| TECHNOLOGY | 4-Way Reversing valves
4-Way Reversing Valves
Fitters Notes (Part 12)
Stephan Bachmann,
Danfoss Refrigeration &
Air Conditioning,
Offenbach
4-Way Reversing Valves
Construction
A 4-way reversing valve has four ports for
tube connections. Three of these ports
are on one side, and the fourth is on the
opposite side. The three copper tube
ports have a larger diameter than the
single port on the opposite side.
The middle of the three large ports
is permanently connected to the
suction line, and the single small port is
permanently connected to the pressure
line. As the two remaining ports can be
connected to the suction line or the
pressure line depending on the valve
position, because of pressure drops
they have the same dimensions as the
permanent suction line port.
A 4-way valve also has a solenoid pilot
valve with a coil, which changes the
direction of refrigerant flow when it is
energised.
There are also small pilot lines running
from the small valve port to the solenoid
pilot valve and back to the middle large
port.
© Danfoss A/S (RA Marketing/SB/mwa), April 2009
In the last issue, we took a closer look at filter driers and sight glasses.
These two components are found in almost every commercial
refrigeration system above a certain capacity. This is not the case with
4-way reversing valves. This type of valve is used to completely reverse
the flow in a reversible system. Such valves may be used when both
heating and cooling modes are required, or to provide an effective,
energy-efficient defrosting method.
Operation
In the following description, we assume have a negative effect on the energy
that the small (pressure) port is facing efficiency of a refrigeration system,
up and the other three ports are facing while excessively small pressure drops
down. With this orientation, you can also can have undesirable effects, such as
see the small solenoid pilot valve with disturbing the stable operation of a servo
its coil. A standard 4-way valve has only solenoid valve. Both of these aspects can
two positions; there are no intermediate be regarded as less critical with 4-way
positions. In the first position, the coil of valves.
the solenoid pilot valve is not energised.
As a result, hot gas under high pressure
is fed from the small port’s pilot line
(permanent pressure connection) from
the right into the slider mechanism’s
chamber.
At the same time, the pressure on the
left side of the slider chamber is relieved
as the gas flows out to the low-pressure
side via the connection to the permanent
suction port. As a result, the slider moves
to the left and opens the main paths from
the top to the bottom right and from the
left to the middle. In the second position,
hot gas can flow from the top to the left, Functional diagram – coil energised
while suction gas can flow from the right
to the middle and down.
This is achieved by energising the coil of
the solenoid pilot valve , which causes
high-pressure gas to be fed from the left
into the slider mechanism’s chamber. This
also allows the pressure on the right to
be relieved via the middle main port at
the bottom, which causes the slider to
move to the right.
Pressure Drops and Dimensioning
Pressure drops are of fundamental 3D view – coil energised
importance for valve dimensioning.
Excessively large pressure drops usually
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| TECHNOLOGY | 4-Way Reversing valves
Functional diagram – coil not energised
3D view – coil not energised
A very low pressure drop on the pressure
or suction side is not a problem with
a 4-way reversing valve because the
slider mechanism that controls the
valve position is actuated by the
pressure difference between the high-
pressure and low-pressure lines of the
refrigeration system.
This is possible because both pressures
are directly available with this type of
valve, which is generally not the case with
other types of valves used in conventional
dry-expansion refrigeration systems. As
a result, the actual pressure drop across
the valve, such as between the refrigerant
inlet and outlet of the suction line, is not
critical for the operational reliability of
the valve. Excessive pressure drops are
also not a significant issue with Danfoss
Saginomiya 4-way valves if, from a design
perspective, dimensions are based on
the size of the suction line.
If you select a 4-way valve based on this
tube diameter, in the vast majority of
cases you will have a valve with a very
moderate pressure drop. Of course, it
2 © Danfoss A/S (RA Marketing/SB/mwa), April 2009
is safer to consult the relevant capacity
tables to check that the selected valve is
sufficiently large. However, in most cases
this check is not really necessary.
Positioning
This type of valve is connected to the hot-
gas line as well as the suction line of the
refrigeration system. The connections for
the two “permanent” lines, which means
the line that is always the hot-gas line
and the line that is always the suction
line, regardless of the position of the
valve, are very easy to identify during
installation.
The hot-gas line coming from the
compressor is routed to the small port
of the 4-way valve. The suction line
leading to the compressor is connected
to the middle of the three large ports.
These two lines between the valve and
the compressor always serve the same
function. In this regard, you must ensure
that the external pressure compensation
of an expansion valve is always connected
to the permanent suction line, i.e. to the
line leading away from the middle large
port of the 4-way valve.
If you ignore this rule, excessively high
pressure will be applied to the external
pressure compensation port, which
will not only prevent the expansion
valve from operating properly (it will be
kept closed with great force), but may
even cause permanent damage to the
expansion valve. All that’s left now is
the two outer large ports. Both of these
ports can temporarily be on the high-
pressure or the low-pressure side.
Installation
If the valve is installed using the standard
soldering process (copper/copper solder
joint with hard solder, such as Silfos 15),
please note the following: Real copper
stubs, which are usually present on valves
of this type, are very suitable for soldering
to copper lines.
Due to the excellent heat conduction
properties of copper and the close
fit of the slider mechanism parts, it is
extremely important to prevent the
valve body heating during the soldering
process as much as possible. For this
purpose, a wet cloth should always be
wrapped around the valve to cool it
during the soldering process. With this
hurdle overcome, the 4-way valve is a
component that will operate reliably for
the lifetime of a refrigeration system.
Application
4-way valves are used to reverse the
circulation in reversible refrigeration
systems.
With this reversal, the evaporator
becomes a condenser and the condenser
becomes an evaporator.
This switchover is often used in systems
such as split-unit air conditioners that
are used for cooling in the summer and
heating in the transitional period. In
heating mode, these units operate as
air-to-air heat pumps.
Another application arises from the
desire for efficient defrosting. When the
circulation is reversed in a reversible
system, the evaporator becomes a
condenser and can be defrosted by
internal heating. This means that the
necessary heat is provided by hot gas
pumped directly through the tubing
system where the frost has formed,
instead of being provided by electric
heaters in the evaporator module.
This yields excellent defrosting results
and is practically unbeatable as regards
defrosting time, energy consumption,
and effective heat transfer.
Outlook
This completes our discussion about
4-way valves. In the next article, you
can read about another interesting
family of components that are used
specifically in water-cooled condensers:
Temperature and pressure controlled
water valves used for condensing
pressure regulation.