The present invention relates to a method for operating a supercritical
refrigerant circuit (10), in particular for a motor vehicle. The
refrigerant circuit (10) comprises a main circuit (12) with a compressor (14), an electronically controlled and lockable first expansion valve (18), a
gas cooler (16) for heating a medium to be heated, and at least one
pressure sensor (26B), which are arranged downstream of the compressor (14) and upstream of the first expansion valve (18), a
chiller (20) and / or an
evaporator (22) for cooling a medium to be cooled, which are arranged downstream of the first expansion valve (18) and upstream of the compressor (14), and a
refrigerant receiver (24) downstream of the
chiller (20) and / or
evaporator (22) and upstream of the compressor (14).The refrigerant circuit (10) further comprises at least a first
branch (30) with a lockable second expansion valve (32), which branches off downstream from the compressor (14) and upstream from the
gas cooler (16) and is connected to the refrigerant
receiver (24), wherein the pressure between compressor (14) and first expansion valve (18), preferably between compressor (14) and
gas cooler (16), is determined.The refrigerant circuit (10) is characterized in that, when it is detected that the pressure downstream of the compressor (14) and upstream of the first expansion valve (18) is below a specified first pressure value (P1), the main circuit (12) is
shut down, in particular by closing the first expansion valve (18) and opening the second expansion valve (32), so that the refrigerant flow downstream of the compressor (14) is essentially completely routed through the first
branch (30) to be drawn back into the compressor (14) via the refrigerant
receiver (24).