse lines refer to the gas or vapor phase. Refrigerant flows to the oil separator 20 through the fluid conduits 16 and 21. It is relatively hot at this point and the expansion gas occurs rapidly in the tank of the oil separator 20. The gas flowing upwards is suddenly blocked by the baffle 23 to separate the oil and drop it on the bottom of the tank. The gaseous refrigerant passes near the outer (bottom) edge of the cut 25, which is separated from the inner wall around the tank, the total area of which is approximately equal to the opening area at the upper end of the conduit 22. It is about the same. The gaseous refrigerant passes around the cut 25 and enters the upper end of the fluid conduit 22 and then passes through the fluid conduit 26 into the fluid conduit 31.

As long as there is sufficient pressure in the fluid conduit 31 to indicate that the cooling system of the air conditioner has not been exhausted completely, the compressor 30 continues to operate. Refrigerant from the fluid conduit 31 passes through the compressor, is compressed and discharged through the fluid conduit 32, passes through a heat exchanger to communicate with the fluid conduit 15, and then passes through the fluid conduit 41 to the condenser inlet. Enter condenser 40 through 42. The gaseous refrigerant entering the condenser converts to liquid at some point, such as 44 in the condenser.

The liquid refrigerant enters the top of the cooling tank 50 from the condenser 40 through the conduit 43. At this time, the valves 53 and 62 are closed and the compressor continues to draw refrigerant from the cooling system of the air conditioner, so that the pressure at the inlet of the compressor 30 drops to virtually zero PSIG and all the refrigerant is removed from the cooling system of the air conditioner. Allow the liquid refrigerant to drain into the cooling tank 50 until indicated that it has been removed. At this time, the adjusting device 27 is operated to stop the compressor 30.

After waiting to see if the pressure in the conduit 31 rises again and the compressor is running again, the operator locks the valve 12 (coolant suction) and opens the valve 62 to cool the liquid refrigerant through the fluid conduit 52. Discharged from tank 50 allows passage through filtration drying device 63 through fluid conduit 61. The liquid refrigerant then passes through expansion device 64 where it is converted to gas and passed through coil 65 to cool the liquid refrigerant, which fills about three quarters of the cooling tank 50 in the figure and Coil 65 is illustrated as locked inside.

When inflation gas from coil 65 arrives at compressor inlet conduit 31 through fluid conduit 66, there is sufficient pressure to actuate regulator 27 and the compressor is automatically restarted.

Locking the valve 12 causes the cooling section of the heat exchanger 10 and the entire oil separator 20 to shut down. The compressor continues to operate at the pressure in the fluid conduit 31 and the gaseous refrigerant entering the compressor through the conduits 66 and 31 is compressed and discharged from the compressor through the fluid conduit 32 before the heat exchanger 10 and the condenser Returning back to the cooling tank 50 through 40, the above-described circulation process is usually about 3.3 ° C-6 ° C (38) until the temperature of the liquid refrigerant in the cooling tank 50 is lowered to a predetermined level Repeat again until ° -45F).

The liquid refrigerant is repeatedly passed through the filtration drying device 63 to remove virtually all acid and water from the liquid refrigerant. During this circulation process, a certain amount of air is usually separated from the refrigerant and collected at the top of the cooling tank 50 to increase the pressure there. The air may be removed from the regeneration system by opening the valve 55 and escaping through the conduit 54. Such treatment is usually carried out when the pressure in the cooling tank 50 exceeds 300 PSIG to some extent, and is performed by operating a switch on the throttle plate, preferably a push button. If for some reason the pressure reaches the level of about 400 PSIG, the safety valve 56 is activated to exhaust the gas in the system.

Before locking the valve 62 and opening the valve 53 to recover the liquid refrigerant to the cooling system of the air conditioner, oil collected at the bottom of the oil separator 20, as schematically illustrated in the drawing, 29) must be opened and removed via outlet 28. The amount of oil removed should be measured to ensure that the proper amount of oil is refilled to the cooling system.

The refrigerant regeneration system of the present invention can be used to transfer refrigerant from one vessel to another. This operation is performed by connecting the fluid conduit 11 to the container (first container) from which the refrigerant is to be taken out and the fluid conduit 52 to the receiving container, that is, the second container. When the valve 12 is opened and the compressor 30 is powered, the refrigerant is removed from the vessel, and passes through the heat exchanger 10, the oil separator 20, the compressor 30, and the condenser 40 to cool the tank ( 50). Operation of this aspect continues until the indicated pressure on the throttle indicates that the first vessel has been vented. As in other operations, once all refrigerant is removed from the first vessel, the pressure in conduit 31 drops to virtually zero PSIG, actuating the regulating device 27 to stop the compressor, which causes the compressor 60 to cool. Until there is a pressure in the conduit 31 from the gaseous refrigerant discharged from the chamber, it does not start to restart. Next, the valve 12 is locked. Since this facilitates the discharge of the refrigerant into the receiving container, it is desired to first lock the valve 53 and open the valve 62 to enable the cooling device 60 to be operable. This type of operation is continued for a sufficient period of time to lower the liquid refrigerant in the cooling tank 50 to a predetermined temperature. When the predetermined temperature is reached, the valve 62 is locked, and when the valve 53 is opened, the liquid refrigerant flows from the cooling tank 50 to the container by gravity and gas pressure in the upper portion of the cooling tank 50.

Claims (23)

A coolant regeneration device comprising: a heat exchanger having a heating portion and a cooling portion, means for connecting a cooling portion of a heat exchanger to a refrigerant vessel, means for connecting a heating portion of the heat exchanger to a source of a heating gaseous refrigerant, and refrigerant from the vessel for a heat exchanger. Means for flowing through the cooling section of the heat exchanger, means for passing the heated gaseous refrigerant from the heat exchanger to the lower portion of the elongated vertically elongated separation tank, baffle means in the top of the separation tank for blocking the expanding heated gaseous refrigerant from flowing upwards, Refrigerant from a vessel comprising a perimeter of the baffle means for providing a narrow opening between the baffle and the inner wall of the tank to escape the gaseous refrigerant around the baffle and a fluid conduit having an opening on the baffle to remove the gaseous refrigerant from the separation tank. A device for separating oil from refrigerant by removing it. A refrigerant regeneration apparatus, comprising: spirally extending means having an inner and outer tube, the inner tube being positioned within the outer tube to form a spirally extending channel between the outer surface of the inner tube and the inner surface of the outer tube, the inner tube of Means for connecting one end to the refrigerant vessel, means for connecting the opposite end of the outer tube to the outlet of the relatively heated gaseous refrigerant, allowing the refrigerant from the vessel to flow through the inner tube in one direction and the relatively heated gaseous refrigerant to the tube Means for flowing in the opposite direction through a spirally extending channel between, means for passing heated gaseous refrigerant from the heat exchanger to the bottom of an elongated vertically separating separation tank, and separating blocking flow to the top of the expanding heated gaseous refrigerant Baffle means in the upper part of the tank, narrow between the baffle and the inner wall of the tank Separating the oil from the refrigerant by removing the refrigerant from the vessel, including a periphery of the baffle means for providing a portion to escape the gaseous refrigerant around the baffle and a fluid conduit having an opening on the baffle to remove the gaseous refrigerant from the separation tank. Device for 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the inlet of the heat exchanger outer tube is connected in fluid communication with the outlet of the compressor and the means on the baffle in the tank is in fluid communication with the suction side of the compressor. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the area of the narrow opening is approximately equal to the inlet area on the baffle. Refrigerant regeneration device comprising: an elongated tank in which the longitudinal axis extends vertically; a baffle means provided at an upper portion of the tank (the baffle means includes a central plate attached to a skirt extending downward and outwardly around the periphery; (A narrow opening exists between the lower end of the skirt and the inner wall of the tank), means on a baffle having holes for discharging gaseous refrigerant from the tank, means on the bottom of the tank for introducing gaseous refrigerant into the tank and from the bottom of the tank. An oil separation device comprising means for recovering oil. 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the area of the narrow opening is approximately equal to the area of the aperture for discharging the gaseous refrigerant from the tank. A refrigerant regeneration device comprising: a compressor for compressing and discharging a gaseous refrigerant, means for condensing the gaseous refrigerant into a liquid, means for guiding the liquid refrigerant to a closed elongated cooling tank in which the longitudinal axis extends vertically, and a liquid refrigerant from the bottom of the cooling tank. Means for passing the fluid conduits in the cooling tank, which extends from the bottom to the top of the filtration-drying device, the expansion device and the cooling tank, and outside the cooling tank for connecting the fluid conduits in fluid communication with the inlet of the compressor. And means for retaining the refrigerant in the device while repeatedly purifying and cooling the refrigerant. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the fluid conduit is a coil located below the normal water level of the liquid refrigerant in the cooling tank. 9. The apparatus of claim 8 including means at the upper end of the tank and means for venting air through the holes. 10. The apparatus of claim 9 including means for recovering and discharging the liquid refrigerant in the cooling tank into the vessel. A heat exchanger having a refrigerant intake, a cooling and a heating portion, a fluid conduit means for connecting said intake in fluid communication with the cooling portion of the heat exchanger, the lower part of an elongated oil separation tank with a longitudinal axis extending vertically from the cooling portion of the heat exchanger. Fluid conduit means leading to the tank, located on top of the tank, having a midboard portion and a skirt portion extending down and out, providing a narrow opening between the outer end of the skirt and the inner wall of the oil separation tank, oil separation tank A fluid conduit having a hole near the top end of the inner wall and in fluid communication with the suction side of the compressor (where the area of the narrow opening is approximately equal to the area of the hole located near the top end), and the pressure section of the compressor Means for connecting in fluid communication with the heating unit, the heating unit of the condenser, heat exchanger Means for connecting in fluid communication with the condenser, elongated cooling tank with longitudinal axis extending vertically, means for discharging liquid refrigerant from the condenser to the cooling tank, and other fluid conduit means leading from the bottom of the cooling tank to the filtration-drying device. Fluid conduit means connected in communication, valve means for discharging the liquid refrigerant from the cooling tank into the vessel or to the filtration-drying device, and through the lower portion of the interior of the cooling tank to the top of the cooling tank and in fluid communication with the suction shaft of the compressor. In fluid communication with the fluid conduit connected to the oil separation tank and in fluid communication with the connected fluid conduit and connected to the filtration-drying device and at the suction side of the compressor, the pressure in the fluid conduit is virtually the manufactured PSIG. A pressure-responsive control means arranged to stop Refrigerant regeneration device. Removing the oil from the gaseous fluid by separating the oil by gravity by drawing the reclaimed refrigerant from the vessel, heating the refrigerant to a gas state, expanding the gaseous fluid in the upper fluid passage, and abruptly blocking the flow of the fluid. Regeneration method of refrigerant. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the gaseous fluid is passed through a narrow annular opening after blocking the flow of the fluid, and then the gas is passed through a hole having an area approximately equal to the area of the annular opening. Compress the gaseous refrigerant and condense the refrigerant into a liquid, drain the liquid into the liquid pool, recover the liquid from the bottom of the pool, filter and dry the liquid, and pass the liquid from a narrow passage to a wide passage Converting from gas phase to gas phase to expand the gaseous refrigerant in a passageway extending through the liquid pool to cool the liquid and to repeatedly compress, condense, filter-dry and cool the same refrigerant. 15. The method of claim 14, comprising discharging the liquid refrigerant from the pool into the vessel. Refrigerant when taken out of the container by taking out the regenerated refrigerant from the container, heating the refrigerant to a gaseous state, separating oil from the gaseous fluid, compressing the gaseous refrigerant, and passing the compressed gaseous refrigerant through contact with the extracted refrigerant in thermal conductor wires. Heating the liquid, condensing the compressed gaseous refrigerant with liquid, draining the liquid into the liquid pool, withdrawing the liquid from the bottom of the pool, filtering and drying the liquid, and passing the liquid from the narrow passage to the wide passage. Converting from the liquid phase to the gas phase to expand the gaseous refrigerant in the passage extending through the pool of liquid to cool the liquid, combining the expanding gaseous refrigerant and the oil-separated gaseous refrigerant, and compressing the combined gaseous refrigerant, Regeneration method of refrigerant. A refrigerant recovery and purification system comprising: a refrigerant compressor having an inlet and an outlet; Means for connecting said compressor inlet to a refrigerant system from which refrigerant is recovered; Condenser means making a heat exchange relationship with said evaporator means and connected to said compressor outlet; Refrigerant storage means having first and second ports; Means for supplying a liquid refrigerant to the first port from the condenser means; Filter means for removing foreign matter from the refrigerant passing through; And means for selectively circulating refrigerant in a closed circuit from said second port to said first port through said filtering device means. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein said selectively circulating means comprises means for connecting said compressor and said compressor inlet to said second port. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein said filter means comprises means for removing water vapor from the refrigerant passing therethrough. A refrigerant regeneration method comprising the following steps: taking out a refrigerant to be regenerated from a storage container; Heating the refrigerant to a gas state with heat exchanger means for carrying thermal energy; Separating oil from gaseous fluid: compressing gaseous refrigerant; Cooling gaseous compressed refrigerant by the heat exchanger means; Condensing the compressed gaseous refrigerant into a liquid; Discharging liquid into the chamber of the liquid refrigerant; Taking out refrigerant from the chamber; Penetrating the refrigerant through a filtration device; And recovering the refrigerant to the chamber. 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the following steps: converting said refrigerant into a gaseous state by passing a refrigerant taken out of said chamber through an expansion valve; And condensing said gaseous refrigerant prior to returning said refrigerant to said chamber. A refrigerant regeneration method comprising the following steps: taking out a refrigerant to be regenerated from a storage container; Heating refrigerant to gaseous state; Separating oil from gaseous fluids; Compress gaseous refrigerant; By passing the compressed gaseous refrigerant through the heat conduction contact with the refrigerant taken out, thereby heating the refrigerant when taken out from the storage container; Condensing the compressed gaseous refrigerant into a liquid; Discharge liquid into chamber; Taking out refrigerant from the chamber; Through refrigerant through the device; And recovering the refrigerant to the chamber. 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the following steps: passing liquid refrigerant taken out of the chamber through an enlarged passage through a narrow passage to convert the refrigerant into a gas state; And condensing into a gaseous refrigerant prior to returning the refrigerant to the chamber.

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