ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,553,650, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH (Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland).

"Centrifugal flash tank" was invented by Stephen Maurice Zardus (York, Pa.) and Matthew Christopher Ferrero (Shrewsbury, Pa.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a flash tank configured to receive a refrigerant and to separate the refrigerant into vapor refrigerant and liquid refrigerant. The flash tank is configured to generate a flow of refrigerant therein along a circular flow path. The flash tank has a main body having a circular cross-section with a diameter and an...