Heat pump system having a high pressure trip controller

Abstract

One aspect presents a heat pump system controller that includes a control board a microprocessor located on and electrically coupled to the control board, and a memory coupled to the microprocessor and located on and electrically coupled to the control board. The memory has a program stored thereon that is configured to relate a temperature received from a liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor with a pressure of a compressor of a heat pump system and change an airflow rate of an indoor blower/heat exchange (ID) system of a heat pump (HP) system to avoid a shutdown of the HP system that occurs when the compressor reaches a trip pressure of the compressor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A heat pump system, comprising:
 an indoor blower/heat exchanger system (ID) system;   an outdoor fan/heat exchanger and compressor (OD) system;   said ID system and said OD system being fluidly coupled together by a liquid refrigerant line;   a liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor coupled to said liquid refrigeration line and configured to provide a temperature of said liquid refrigeration line to said heat pump system;   a controller coupled to said liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor and configured to relate a temperature received from said liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor with a pressure of said compressor and change an airflow rate of said ID system to avoid a shutdown of said HP system that occurs when said compressor reaches a trip pressure of said compressor.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said controller is coupled to a primary controller coupled to said ID system, said primary controller configured to control an operation of said heat pump system according to a temperature set-point. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said primary controller is a thermostat and said thermostat includes said controller. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said controller is programmed with data relating said trip pressure of said compressor with a temperature of said liquid refrigeration line. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said controller changes said airflow rate when said liquid refrigeration line temperature is less than a predetermined maximum temperature of said liquid refrigeration line. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein said predetermined maximum temperature indicates a trip pressure of said compressor. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said controller is further configured to store a trip pressure that occurs during operation of said HP system. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein said controller is further configured to read and store a temperature of said liquid refrigeration line upon the occurrence of said trip pressure and use said stored temperature as an indication of said trip pressure and regulate said airflow rate based on said stored temperature. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said controller is configured to increase or decrease an airflow of said ID system based on said temperature received from said liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an indoor controller and an outdoor controller, wherein either or both of said indoor controller and outdoor controller is coupled to said controller. 
     
     
         11 . A heat pump system controller, comprising:
 a control board;   a microprocessor located on and electrically coupled to said control board; and   a memory coupled to said microprocessor and located on and electrically coupled to said control board and having a program stored thereon, said program configured to relate a temperature received from a liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor with a pressure of a compressor of a heat pump system and change an airflow rate of an indoor blower/heat exchange (ID) system of a heat pump (HP) system to avoid a shutdown of said HP system when said compressor reaches a trip pressure of said compressor.   
     
     
         12 . The controller of  claim 11 , wherein the program configures said controller to cause said ID system to decrease an airflow rate of said ID system in response to a temperature received from a liquid refrigerant line temperature sensor. 
     
     
         13 . The controller of  claim 11 , wherein said controller is coupleable to a primary controller of said HP system, said primary controller configured to control an operation of said ID system according to a temperature set-point. 
     
     
         14 . The controller of  claim 13 , wherein said primary controller is a thermostat and said thermostat includes said controller. 
     
     
         15 . The controller of  claim 11 , wherein said controller is programmed with data relating a trip pressure of said compressor to a temperature of a liquid refrigeration line of said HP system. 
     
     
         16 . The controller of  claim 11 , wherein said controller is configured to decrease an airflow rate of said ID system when said liquid refrigeration line temperature is less than a predetermined maximum temperature of said liquid refrigeration line. 
     
     
         17 . The controller of  claim 16 , wherein said predetermined maximum temperature indicates a pressure of said compressor that is equal to or less than a trip pressure of said compressor. 
     
     
         18 . The controller of  claim 11 , wherein said controller is further configured to store a trip pressure that occurs during operation of said HP system. 
     
     
         19 . The controller of  claim 18 , wherein said controller is further configured to read and store a temperature of said liquid refrigeration line upon the occurrence of said trip pressure and use said stored temperature as an indication of said trip pressure and regulate said airflow rate based on said stored temperature. 
     
     
         20 . The controller of  claim 19 , wherein said controller is configured to increase or decrease an airflow of said ID system based on said temperature received from said liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor. 
     
     
         21 . A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method of measuring and managing an indoor airflow rate of a heat pump system, said method comprising:
 relating a temperature received from a liquid refrigeration line temperature sensor of a heat pump system with a pressure of a compressor of said heat pump system; and   changing an airflow rate of an indoor blower/heat exchange (ID) system of said heat pump (HP) system to avoid a shutdown of said HP system when said compressor reaches a trip pressure of said compressor.