Brochure

Parker Hannifin Corporation
Climate & Industrial Controls Group
Cleveland, OH
Catalog CIC-2003-1/US
Filter Dryers
38
Guidelines for Parker Dryers
and R-410A
Liquid line dryers are used in refrigeration systems to
insure removal of contaminants and protect systems.
The new refrigerant and lubricant combinations that
have come in the wake of the regulation of CFCs and
HCFCs have brought many changes to liquid line filter
dryers. In particular, the introduction of Refrigerant
410A and Polyol Ester (POE lubricants) for the phase
out of R-22 and mineral oil has created many design
challenges as far as water and solid contaminant
removal, refrigerant and lubricant compatibility and
increased working pressures of the systems.
The basic job of a liquid line filter dryer is to remove
water and solid contaminants from a refrigeration
system. Water can get into systems from various
sources. Some of these are leaks, improper cleaning
and evacuation, polyolester (POE) lubricants and wind-
ings in electric motors. This water has to be removed to
prevent freeze-ups, corrosion, and possible hydrolysis
of the ester lubricant. Solid contaminants, like copper
oxide, carbon, braze particles, etc., can clog metering
devices or cause problems in the compressor. They are
removed by filter media such as fiberglass pads,
screens, and cores.
The new refrigerants and lubricants are excellent sol-
vents. As a result, contaminants that R-22 and mineral
oil left in place are now removed by HFC refrigerants
such as R-410A/R-407C and POEs. Some of these
common contaminants are residual detergents from
cleaning, drawing compounds, rust preventatives, plas-
ticizers and lubricant additives. These contaminants
can deposit in capillary tubes, restrictor orifices or TXV
seats.
Polyolester lubricants are made by reacting organic
acids with alcohols to form the ester chains that make
up the lubricant and water. This reaction is reversible,
so under the right conditions, the lubricant can react
with excess water to reverse the ester reaction and
decompose into the original organic acid and alcohol.
The organic acid can then deposit in the expansion
device, restricting the flow. This was not an issue with
the earlier HFC/CFC/mineral oil systems chemistry. In
addition, polyolesters are hygroscopic so they can
absorb a large amount of water. Studies have shown
that activated alumina in the liquid line can play a role
in the hydrolysis of the polyolester.
Refrigerant blends that have R-32 (a component of
R-410A and R-407C) pose another issue for dryer
manufacturers. R-32 is very close to water in terms of
molecular size. This means that some desiccants can
adsorb R-32 which lowers the water capacity of the
desiccant. The more immediate effect is that the com-
position of the blend can change if there is enough
R-32 adsorbed.
The Parker Solution
All of these factors have required changes in the
internal components of liquid line dryers. From the
outside, they remain the same but internally changes
have been made to accommodate the new refrigerants
and lubricants.
Filtration capacity in Parker liquid line dryers has been
designed to insure that the dryer is able to handle the
higher levels of contaminants. The filtration capacity of
a Parker liquid line dryer and a comparably sized core
liquid line dryer is shown in Figure 1. When tested per
ASHRAE 63.1, allowing a maximum pressure drop
of four psi, the core dryer reaches that level with the
Guidelines for Parker Dryers and R-410A R-410A Guidelines and Dryers
Standard Products for R-410A
• 100% molecular seiv e XH11 dessicant.
• Ensures no degradation of the R032 within the
make-up of R-410A.
• Parker has worked with the industry in establish-
ing a pink colored label on all products for use
with R-410A. Competitive products without pink
lables should not be used and may cause system
damage.
• See main liquid line and biflow dryer sections in
this catalog for dimensional data.
•
Other sizes of R-410A specific dryers are avail-
able. Consult Parker.
Model
ARI Flow
Capacity @ 1 PSI
Recommended
A/C Nominal Tons
Water Drop
Capacity
in R-410A (50 ppm)
75°F/125°F
053S-410A 4.64 4 86/77
083S-410A 4.92 5 131/117
163S-410A 5.75 5 254/226
303S-410A 6.03 6 446/397
BF163S-XF 3.5 5 197/176
Bi-Flow Dryers
Liquid Line Dryers