Measuring the oil level in the compressor and automatically refilling when it is low is customary practice. However, today’s requirements are higher. The new INT280 oil level regulator from German company Kriwan sets new standards and meets the latest demands.

If the oil level drops below the permissible lower limit, the regulator automatically opens an integrated solenoid valve and supplies oil from the oil reservoir until the necessary oil level is reached again. If it is not possible to refill the compressor with oil, the compressor is switched off to prevent damage. That is the customary procedure and for many years, this practice was fully adequate. However, the requirements have now been raised and new properties are required in oil management. In the development of the new INT280 oil level regulator, KRIWAN heeded the suggestions and wishes of the users in the practice. As a result, the oil level regulator sets new benchmarks and fulfils the latest wishes of the customers.

With the products that were previously available on the market, it is not possible to adjust the opening time of the valve. However, very different pressure ranges in refrigeration circuits have become increasingly common with the growing use of transcritical CO2 systems and necessitate more flexibility. The time required for opening the solenoid valve and the number of switch operations of the valve significantly affect the precision and quality of the oil refill. Depending on the system (pressure ranges, type of lines or operating points), the ability to enter individual values might be required. The new INT280 also provides time-tested standard values as default setting. In many cases, these values provide very good results. However, it is possible to adapt these values by means of a smart phone app, should the system make it necessary. Thus the system installer can optimise the benefits to the customer by ensuring that the system is well-configured. This is possible both for low pressure ranges (60 bar for subcritical CO2 and other refrigerants) and high pressure ranges (130 bar for transcritical CO2).

The first INT280 already featured easy installation: The integrated transformer for mains voltage, the option of rotating the regulator 180° and the complete prewiring made it easy to install the INT280 at the compressor. All these advantages are still present in the new version, but several new features have been added: For example, the screws with which the oil level regulator is bolted in place are now much easier to turn with the tool. They no longer need to be grasped with an open-ended wrench, but can instead quickly be turned with a hexagon key. This saves time during installation.

Another advantage is that the size in the installation direction has been significantly reduced. More space makes installation easier and also makes it possible to conveniently mount the regulator to narrow scroll racks.