🔍 Key Concepts

• Effect of liquid-line restrictions (such as a partially fouled strainer) on pressure and refrigerant flow • Relationship between liquid pressure drop and evaporator feeding (starvation vs flooding) • How superheat and subcooling change when the evaporator is starved of refrigerant

💭 Think About

• Think about what happens to refrigerant flow if the liquid line strainer is partially blocked: does more or less liquid reach the expansion device and evaporator? • If the evaporator receives less refrigerant, how does that affect the temperature of the suction gas leaving the evaporator (more or less heat picked up from the air/space)? • When liquid refrigerant loses pressure across a restriction in the liquid line, what happens to its condition before it reaches the expansion device: is it more likely to stay fully liquid and become more subcooled, or to start flashing into vapor?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify whether a restricted liquid line tends to cause an underfed (starved) evaporator, and what that does to suction gas superheat. • Check if a pressure drop in the liquid line before the expansion valve increases or decreases liquid subcooling at the valve inlet. • Confirm that you are distinguishing correctly between superheating (on the suction/vapor side) and subcooling (on the high-pressure liquid side).