CN111336727A

CN111336727A - Air conditioner

Info

Publication number: CN111336727A
Application number: CN202010162889.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吕福俊; 傅琳霞; 刘志萌; 陈朋; 王月亮
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner Gen Corp Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner Gen Corp Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-10
Filing date: 2020-03-10
Publication date: 2020-06-26
Also published as: WO2021179542A1

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of air conditioner energy conservation and discloses an air conditioner. The air conditioner comprises a compressor and a gas-liquid separator, wherein the gas outlet end of the gas-liquid separator is communicated with the gas return port of the compressor; and a thermoelectric conversion device having a cold end side in thermal conductive contact with the compressor to absorb heat from the compressor, and a hot end side in thermal conductive contact with the gas-liquid separator to emit heat to the gas-liquid separator. The air conditioner provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can utilize the thermoelectric conversion device to transfer heat on the compressor body to the gas-liquid separator so as to utilize the heat to raise the temperature of a refrigerant in the gas-liquid separator, thereby effectively raising the return air temperature of the compressor and enhancing the compression effect of the compressor; through the arrangement of the thermoelectric conversion device, the heat transferred to the outer wall by the compressor is recycled, and the utilization rate of waste heat is improved.

Description

Air conditioner

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of air conditioner energy conservation, for example to an air conditioner.

Background

Currently, an air conditioner has become a popular household refrigeration device, which can discharge heat from an indoor environment to an outdoor environment in a high temperature weather condition in summer to create a low temperature comfortable temperature environment indoors; and the heat of the outdoor environment can be absorbed and transmitted to the indoor environment in severe cold weather conditions in winter, so that a temperature environment with pleasant temperature is created indoors. The core of the air conditioner for realizing heat transmission between indoor and outdoor environments is the compressor, and the temperature and pressure of a refrigerant can be increased by the reciprocating circulation pressurization operation in the compressor, so that the temperature difference condition of heat exchange with the outdoor or indoor environment is met.

In the process of implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is found that at least the following problems exist in the related art:

the compressor body is generally made of metal and other materials which are easy to conduct heat, so that when the compressor is used for compressing and heating a refrigerant, a part of heat is transferred to the outer wall of the compressor body from the compression cavity and gradually dissipated to the outdoor environment, and the part of heat is not well utilized.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview nor is intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of such embodiments but rather as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides an air conditioner to solve the technical problem that heat transferred to an outer wall by a compressor is not well utilized in the related art.

In some embodiments, an air conditioner includes:

the gas outlet end of the gas-liquid separator is communicated with a gas return port of the compressor;

and a thermoelectric conversion device having a cold end side in thermal conductive contact with the compressor to absorb heat from the compressor, and a hot end side in thermal conductive contact with the gas-liquid separator to emit heat to the gas-liquid separator.

The air conditioner provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can realize the following technical effects:

the air conditioner provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can utilize the thermoelectric conversion device to transfer heat on the compressor body to the gas-liquid separator so as to utilize the heat to raise the temperature of a refrigerant in the gas-liquid separator, thereby effectively raising the return air temperature of the compressor and enhancing the compression effect of the compressor; through the arrangement of the thermoelectric conversion device, the heat transferred to the outer wall by the compressor is recycled, and the utilization rate of waste heat is improved.

The foregoing general description and the following description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the application.

Drawings

One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, which correspond to the accompanying drawings and not in limitation thereof, in which elements having the same reference numeral designations are shown as like elements and not in limitation thereof, and wherein:

fig. 1 is an assembly view of a compressor and a gas-liquid separator of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is an assembly view illustrating a compressor and a gas-liquid separator of an air conditioner according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic view of a semiconductor-type thermoelectric conversion device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic view of a semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device provided in yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic view of a semiconductor thermoelectric conversion device according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Wherein, 1, a compressor; 11. an air return port; 2. a gas-liquid separator; 21. an air outlet end; 3. a thermoelectric conversion device; 21. an N/P type semiconductor unit; 211. an N-type semiconductor; 212. a P-type semiconductor; 213. a flow guide strip; 22. a power supply unit; 231. a first thermally conductive substrate; 232. a second thermally conductive substrate.

Detailed Description

So that the manner in which the features and elements of the disclosed embodiments can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosed embodiments, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. In the following description of the technology, for purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, one or more embodiments may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices may be shown in simplified form in order to simplify the drawing.

Fig. 1 is an assembly view of a compressor and a gas-liquid separator of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 2 is an assembly view of a compressor and a gas-liquid separator of an air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides an air conditioner, which comprises an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, wherein the outdoor unit is provided with a compressor 1, a gas-liquid separator 2 and other components, and the gas outlet end 21 of the gas-liquid separator 2 is communicated with the gas return port 11 of the compressor 1; when the air conditioner operates in a refrigeration mode, a dehumidification mode, a heating mode and other modes, the refrigerant circulation mode is that gas-liquid two-state mixed refrigerant after heat exchange firstly flows back to the gas-liquid separator 2, the gas-liquid separator 2 separates gas refrigerant and liquid refrigerant in the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant, and then the gas refrigerant is conveyed to the air return end of the compressor 1 through the air outlet end 21, so that the refrigerant quantity and the refrigerant temperature of the gas refrigerant conveyed by the gas-liquid separator 2 can directly influence the compression effect of the compressor 1.

In this embodiment, the outdoor unit of the air conditioner is further provided with a thermoelectric conversion device 3, and the thermoelectric conversion device 3 includes a cold side and a hot side, and the cold side has a low temperature so as to absorb heat from the outside, and the hot side has a high temperature so as to absorb heat from the outside. The thermoelectric effect which can be selectively applied is 'Peltier effect', and the Peltier effect refers to that when current flows through a loop consisting of different conductors, the phenomena of heat absorption and heat release can respectively occur at joints of the different conductors along with the difference of current directions except for generating irreversible Joule heat; therefore, in the present embodiment, the cold end side of the thermoelectric conversion device 3 is a joint where a heat absorption phenomenon occurs, and the hot end side is a joint where a heat release phenomenon occurs.

Here, the cold end side of the thermoelectric conversion device 3 is in heat-conducting contact with the compressor 1, so that heat can be absorbed from the compressor 1 by using the cold end side, and by absorbing heat of the compressor 1 body, heat waste caused by heat dissipation to the outdoor environment can be reduced, and meanwhile, under some high-temperature severe weather conditions, the body temperature of the compressor 1 can be effectively reduced, thereby ensuring stable operation of the compressor 1; the hot end side of the thermoelectric conversion device 3 is in heat conduction contact with the gas-liquid separator 2, so that the hot end side can be utilized to emit heat to the gas-liquid separator 2, the heat is released to the gas-liquid separator 2, the heat can be conducted to the refrigerant inside the gas-liquid separator 2, more liquid refrigerants can be heated and evaporated into gaseous state, the output quantity of the gaseous refrigerant is improved, the temperature of the gaseous refrigerant can be continuously improved, the temperature of the refrigerant conveyed to the compressor 1 can be improved, and the compression effect of the compressor 1 on the refrigerant is effectively enhanced.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, fig. 4 is a schematic view of a semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device provided in yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 5 is a schematic view of a semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device provided in yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

In some alternative embodiments, the thermoelectric conversion device 3 is a semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device, as shown in fig. 3, the semiconductor type thermoelectric device includes an N/P type semiconductor unit 21 and a power supply unit 22, wherein the N/P type semiconductor unit 21 includes at least one N type semiconductor 211 and at least one P type semiconductor 212; taking the semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device shown in fig. 3 as an example, the N/P type semiconductor unit 21 includes one each of an N type semiconductor 211 and a P type semiconductor 212 arranged side by side, where two sides of the end portions of the N type semiconductor 211 and the P type semiconductor 212 are defined as a first side and a second side, respectively, wherein a first end of the N type semiconductor 211 at the first side is electrically connected to the positive electrode of the power supply unit 22, a first end of the P type semiconductor 212 at the first side is electrically connected to the negative electrode of the power supply unit 22, and a second end of the N type semiconductor 211 and the P type semiconductor 212 at the second side is electrically connected through a conducting bar 213 capable of conducting electricity and heat.

The first sides of the N-type semiconductor 211 and the P-type semiconductor 212 can emit heat after the circuit of the N/P-type semiconductor unit 21 is energized, and are therefore the hot-side as the semiconductor thermoelectric conversion device; the second sides of the N-type semiconductor 211 and the P-type semiconductor 212 can emit heat, and thus are cold side semiconductor thermoelectric conversion devices. In the embodiment, the first side of the N/P type semiconductor unit 21 is in heat conduction contact with the gas-liquid separator 2, and the second side is in heat conduction contact with the compressor 1, so that heat is transferred between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2 by utilizing the heat transferred between the first side and the second side of the N/P type semiconductor unit 21.

Here, the power supply unit 22 is electrically connected to a power supply circuit of the air conditioner, and thus, is a power source for supplying power to the air conditioner as power of the semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device.

In some alternative embodiments, the semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device includes one N/P type semiconductor unit 21.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device includes a plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 4, a plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are connected in series, wherein the cold end sides of the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are respectively in heat conduction contact with the compressor 1, and the hot end sides are respectively in heat conduction contact with the gas-liquid separator 2, so that the plurality of connected N/P type semiconductor units 21 can be used to simultaneously transfer heat, and the heat conduction efficiency between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2 is improved.

In this embodiment, the profile semiconductors between two connected N/P type semiconductor units 21 are connected, for example, in fig. 4, the two N/P type semiconductor units 21 are connected by electrically connecting the P type semiconductor 212 of one N/P type semiconductor unit 21 with the N type semiconductor 211 of another N/P type semiconductor unit 21, so that the circuits are a serial communication circuit, and the cold end sides and the hot end sides of the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are located on the same side, which facilitates the installation of the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2.

The plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are arranged at intervals. Optionally, the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are arranged at intervals along the radial direction of the compressor 1, so that the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are utilized to uniformly transfer heat between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2, and the problem of uneven heat exchange such as local overheating of the compressor 1 or the gas-liquid separator 2 is reduced.

The N/P type semiconductor unit 21 in this embodiment is small in size and dimension, and when it is disposed between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2, there is a possibility that the length of the N/P type semiconductor unit 21 may not satisfy the requirement of being in heat-conductive contact with both the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2. In this case, as shown in fig. 5, the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are disposed in an abutting manner from head to tail, wherein the head end of each N/P type semiconductor unit 21 is a heat absorption end, and the tail end thereof is a heat release end, so that the head-most N/P type semiconductor unit 21 can be in heat-conducting contact with the compressor 1, and the tail-most N/P type semiconductor unit 21 can be in heat-conducting contact with the gas-liquid separator 2, thereby realizing heat transfer to the circuit.

Here, heat may be transferred not only along the circuit by thermoelectric conversion, but also between the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21, and since the N/P type semiconductors 212 are all conductive, in order to cause a short circuit between two N/P type semiconductor units 21 abutting end to end, components such as heat-conducting plates are disposed between the abutting N/P type semiconductor units 21, and optionally, the heat-conducting plates are made of materials that are easy to conduct heat and are insulating.

Alternatively, the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are connected in parallel, and the same type semiconductors between the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 are connected, for example, the P type semiconductors 212 of two N/P type semiconductor units 21 are respectively connected to the negative electrodes of the power supply unit 22, and the N type semiconductors 211 are respectively connected to the positive electrodes of the power supply unit 22. In the present embodiment, the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units 21 connected in parallel also enable the simultaneous transfer of heat and improve the heat transfer efficiency between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2.

In some optional embodiments, in order to improve the heat absorption efficiency between the thermoelectric conversion device 3 and the compressor 1, the thermoelectric conversion device 3 of the present application further includes a first heat conducting substrate 231, and a second heat conducting substrate 232 is attached to the housing of the compressor 1; here, the heat conducting substrate is made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, and the cold side of the thermoelectric conversion device 3 is in heat-conducting contact with the compressor 1 through the first heat conducting substrate 231, so that the contact area between the thermoelectric conversion device 3 and the compressor 1 can be effectively increased, and heat can be conducted more intensively.

Optionally, an outer wall of the compressor 1, which is close to the first heat conducting substrate 231, is an arc shape, so that the first heat conducting substrate 231 also adopts an arc plate shape matched with the first heat conducting substrate 231, so as to ensure the close contact between the first heat conducting substrate 231 and the compressor 1.

In some optional embodiments, in order to improve the heat release efficiency between the thermoelectric conversion device 3 and the gas-liquid separator 2, the thermoelectric conversion device 3 of the present application further includes a second heat conducting substrate 232, and the second heat conducting substrate 232 abuts against the housing of the gas-liquid separator 2; here, the second heat transfer substrate 232 may be made of the same material as the first heat transfer substrate 231, and the contact area between the thermoelectric conversion device 3 and the gas-liquid separator 2 may be effectively increased, so that heat may be more intensively transferred.

Optionally, an outer wall of the gas-liquid separator 2, which is close to the second heat conducting substrate 232, is in an arc shape, so that the second heat conducting substrate 232 also adopts an arc plate shape matched with the second heat conducting substrate 232, so as to ensure the close contact between the second heat conducting substrate 232 and the gas-liquid separator 2.

In some alternative embodiments, the thermoelectric conversion device 3 is disposed between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2 under the influence of gravity, and the compressor 1 itself is also prone to large vibration during operation, which may cause misalignment of the thermoelectric conversion device 3 from the initially set heat exchange position. Therefore, in order to reduce the occurrence of misalignment and the like, the air conditioner further includes a stopper structure for fixing the thermoelectric conversion device 3 between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2.

Alternatively, the limiting structure is a welding structure for welding at least one of the first heat conducting substrate 231 and the second heat conducting substrate 232 to the corresponding compressor 1 or the gas-liquid separator 2, and the thermoelectric conversion device 3 may also be welded and fixed to the limiting structure.

Or, the limiting structure is a clamping groove formed in the outer wall of the compressor 1 and the outer wall of the gas-liquid separator 2, the first heat conducting substrate 231 can be clamped in the clamping groove formed in the outer wall of the compressor 1, and the second heat conducting substrate 232 can be clamped in the clamping groove formed in the outer wall of the gas-liquid separator 2.

Here, the above two limiting structures are mainly used as exemplary illustrations, and other structural forms that can be used to limit the thermoelectric conversion device 3 between the compressor 1 and the gas-liquid separator 2 should also be covered within the scope of the present application.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the procedures and structures described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An air conditioner, comprising:

the gas-liquid separator is communicated with a gas return port of the compressor;

a thermoelectric conversion device having a cold end side in thermal conductive contact with the compressor to absorb heat from the compressor, and a hot end side in thermal conductive contact with the gas-liquid separator to emit heat to the gas-liquid separator.

2. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric conversion device further comprises a first thermally conductive substrate abutting a housing of the compressor, the cold side of the thermoelectric conversion device being in thermally conductive contact with the compressor through the first thermally conductive substrate.

3. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermoelectric conversion device further comprises a second heat conductive substrate abutting against the housing of the gas-liquid separator, and a hot side of the thermoelectric conversion device is in heat conductive contact with the gas-liquid separator through the second heat conductive substrate.

4. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric conversion device is one or more, wherein a plurality of the thermoelectric conversion devices are arranged at intervals.

5. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the thermoelectric conversion device is a semiconductor type thermoelectric conversion device including one or more N/P type semiconductor units.

6. The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of said N/P type semiconductor units are connected in series, and the hetero-type semiconductors between two N/P type semiconductor units connected are connected.

7. The air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of N/P type semiconductor units are arranged at intervals.

8. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 6, wherein a plurality of said N/P type semiconductor units are disposed end to end, wherein each of said N/P type semiconductor units has a heat absorbing end at the head end and a heat releasing end at the tail end.

9. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 5, wherein a plurality of said N/P type semiconductor units are connected in parallel, and the same type of semiconductor between a plurality of said N/P type semiconductor units is connected.

10. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper structure for fixing the thermoelectric conversion device between the compressor and the gas-liquid separator.