Background
Inverter compressors, such as centrifugal compressors or scroll compressors having an inverter drive, typically use the inverter drive to vary the speed of the motor, which in turn can control the capacity of the compressor. When such an inverter compressor is incorporated into an air conditioning system, the output capacity of the compressor can be varied to match the actual load demand by controlling the operating frequency of the compressor. Therefore, the inverter compressor can significantly improve the energy efficiency ratio of the air conditioning system, and thus is increasingly widely applied to the air conditioning system.
An inverter compressor (hereinafter, simply referred to as "compressor") operates by sucking a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant gas from a component (e.g., an evaporator) of an air conditioning system through a suction port thereof and compressing the refrigerant gas to a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas in the compressor. Therefore, a part of the lubricant oil used for lubricating the moving parts in the compressor is entrained by the refrigerant gas with high temperature and high pressure and discharged from the discharge port of the compressor to the corresponding parts of the air conditioning system, and then returns to the compressor along with the refrigerant after circulating in the air conditioning system. The magnitude of the environmental load will determine the operating frequency of the compressor. If the environmental load increases substantially, the operating frequency of the compressor will also need to be increased until the maximum frequency is reached. At the same time, the operating frequency of the compressor will affect the oil discharge rate of the compressor (i.e., the ratio of the lubricant oil entrained by the refrigerant gas leaving the compressor to the total lubricant oil), and thus the amount of lubricant oil in the compressor. The amount of lubricant in a compressor is generally dependent on two aspects: on one hand, lubricating oil can be discharged along with a high-pressure gaseous refrigerant in the running process of the compressor, and the higher the running frequency of the compressor is, the more the lubricating oil is discharged; on the other hand, the discharged lubricating oil can be returned back to the compressor along with the circulation of the refrigerant, so that the lubricating oil in the compressor is a dynamic process. Therefore, the operating frequency of the compressor is controlled in a manner that affects the amount of lubricant in the compressor.
As shown in fig. 1, in the prior art, the control of the increasing frequency (abbreviated as "increasing frequency") of the compressor usually adopts a linear increasing frequency control mode, i.e. the compressor is directly increased from the current low frequency fc (unit is "rps", i.e. "rpm") to the maximum set frequency fmax within a relatively short time period t0 at a certain fixed increasing frequency speed (e.g. 1 rps/s). This linear up-conversion control method most easily causes a lack of lubrication oil in the compressor and various troubles caused by the lack of lubrication oil. This is because, during the raising frequency of the compressor, on the one hand, the oil discharge rate of the compressor rises up to a maximum value, and on the other hand, the discharged compressor lubricant oil is not circulated back into the compressor in good time, which results in a continuous reduction of the lubricant oil level in the compressor. It is known that a compressor operating in an oil starvation condition is susceptible to failure.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new solution to the above problems.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve the above problems in the prior art, that is, to solve the technical problem that the compressor fails due to oil shortage in the frequency increasing operation stage, the present invention provides a control method for increasing the frequency of the compressor, wherein when the compressor determines that the operation frequency needs to be increased during the operation, the control method comprises: determining the current operating frequency and the maximum set frequency; selecting a plurality of target operating frequencies in a frequency interval formed by the current operating frequency and a maximum set frequency, wherein the minimum target operating frequency is greater than the current operating frequency, the maximum target operating frequency is equal to the maximum set frequency, and adjacent target operating frequencies have a preset frequency difference; and sequentially increasing the compressor from the current operation frequency to each target operation frequency at a predetermined speed in the order of the minimum target operation frequency to the maximum target operation frequency, and operating at each target operation frequency for a predetermined time.
In a preferred embodiment of the above method for controlling up-conversion of the compressor, the plurality of target operating frequencies include 2 to 6 target operating frequencies.
In a preferred embodiment of the method for controlling the frequency up-conversion of the compressor, the target operating frequencies include 4 target operating frequencies.
In a preferred embodiment of the above method for controlling up-conversion of a compressor, the frequency difference between the adjacent target operating frequencies may be the same or different.
In a preferred embodiment of the above method for controlling up-conversion of the compressor, the frequency difference between the adjacent target operating frequencies is 5 rps.
In a preferred embodiment of the method for controlling the frequency up-conversion of the compressor, the predetermined time for operating at each target operating frequency may be the same or different.
In a preferable embodiment of the method for controlling the frequency raising of the compressor, the predetermined time is 30 seconds.
In a preferred embodiment of the above method for controlling the frequency of the compressor, the predetermined speed at which the compressor is raised to each target operating frequency may be the same or different.
In a preferred embodiment of the method for controlling the frequency rising of the compressor, the predetermined speed is 1 rps/s.
In a preferred embodiment of the method for controlling the frequency increase of the compressor, the compressor has a liquid level observation mirror for observing the level of the lubricant.
As can be understood by those skilled in the art, in the technical solution of the method for controlling frequency up-conversion of the compressor according to the present invention, the compressor is allowed to be increased to the maximum target operation frequency in a step up-conversion manner by selecting a plurality of target operation frequencies in a frequency interval formed by the current operation frequency and the maximum set frequency, and sequentially increasing the compressor from the current operation frequency to each target operation frequency at a predetermined speed in a descending order and operating the compressor at each target operation frequency for a predetermined time. Although the compressor enters a high-frequency operation stage, the oil discharge rate of the compressor can be reduced to the maximum extent by the step frequency increasing mode, so that the reasonable lubricating oil liquid level of the compressor is ensured, and the service life of the compressor is prolonged. In particular, the compressor is operated for a predetermined time at each target operating frequency in order to increase the amount of oil returned from the compressor while maintaining the oil discharge rate.
Preferably, the plurality of target operating frequencies includes 2 to 6 target operating frequencies, the frequency difference between adjacent target operating frequencies can be the same or different, the predetermined time of operation at each target operating frequency can be the same or different, and the predetermined speed at which the compressor is raised to each target operating frequency can be the same or different. The control measures can ensure that the compressor has enough lubricating oil, and can control parameters of noise, exhaust temperature, exhaust pressure and the like of the compressor within a reasonable range.
Detailed Description
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only for explaining the technical principle of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
In order to solve the technical problems of lack of lubricating oil and compressor faults related to the lack of lubricating oil caused by the period of the compressor in the prior art when the compressor is in the high-frequency operation stage, the invention provides a control method for increasing the frequency of the compressor. When the compressor determines that an increase in the operating frequency is required during operation, the control method includes: determining the current operating frequency and the maximum set frequency; selecting a plurality of target operating frequencies in a frequency interval formed by a current operating frequency and a maximum set frequency, wherein the minimum target operating frequency is greater than the current operating frequency, the maximum target operating frequency is equal to the maximum set frequency, and adjacent target operating frequencies have a preset frequency difference; and sequentially increasing the compressor from the current operation frequency to each target operation frequency at a predetermined speed in order from the minimum target operation frequency to the maximum target operation frequency, and operating at each target operation frequency for a predetermined time.
In one or more embodiments, the compressors referred to herein may be centrifugal compressors, scroll compressors, screw compressors, etc. with variable frequency drives. These compressors may be fully enclosed, semi enclosed, or not enclosed.
Fig. 2 is a flow chart of the control method of the compressor frequency raising of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the control method for increasing the frequency of the compressor of the present invention includes steps S1, S2, and S3. In step S1, the control method entails determining a current operating frequency of the compressor and a maximum set frequency that can meet actual load requirements. Based on the current operating frequency and the maximum set frequency, the control method can determine a frequency interval formed between the current operating frequency and the maximum set frequency, and select a plurality of target operating frequencies in the frequency interval (step S2). The conditions that these multiple target operating frequencies need to satisfy are: the minimum target operating frequency is greater than the current operating frequency of the compressor; the maximum target operating frequency is equal to the maximum set frequency; adjacent target operating frequencies have a predetermined frequency difference therebetween. The specific number of target operating frequencies needs to be determined based on the specific operating conditions of the compressor. For example, the larger the frequency interval formed between the current operating frequency and the maximum set frequency, the larger the number of target operating frequencies may be. After the target operating frequency is determined, the control method may control the compressor up-conversion as follows: the compressor is controlled to sequentially increase from the current operation frequency to each target operation frequency at a predetermined speed in the order from the minimum target operation frequency to the maximum target operation frequency, and to operate at each target operation frequency for a predetermined time (step S3).
Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the control method for raising the frequency of the compressor according to the present invention. In one or more embodiments, a compressor (e.g., the compressor 11 shown in fig. 4) is operated at the current low frequency fc, and its operating frequency f needs to be increased to the maximum set frequency fmax due to a significant increase in the actual load. Based on the frequency interval between the current low frequency fc and the maximum set frequency fmax, the control method of the invention selects 4 target operating frequencies: a first target operating frequency f1, a second target operating frequency f2, a third target operating frequency f3, and a fourth target operating frequency f4, wherein f1> fc and f4 ═ fmax. In alternative embodiments, the number of target operating frequencies may be other values that meet the actual needs, such as 2, 3, 5, 6, etc. In one or more embodiments, adjacent target operating frequencies of f1, f2, f3, and f4 all differ by the same frequency difference, e.g., 5 rps. Alternatively, the frequency difference between adjacent target operating frequencies may be greater or less than 5rps, or the frequency difference between every two adjacent target operating frequencies may be different, as long as the values ensure that other parameters of the compressor, such as noise, discharge pressure, discharge temperature, etc., are within a reasonable range, according to practical needs.
As shown in fig. 3, during the frequency-up process, the compressor is controlled to first increase from the current low frequency fc to the first target operating frequency f1 at a first predetermined speed (e.g., 1rps/s or other suitable speed value) for a time t1 (in seconds, i.e., "s"). When the compressor reaches the first target operating frequency f1, the compressor will continue to operate at the first target operating frequency f1 for a predetermined time, such as 30s or other suitable time value, and then increase from the first target operating frequency f1 to the second target operating frequency f2 at a second predetermined speed (e.g., 1rps/s or other suitable speed value), which may take t 2. Likewise, the compressor needs to be operated at the second target operating frequency f2 for a predetermined time, such as 30s or other suitable time value. When the predetermined time is met, the compressor is ramped from the second target operating frequency f2 to a third target operating frequency f3 at a third predetermined speed (e.g., 1rps/s or other suitable speed value) for a time t 3. The compressor maintains the third target operating frequency f3 for a predetermined time (e.g., 30 seconds or other suitable time value), then increases from the third target operating frequency f3 to the fourth target operating frequency f4 at a fourth predetermined speed ((e.g., 1rps/s or other suitable speed value) for t4. when the compressor increases to the fourth target operating frequency f4, which also means that the compressor reaches the maximum set frequency fmax, and thus the maximum set frequency fmax is maintained until the actual load demand changes. The lubricant oil which is not raised any more but has been discharged into the air conditioning system is circulated back into the compressor with the refrigerant. Therefore, the discharge rate of the lubricating oil in the compressor is not increased any more in a short period of time, and the returning lubricating oil is continuous, so that the liquid level of the lubricating oil in the compressor can be maintained above the safety liquid level.
In one or more embodiments, the first, second, third, and fourth predetermined speeds are at the same speed value, e.g., 1 rps/s. Alternatively, the first, second, third and fourth predetermined speeds may also take different speed values from one another as desired. For example, the first predetermined speed may take a speed value greater than the fourth predetermined speed. In one or more embodiments, the compressor is operated at each target operating frequency for the same duration, e.g., 30 s. Alternatively, the duration of operation of the compressors at each target operating frequency may also be different from one another to meet the actual demand of the compressors. The principle of setting these parameters is to ensure that other parameters of the compressor, such as noise, discharge pressure, discharge temperature, etc., are within reasonable ranges.
Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example of a compressor to which the control method of the present invention for increasing the frequency of the compressor is applied. As shown in fig. 4, the compressor 11 is a totally enclosed compressor with an inverter drive. The compressor 11 is provided with a liquid viewing mirror 12 for observing the liquid level of the lubricating oil in the compressor, and the liquid viewing mirror 12 can be externally connected to the compressor or fixed together with the compressor. The level of the lubricant liquid level in the compressor 11 can be directly observed by the liquid level finder 12. Referring to fig. 4, the compressor 11 is provided with different lubricant level heights: the height of the lubricating oil level aligned with the oil suction port of the oil pump is 14mm (millimeter), and the corresponding amount of lubricating oil is 50ml (milliliter); the liquid level height of the lubricating oil which should stop running of the compressor is 30mm, and the corresponding amount of the lubricating oil is 350 ml; the filling liquid level height of the lubricating oil is 70mm, and the corresponding amount of the lubricating oil is 1100 ml; the liquid level height of the orifice of the lubricating oil balancing pipe is 90mm, and the corresponding amount of lubricating oil is 1450 ml; the highest lubricant level was 135mm, corresponding to a lubricant volume of 2000 ml. The lubricant level at a height of 30mm is the lowest level allowed for operation of the compressor 11. If the compressor is operated at this minimum level at all times, it is likely to cause starvation wear of the moving parts of the compressor, such as the crankshaft and the scroll, thereby compromising the useful life of the compressor. The lubricant filling level of 70mm height is a safe lubricant level when the compressor is operated, in other words, the lubricant level height when the compressor is operated should be 70mm or more.
Fig. 5 is a graph comparing the effect of the control method of the present invention of the compressor ramp-up with the control method of the prior art of the linear ramp-up on the compressor lubricant level. The compressor 11 shown in fig. 4 is applied with the linear up-conversion control method of the prior art and the up-conversion control method of the compressor of the present invention, respectively, and the results of the influence on the lubricant level in the compressor are shown in fig. 5. In conducting the experiments, both frequency up control methods were based on the same compressor operating conditions, e.g., the compressor was in a long tubing and high head condition, and the starting oil level of the compressor was the same. The oil discharge rate of the compressor is represented by the height of the lubricating oil liquid level of the compressor: the lower the lubricating oil level is, the higher the oil discharge rate is; conversely, a higher oil level indicates a lower oil drainage rate. The lubricant level of the compressor can be observed by the above-mentioned liquid level observation.
As shown in fig. 5, curve 1a represents the variation with time of the lubricant level in the compressor during the compressor frequency-up control in a linear frequency-up manner, while curve 1b represents the variation with time of the lubricant level in the compressor during the compressor frequency-up control in a step frequency-up manner according to the present invention. For example, in the case where the high drop length piping is not favorable for oil return, the control method of linear up-conversion causes the lubricant level to decrease rapidly as seen from the graph 1a, and the lubricant level of the compressor is maintained at about 30mm (lubricant level at the time of operation stop) for a period of time of 180s to 240s (about 1 minute), for example. This low oil level places the compressor in a very dangerous situation, such as likely to cause starved wear of the crankshaft and scroll of the compressor. In contrast, as can be seen from the curve 1b, the lubricant level of the compressor is always maintained at a safe lubricant level height of more than 70mm by the step up control method of the present invention during the up-conversion. Therefore, compared with the prior art linear frequency rising method, the control method for the step frequency rising can remarkably reduce the descending rate of the lubricating oil liquid level and keep the lubricating oil liquid level above the safe liquid level all the time, thereby avoiding the lack of lubricating oil and the faults caused by the lack of the lubricating oil of the compressor and further prolonging the service life of the compressor.
So far, the technical solutions of the present invention have been described in connection with the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings, but it is easily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Equivalent changes or substitutions of related technical features can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle of the invention, and the technical scheme after the changes or substitutions can fall into the protection scope of the invention.