Abstract
In the air-conditioning industry, the refrigerant charging amount is one of the most important parameters affecting the energy efficiency ratio of heat pumps. An experimental study was performed on the characteristics of an inverter driven air-to-air heat pump system with a variation of compressor frequency and charging amount of refrigerant. The frequency was altered from 40Hz to 70Hz and the charging amount was changed from 1.6kg to 2.8kg in tests. The variation of performance was measured with switching of the expansion valve on each frequency and charging amount. All the tests were performed at the Korean Standard and test conditions of the air conditioners. As results, it was found that there existed the charging amount and the level of the suction gas superheat which provided the highest energy efficiency ratio at all the frequency bands.