KR20090099612A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

An air conditioner is provided to improve heating efficiency without increasing the output of a compressor by heating up refrigerant of low pressure part of heating cycle from the induction heater in a heating process. An air conditioner(1) comprises a compressor(10), indoor and outdoor heat exchangers(21,41), an outdoor expansion device(30), an accumulator(50), a first by-pass flow path(70), a first hot gas valve(71), and an induction heater(100). The refrigerant passing through the compressor is heat-exchanged in the indoor heat exchanger. The outdoor expansion device decompresses the refrigerant. The outdoor heat exchanger is arranged in the discharging part of the outdoor expansion device. The refrigerant is heat-exchanged with external air in the outdoor heat exchanger. The accumulator separates gaseous refrigerant among the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger. The first bypass flow path bypasses the refrigerant from the outlet of the compressor to the inlet of the outdoor heat exchanger. The first hot gas valve controls the flow rate of the refrigerant passing the bypass flow path. The induction heater is installed at one side of the accumulator. The induction heater heats the inner refrigerant of the accumulator.

Description

Air Conditioner {Air conditioner}

An embodiment according to the invention relates to an air conditioner.

The embodiment according to the present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for improving the efficiency of heating and defrosting performance by improving the structure of a heater provided in an accumulator.

In general, air conditioners are home appliances for maintaining indoor air in a state most suitable for use and purpose. For example, in the summer, the room is cooled to a cool state, in winter, the room is controlled to a warm heating state, and also the humidity of the room and the air in the room to a comfortable clean state.

As life convenience products such as air conditioners are gradually expanded and used, consumers are demanding high energy use efficiency, performance improvement and convenience products.

Such an air conditioner is divided into a separate air conditioner that separates the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, and an integrated air conditioner that combines the indoor unit and the outdoor unit into one device. And, according to the installation form of the air conditioner, it is divided into a wall-mounted air conditioner and a frame air conditioner configured to be mounted on the wall, and a slim air conditioner configured to stand in the living room.

In addition, the air conditioner is a single air conditioner configured to be used in a small place such as a home, and is composed of a capacity capable of driving one indoor unit according to the capacity, and a medium to large air composed of a very large capacity for use in a company or a restaurant. The air conditioner is divided into a multi air conditioner having a capacity capable of sufficiently driving a plurality of indoor units.

Here, the separate air conditioner is configured to be installed indoors to supply hot or cold air into the air conditioning space, and an outdoor unit for compressing, expanding, etc. the refrigerant so that sufficient heat exchange can be performed in the indoor unit.

On the other hand, in the conventional air conditioner capable of heating and cooling, when the outside air temperature during heating operation is near 0 ℃ or 0 ℃ or less in general, in order to improve the heating performance by heating a refrigerant such as sump heater in the radial direction of the accumulator to heat the refrigerant It was.

However, when the sump heater is applied to the accumulator, the heat loss to the outside air is large and the heat transfer to the refrigerant takes a long time. In addition, since the life of the sump heater is short, it is difficult to guarantee reliability, such as frequent replacement of the heater, and the same heat quantity is supplied from the heater.

The embodiment according to the present invention is proposed to solve the above problems, and aims to improve the efficiency of heating and defrosting performance by improving the structure of the heater provided in the accumulator.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an induction heater to the accumulator and to maintain the heating performance without increasing the compressor output by heating the refrigerant through the induction heater.

In addition, in the defrosting process of the evaporator, the induction heater is operated to allow more heat to be transferred to the low pressure refrigerant in the heating cycle, and thus, to improve the defrosting performance.

In an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems, a compressor for compressing a refrigerant; and an indoor heat exchanger for allowing the refrigerant passing through the compressor to heat exchange; and, passing through the indoor heat exchanger An outdoor expansion device for reducing a refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger provided at a discharge side of the outdoor expansion device, and allowing the refrigerant to exchange heat with the outside air, and an accumulator for separating gaseous refrigerant from the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger; And a first bypass passage through which the refrigerant is bypassed from the discharge side of the compressor to the inlet side of the outdoor heat exchanger. The flow rate of the refrigerant provided on the bypass passage and passing through the bypass passage is controlled. A first hot gas valve; And an induction heater provided at one side of the accumulator to allow the refrigerant in the accumulator to be heated.

In addition, the air conditioner according to another embodiment includes a compressor for compressing a refrigerant; a condenser for condensing the refrigerant passing through the compressor; and an outdoor expansion device for reducing the refrigerant passing through the condenser; An evaporator provided at the discharge side of the outdoor expansion device to allow the refrigerant to evaporate, and an accumulator to separate the gas refrigerant from the refrigerant passing through the evaporator; And a first induction heater provided below the accumulator and provided with a coil for heating the accumulator, wherein the refrigerant in the accumulator is inductively heated by an eddy current generated by the coil.

According to the embodiment of the present invention according to the above configuration, by providing an induction heater on one side of the accumulator, the amount of heat transfer lost to outside air is reduced, and the time of heat transfer to the refrigerant from the induction heater is reduced.

In addition, since the induction heater itself has a long life, the reliability of the heater can be ensured, and when the inverter method is applied to the induction heater, there is an advantage in that the heat amount can be adjusted according to the outside temperature.

In addition, by heating the low pressure side refrigerant of the heating cycle from the induction heater in the heating process, there is an advantage that the heating performance can be improved without additionally increasing the output of the compressor.

In addition, in the defrosting process for removing frost formed on the evaporator, by operating the induction heater it is possible to transfer more heat to the low-pressure side refrigerant, there is an advantage that the defrosting performance of the air conditioner can be improved accordingly.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described a specific embodiment of the present invention. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can easily suggest other embodiments within the scope of the same idea.

1 is a view showing the configuration of the heating cycle of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a compressor 10 compressing a refrigerant and a refrigerant compressed at high temperature and high pressure by the compressor 10 are introduced into the air conditioner 1. An indoor heat exchanger 21 for exchanging heat, an indoor unit fan 22 for blowing heat-exchanged warm air into the room, an outdoor expansion device 30 for expanding the heat exchanged refrigerant to low pressure, and an expanded refrigerant It includes an outdoor heat exchanger 41 for the heat exchange, and an outdoor unit fan 42 for blowing the heat exchanged cold air to the outside.

In detail, when a heating cycle is performed through an air conditioner, a condenser is applied to the indoor heat exchanger 21 to condense the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 10 to a low temperature, and the outdoor heat exchanger 41 is applied. The evaporator is applied to evaporate the liquid refrigerant decompressed through the outdoor expansion device (30).

Here, the high pressure is formed before the refrigerant circulating in the heating cycle passes through the outdoor expansion device 30, and the low pressure is formed after passing through the outdoor expansion device 30. Hereinafter, the refrigerant before passing through the outdoor expansion device 30 is referred to as a high pressure side refrigerant, and after passing through the low pressure side refrigerant.

In addition, a second bypass flow path 60 is provided on the discharge side of the compressor 10 to allow the refrigerant that has passed through the compressor 10 to bypass the inlet side of the compressor 10. On the second bypass flow path 60, a second hot gas valve 61 is provided which controls the amount of refrigerant to be bypassed.

Here, the second bypass flow path 60 may be connected to the inlet side or the discharge side of the accumulator 50 to be described later.

In detail, the second hot gas valve 61 bypasses a part of the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 to the inlet side of the compressor 10 so that the evaporation temperature and the pressure of the refrigerant at the inlet of the compressor 10 are increased. Let it rise Thereby, there is an advantage that the input date to be input to the compressor 10 is reduced.

In addition, when the refrigerant is bypassed by the second hot gas valve 61, an imbalance generated between the capacity of the compressor 10 and the capacity of the indoor heat exchanger 21 may be eliminated. .

In addition, a first bypass passage 70 is provided on the discharge side of the compressor 10 to allow the refrigerant to be bypassed to the inlet side of the outdoor heat exchanger 41, and on the first bypass passage 70. A first hot gas valve 71 is provided that controls the amount of refrigerant passed.

In detail, the first hot gas valve 71 may be supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 41 by bypassing the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 during the defrosting of the outdoor heat exchanger 41. As a result, the outdoor heat exchanger 41 may be defrosted.

On the other hand, in the heating cycle of the air conditioner, when both the second hot gas valve 61 and the first hot gas valve 71 are opened, as described above, the refrigerant is bypassed and flows, thereby heating and Defrost can be done at the same time. Hereinafter, such an operation method is called a continuous heating defrost system.

In addition, a receiver 80 is provided on the discharge side of the indoor heat exchanger 21 to temporarily receive the refrigerant and separate the liquid refrigerant from the refrigerant.

Further, on the discharge side of the receiver 80, a third bypass flow path 90 is provided for allowing the refrigerant to bypass the inlet side of the compressor 10. In addition, the third bypass flow path 90 is provided with a liquid injection valve 91 for controlling the flow rate so that the liquid refrigerant passing through the receiver 80 flows into the compressor 10.

Here, when the discharge side refrigerant temperature of the compressor 10 is greater than or equal to a critical point, the liquid injection valve 91 causes the liquid refrigerant to flow into the compressor 10 at an instant so that the discharge side refrigerant temperature of the compressor 10 is controlled. do.

In addition, an accumulator 50 is provided on the discharge side of the outdoor heat exchanger 41 so that only the gaseous refrigerant of the refrigerant evaporated through the outdoor heat exchanger 41 is introduced into the compressor 10. In addition, the accumulator 50 may have a substantially cylindrical shape.

In addition, one side of the accumulator 50 is provided with an induction heater 100 to allow the refrigerant of the accumulator 50 to be heated.

Hereinafter, the induction heater 100 will be described with reference to the drawings.

2 is a view showing the structure of the accumulator and the induction heater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the induction heater 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the coil 120 to the current flows to generate a magnetic field, and a ceramic plate provided for insulation on the upper side of the coil 120 ( 110).

In general, the induction heater 100 is a heater using an induction current generated by a magnetic field as a heat source, and is composed of an electromagnet through which a high frequency alternating current can pass. The electromagnet includes a coil 120 through which an alternating current flows.

The heat generating action of the induction heater 100 will be described.

When an alternating current passes through the coil 120, an alternating magnetic field is formed in the coil 120 that changes in direction with time. In addition, the magnetic lines 122 pass through the lower portion of the accumulator 50, and eddy currents (eddy currents) are generated by electromagnetic induction. In addition, a predetermined heat is generated due to the eddy current.

That is, the ceramic plate 110 is provided below the accumulator 50 as an insulator provided at the coil 120 through which an alternating current flows and the upper side of the coil 120 to prevent current from flowing through the accumulator 50. This is provided.

Meanwhile, although the induction heater 100 is illustrated as being provided below the accumulator 50 in the drawing, the induction heater 100 may be arranged to be wound below the accumulator 50.

When a high frequency current flows in the coil 120 while the induction heater 100 is installed below the accumulator 50, the magnetic force line 122 passes through the lower end 50a of the accumulator 50. Then, an induced current is generated below the accumulator 50, and accordingly, a predetermined heat is generated.

Here, at least the lower end 50a of the accumulator 50 should be made of a resistance component reacting with the magnetic force line 122 in order for the accumulator 50 to be inductively heated by the induction heater 100. do.

In the accumulator 50 according to the present embodiment, pig iron, pure iron, carbon steel, alloy steel, cast iron and the like may be used.

Here, the reason why the coil 120 is provided below the accumulator 50 is because the liquid refrigerant is positioned below the accumulator 50. Therefore, heat generated by the coil 120 may be directly transferred to the liquid refrigerant.

On the other hand, since the induction current heats only the accumulator 50 itself, the refrigerant inside the accumulator 50 may be induction heated. Then, the liquid refrigerant of the accumulator 50 is vaporized, whereby the vaporized refrigerant 51 can be separated. The induction heater 100 is a heater for supplying heat by an induced current, and has an advantage of low heat loss and good efficiency.

For example, the air conditioner may be defrosted by the induction heater 100 until the evaporation temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger 41 is -8 ° C. In the conventional defrosting method, the defrosting capability is much superior to that in which the defrosting was possible until the evaporation temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger 41 was -1 ° C.

In addition, the induction heater 100 may be an inverter method for controlling the amount of heat supplied from the heater 100. In this case, there is an advantage that the amount of heat can be supplied to vary according to the outside temperature and the temperature of the heat exchanger requiring defrost.

The continuous heating defrosting operation of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When the continuous heating defrosting operation, that is, heating and defrosting operation are performed at the same time, both the second hot gas valve 61 and the first hot gas valve 71 are opened. Then, the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 is bypassed to the second bypass flow path 60 and the first bypass flow path 70.

In this case, the refrigerant introduced into the compressor 10 inlet through the second bypass flow path 60 increases the evaporation temperature and the pressure of the low pressure side refrigerant to improve the compressor 10 efficiency.

In addition, the refrigerant introduced into the inlet of the outdoor heat exchanger 41 through the first bypass passage 70 transfers a predetermined heat to the low pressure side refrigerant, and thus the defrosting is performed in the outdoor heat exchanger 41. Is done.

On the other hand, when the outside air temperature is low in relation to the heating operation, the induction heater 100 can be operated. That is, when the outside air temperature is low, the evaporation temperature of the low pressure side refrigerant decreases. At this time, the compressor 10 is required to increase the output for maintaining the room blow-out temperature as it corresponds to the evaporation temperature of the coolant down.

However, when the induction heater 100 is operated, since a predetermined amount of heat can be applied to the low pressure side refrigerant, there is an advantage that the burden of increasing the output of the compressor 10 is reduced.

On the other hand, in the case where an frost is generated in the outdoor heat exchanger 41, that is, the evaporator in connection with the defrosting operation, the heat exchange performance of the evaporator 41 is reduced. At this time, the first hot gas valve 71 may be opened to defrost the evaporator 41.

On the other hand, when the induction heater 100 is operated, more heat is transferred to the low pressure side refrigerant, and thus defrosting performance may be improved.

That is, the refrigerant of the outdoor heat exchanger 41 is supplied with heat by the high temperature refrigerant flowing through the first bypass flow path 70, and predetermined heat is provided by the induction heater 100. Can be.

Therefore, there is an advantage that the amount of heat required for the defrost of the evaporator can be provided to the outdoor heat exchanger 41 more quickly.

Another embodiment is proposed.

In the heating operation process of the air conditioner, the induction heater 100 may be provided in an outdoor heat exchanger (evaporator) pipe, that is, a refrigerant pipe connected to the outdoor heat exchanger 41. Here, the induction heater 100 may be formed in a manner that is wound around the outer circumferential surface of the outdoor unit pipe.

In this case, since the refrigerant in the outdoor unit pipe is heated, more heat may be provided to the outdoor heat exchanger 41 in which the defrosting process is performed, whereby the defrosting efficiency is improved.

On the other hand, the induction heater 100 may be provided to the receiver 80 to separate the liquid refrigerant from the refrigerant heat exchanged in the indoor heat exchanger 21. Here, the induction heater 100 may be attached to one side of the receiver 80.

In addition, when a predetermined heat is provided to the receiver 80 through the induction heater 100, the refrigerant in the receiver 80 may be heated.

Then, in the receiver 80, there is an effect that the gas refrigerant and the liquid refrigerant can be easily separated.

1 is a view showing the configuration of the heating cycle of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing the structure of the accumulator and the induction heater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (12)

A compressor for compressing the refrigerant; An indoor heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the refrigerant passing through the compressor; An outdoor expansion device to reduce the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger; An outdoor heat exchanger provided at a discharge side of the outdoor expansion device to allow the refrigerant to exchange heat with outside air; An accumulator for separating gaseous refrigerant from the refrigerant having passed through the outdoor heat exchanger; A first bypass flow passage allowing the refrigerant to be bypassed from the discharge side of the compressor to the inlet side of the outdoor heat exchanger; A first hot gas valve provided on the bypass flow passage and configured to control a flow rate of the refrigerant passing through the bypass flow passage; And An air conditioner provided on one side of the accumulator, the induction heater for heating the refrigerant in the accumulator. The method of claim 1, In the induction heater, A coil supplied with alternating current, An air conditioner provided between the coil and the accumulator and including a ceramic plate for electrical insulation. The method of claim 1, The induction heater is an air conditioner, characterized in that the inverter is applied to provide a variable heat amount. The method of claim 1, A second bypass flow path is provided for allowing refrigerant to be bypassed from the discharge side of the compressor to the inlet side of the compressor, and on the second bypass flow path, an air conditioner provided with a second hot gas valve for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant. . The method of claim 1, And the induction heater heats the refrigerant of the outdoor heat exchanger while the first hot gas valve is opened to defrost the outdoor heat exchanger. The method of claim 1, When the induction heater is operated, the refrigerant at the compressor inlet side is heated, the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant is increased. The method of claim 1, The accumulator is air conditioner, characterized in that made of at least one material of pig iron, pure iron, carbon steel, alloy steel, cast iron. A compressor for compressing the refrigerant; A condenser for condensing the refrigerant passing through the compressor; An outdoor expansion device to reduce the refrigerant passing through the condenser; An evaporator provided at the discharge side of the outdoor expansion device to allow the refrigerant to evaporate; An accumulator for separating gaseous refrigerant from the refrigerant passing through the evaporator; A first induction heater provided below the accumulator and provided with a coil for causing the accumulator to be heated; The refrigerant in the accumulator is induction heating by the eddy current generated by the coil. The method of claim 8, A second bypass flow path is provided for allowing refrigerant to be bypassed from the discharge side of the compressor to the inlet side of the compressor, and on the second bypass flow path, an air conditioner provided with a second hot gas valve for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant. . The method of claim 8, The air conditioner is provided on the discharge side of the condenser, and further comprises a receiver for separating the liquid refrigerant of the refrigerant. The method of claim 10, In the reviser, An air conditioner provided with a second induction heater to cause the refrigerant in the receiver to heat up. The method of claim 8, In the evaporator pipe connected to the evaporator, An air conditioner provided with a third induction heater that causes the refrigerant passing through the evaporator to be heated.

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