What happens to the refrigerant as it moves from the evaporator to the compressor?

As refrigerant moves from the evaporator to the compressor, its temperature increases. In the evaporator, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the surrounding environment, which causes it to change from a liquid to a vapor. Once it has entered the compressor, it is then subjected to compression.

During this compression process, the vapor refrigerant is compressed into a smaller volume, which raises both its temperature and pressure. Since the compressor is responsible for moving the refrigerant through the system, any increase in temperature during this phase is crucial for the efficiency of the refrigeration cycle, as the refrigerant needs to reach a higher temperature to effectively release heat in the condenser.

Key to understanding this process is the fact that an increase in temperature is a direct result of the compression of the refrigerant vapor, which is a fundamental principle in refrigeration cycles. The choice relating to the refrigerant absorbing heat, losing pressure, or condensing into a liquid does not occur during this segment of the process, making the notion of temperature increase the most accurate description of what occurs as the refrigerant transitions from the evaporator to the compressor.