When refrigerant is saturated, what does that indicate?

When refrigerant is saturated, it indicates that the refrigerant exists in a state where both liquid and vapor phases coexist. This means that the refrigerant is at its boiling point for the given pressure, and any additional heat added to the liquid will not vaporize it completely but will instead convert some of it into vapor.

In practical refrigeration systems, saturation is a crucial consideration because it affects the efficiency and capacity of the system. Understanding that the refrigerant can exist as a mixture of gas and liquid helps in determining the phase changes that occur during the refrigeration cycle, such as in evaporators and condensers. This knowledge is vital for accurate pressure and temperature readings needed for optimal system performance.