EP1750073A2 - Procédé de contrôle de tubes et procédé d'opération d'un conditionneur d'air à unités multiples pour contrôle de tubes - Google Patents

Procédé de contrôle de tubes et procédé d'opération d'un conditionneur d'air à unités multiples pour contrôle de tubes Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1750073A2
EP1750073A2 EP20050024945 EP05024945A EP1750073A2 EP 1750073 A2 EP1750073 A2 EP 1750073A2 EP 20050024945 EP20050024945 EP 20050024945 EP 05024945 A EP05024945 A EP 05024945A EP 1750073 A2 EP1750073 A2 EP 1750073A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
temperature
indoor units
pipe
outdoor unit
inspection
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP20050024945
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Kweon HA Jong
Pyo LEE Jun
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd filed Critical Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Publication of EP1750073A2 publication Critical patent/EP1750073A2/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B49/00—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
    • F25B49/005—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices of safety devices
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B13/00—Compression machines, plants or systems, with reversible cycle
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B2313/00—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for
    • F25B2313/023—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for using multiple indoor units
    • F25B2313/0233—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for using multiple indoor units in parallel arrangements
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B2500/00—Problems to be solved
    • F25B2500/22—Preventing, detecting or repairing leaks of refrigeration fluids
    • F25B2500/221—Preventing leaks from developing

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to pipe inspection of a multi-air conditioner system, and more particularly, to a pipe-inspection operation method and a pipe inspection method of a multi-air conditioner system wherein the operating frequency of a compressor and a temperature-sensing reference location are altered according to the number of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit to inspect pipes and expansion valves.
  • a multi-air conditioner system is an air conditioning system which comprises an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit.
  • the multi-air conditioner system is mainly installed in a building or a plurality of rooms to cool or heat air therein.
  • a connection configuration of pipes between the plurality of indoor units and the outdoor unit is more complicated than that of a single-type air conditioner.
  • a controller of the outdoor unit or a separate integrated controller needs to match a pipe to an address of each indoor unit connected with the pipe to control the indoor units.
  • This pipe-to-indoor unit matching may be performed through identifying an address assigned to each indoor unit and manually inputting the address to the controller of the outdoor unit.
  • this manual input approach is currently rarely used because the number of installed indoor units has become large in recent years, and the address of each indoor unit is assigned through an internal communication line, thus the address thereof cannot be identified externally.
  • FIG. 2 shows a time chart of a conventional pipe-inspection mode operation of a multi-air conditioner system.
  • indoor heat exchangers 16a to 16d are adapted to serve as condensers and an outdoor heat exchanger 12 is adapted to serve as an evaporator.
  • a pipe inspection signal for heating is inputted, a fan of an outdoor unit and a 4-way valve thereof are initialized, the fan of the outdoor unit and fans of indoor units are activated, and a compressor 11 is operated at a predetermined frequency (40Hz).
  • expansion valves 15a to 15d are fully open to set a reference point for valve opening control.
  • the valve opening degree of an expansion valve is controlled in 500 steps from a fully open position of the expansion valve to a fully closed position thereof, and the reference point is set corresponding to the fully open position.
  • the multi-air conditioner system is activated to raise temperatures of the indoor units to a certain temperature.
  • the expansion valves 15a to 15d are opened at a small valve opening degree (80-step) to rapidly raise the temperatures of the indoor units. This is because a temperature difference between before and after an expansion valve becomes larger with a smaller valve opening degree of the expansion valve.
  • the expansion valves 15a to 15d are opened at a valve opening degree of 120 step, the multi-air conditioner system is operated for 5 minutes, and then temperatures of the respective indoor units are measured.
  • One of the expansion valves 15a to 15d under inspection is fully closed, and the temperatures of the respective indoor units are measured again. If the expansion valve under inspection is closed, the temperature of an indoor unit connected with the expansion valve under inspection drops. This temperature change is utilized to inspect normality of a pipe and match the pipe to the address of an indoor unit.
  • the indoor unit If there exists an indoor unit whose temperature difference between before and after the closure of the expansion valve under inspection is greater than or equal to a predetermined value and whose temperature is the lowest among those of the indoor units, the indoor unit is selected as one being connected with the expansion valve under inspection, and the above operations are repeated to continue pipe inspection by manipulating a next expansion valve. If there is no indoor unit whose temperature difference between before and after the closure of the expansion valve under inspection is greater than or equal to the predetermined value and whose temperature is the lowest among those of the indoor units, the expansion valve under inspection is determined to have malfunctioned and this result is registered, and the above operations are repeated to continue the pipe inspection.
  • the compressor is operated at a constant operating frequency irrespective of the number of indoor units.
  • cooling load is low if the number of indoor units is small, the compressor is operated at an excessive operating frequency, causing frequent occurrences of compressor trips where the compressor is forcibly stopped by the controller. These compressor trips may obstruct a smooth pipe inspection process.
  • a pipe-inspection operation method of a multi-air conditioner system comprising: operating the multi-air conditioner system including an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units such that an operating frequency of a compressor of the outdoor unit and a temperature-sensing reference location of each of the indoor units are altered according to the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit to inspect pipes and expansion valves.
  • the operating frequency of the compressor may become higher with increasing number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit.
  • the temperature-sensing reference location may be determined on the basis of a comparison result between the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit and a preset reference number.
  • the temperature-sensing reference location is an evaporator inlet if the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit is greater than or equal to the preset reference number, and is an evaporator outlet if the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit is less than the preset reference number.
  • the operating frequency of the compressor may be increased by a constant frequency if outdoor air temperature is lower than a preset temperature.
  • a pipe inspection method of a multi-air conditioner system comprising: inputting a pipe inspection signal; setting an operating frequency of a compressor according to the number of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit and determining a temperature-sensing reference location of each of the indoor units according to the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit; operating the compressor at the set operating frequency and measuring temperatures at the determined temperature-sensing reference location; and inspecting pipes and expansion valves on the basis of the measured temperatures.
  • the operating frequency of the compressor may become higher with increasing number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit at the setting an operating frequency of a compressor.
  • the temperature-sensing reference location may be determined on the basis of a comparison result between the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit and a preset reference number.
  • the temperature-sensing reference location is an evaporator inlet if the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit is greater than or equal to the preset reference number, and is an evaporator outlet if the number of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit is less than the preset reference number.
  • the operating frequency of the compressor may be increased by a constant frequency if outdoor air temperature is lower than a preset temperature.
  • the inspecting pipes includes: opening all of the expansion valves at a certain valve opening degree and operating the multi-air conditioner system; measuring a first temperature at the determined temperature-sensing reference location; closing one of the expansion valves under inspection and measuring a second temperature at the determined temperature-sensing reference location after a predetermined time from closure of the expansion valve under inspection; determining if there is one of the indoor units whose temperature difference between the first measured temperature and the second measured temperature is greater than or equal to a certain value and whose second temperature is the lowest among those of the indoor units; selecting, if there is an indoor unit satisfying the above two conditions, the indoor unit as an associated indoor unit with the expansion valve under inspection, or otherwise, registering the expansion valve under inspection as a defective expansion valve; and manipulating remaining expansion values through the above operations to inspect the pipes.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a typical multi-air conditioner system comprising an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units.
  • the outdoor unit includes a compressor 11 to compress a coolant, a 4-way valve 14 to switch the flow of the coolant depending upon a cooling or heating operation, a condenser 12 to condense the compressed coolant, and an accumulator 13 to prevent a direct inflow of the liquid coolant to the compressor 11.
  • Each of the indoor units includes one of expansion valves 15a to 15d to expand the condensed coolant into the coolant of low pressure and low temperature, and one of evaporators 16a to 16d to exchange heat with indoor air, and two ones of temperature sensors 17a to 17d and 18a to 18d provided at an inlet of the one of the evaporators 16a to 16d and an outlet thereof, respectively, to sense temperatures of the coolant.
  • the condenser 12 of the outdoor unit acts as an evaporator
  • the evaporators 16a to 16d of the indoor units act as condensers.
  • a high-temperature and high-pressure coolant compressed by the compressor 11 flows through the 4-way valve 14, without passing through the condenser 12, to the evaporators 16a to 16d of the respective indoor units acting as condensers.
  • the coolant condensed through heat exchange with indoor air at the evaporators 16a to 16d is expanded through the expansion valves 15a to 15d into the low-temperature and low-pressure coolant, which flows to the condenser 12 of the outdoor unit acting as an evaporator.
  • the coolant of low-temperature and low-pressure exchanges heat with outdoor air at the condenser 12 of the outdoor unit, and flows through the 4-way valve 14 to the accumulator 13, in which a liquid portion of the coolant is then filtered off and only a gaseous portion of the coolant flows to the compressor 11.
  • the indoor air is heated via this heating cycle.
  • the coolant flows in a direction opposite to the case of the heating operation described above.
  • the coolant flows from the compressor 11, through the condenser 12, the expansion valves 15a to 15d, and the evaporators 16a to 16d, and back to the compressor 11 in order, cooling the indoor air.
  • An air conditioning system having both heating and cooling capabilities, as the case of FIG. 1, is sometimes termed a heat pump.
  • the flow of the coolant in the heating operation is denoted by solid arrows, and that in the cooling operation is denoted by dotted arrows.
  • FIG. 3 is a time chart illustrating a pipe-inspection mode operation according to the present invention.
  • the pipe-inspection mode operation is almost the same as the conventional one, and thus repeated description of the same parts as those of FIG. 2 is omitted.
  • the number of the installed indoor units connected to the outdoor unit is identified and used for setting the operating frequency of the compressor 11.
  • the following table is an example showing how the operating frequency of the compressor 11 is varied with the number of the installed indoor units.
  • the coolant may be not sufficiently compressed to exhibit a meaningful temperature difference. This can cause an error in pipe inspection because the temperature difference between before and after closure of the expansion valve under inspection is less than a predetermined temperature Tc.
  • the temperature-sensing reference location is EVA_in (evaporator inlet) if the operating frequency is low.
  • EVA_in evaporator inlet
  • pipe inspection is started.
  • the time needed to inspect an expansion valve is increased from 3 minutes of the conventional case to 10 minutes to reduce errors in inspection of pipes and expansion valves and enhance accuracy therein. This is to prevent errors of the pipe inspection due to a failure of expansion valve inspection within a short time allocated thereto as the case of the conventional pipe inspection method. If inspection of a pipe is successful, a next pipe is immediately inspected, and thus the overall time needed for the pipe inspection is not increased.
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a pipe-inspection operation method according to the present invention.
  • EVs inspection signal for pipes and expansion valves
  • S401 the number of indoor units N connected to the outdoor unit is identified (S402).
  • an operating frequency F 1 of a compressor is set on the basis of the identified number of indoor units N (S403).
  • a temperature-sensing reference location is E ⁇ /A_out (evaporator outlet) (S405), or otherwise, the temperature-sensing reference location is EVA_in (evaporator inlet) (S406). This is to obtain a meaningful temperature difference for pipe inspection, as described before, when the compressor is operated at a low operating frequency because of a small number of the installed indoor units. Next, outdoor temperature is measured.
  • a predetermined temperature T 0 for example, 5°C
  • a constant frequency is added to the operating frequency to give a new operating frequency F 2 for smooth pipe inspection (S408). This is because a larger heating capacity is needed when the outdoor temperature is low.
  • the pipe inspection operation begins (S409) after the operating frequency of the compressor and the temperature-sensing reference location are determined according to the number of the installed indoor units connected to the outdoor unit, the pipe inspection operation begins (S409).
  • FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a pipe inspection method according to the present invention.
  • the operating frequency of the compressor and the temperature-sensing reference location are determined as shown in FIG. 4 (S501), the fan of the outdoor unit and the like are initialized (S502), and then the multi-air conditioner system is operated according to a time chart as shown in FIG. 3 (S503).
  • the expansion valves (EEVs) are opened at a certain valve opening degree for a predetermined time (7 minutes in FIG. 3) to raise the temperature of the pipes.
  • an EEV under inspection is fully closed (S504).
  • the EEV under inspection is registered as a badly connected EEV (S507), and inspection of a next EEV is started. At this time, an indoor unit which has been matched with an associated EEV is naturally excluded from the subsequent inspection operations. If all the EEVs are inspected (S509), a list of defective EEVs disconnecting pipes is displayed to the user (S510), and the pipe inspection process is completed.
  • the present invention provides a pipe-inspection operation method and a pipe inspection method of a multi-air conditioner system wherein an operating frequency of a compressor and a temperature-sensing reference location are altered according to the number of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit to prevent a compressor trip which can occur during the pipe inspection and make the pipe inspection more accurate and easier.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Air Conditioning Control Device (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
EP20050024945 2005-08-06 2005-11-15 Procédé de contrôle de tubes et procédé d'opération d'un conditionneur d'air à unités multiples pour contrôle de tubes Withdrawn EP1750073A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
KR1020050072031A KR20070017269A (ko) 2005-08-06 2005-08-06 멀티 에어컨시스템의 배관점검운전방법 및 배관점검방법

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EP1750073A2 true EP1750073A2 (fr) 2007-02-07

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EP20050024945 Withdrawn EP1750073A2 (fr) 2005-08-06 2005-11-15 Procédé de contrôle de tubes et procédé d'opération d'un conditionneur d'air à unités multiples pour contrôle de tubes

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EP (1) EP1750073A2 (fr)
KR (1) KR20070017269A (fr)
CN (1) CN1908535A (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2204621A3 (fr) * 2009-01-06 2012-07-04 Lg Electronics Inc. Climatiseur et procédé de détection de dysfonctionnements correspondant

Families Citing this family (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2682685B1 (fr) 2012-07-03 2021-08-04 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Procédé de commande de diagnostic pour climatisation
KR102206199B1 (ko) 2012-07-03 2021-01-25 삼성전자주식회사 공기 조화기의 진단 제어 방법
CN103575514B (zh) * 2012-07-26 2015-09-16 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 空调器及其检测方法和装置
KR102460483B1 (ko) * 2016-02-04 2022-10-31 엘지전자 주식회사 인공지능 기능을 수반하는 공기 조화기 및 그 제어방법
CN109695935B (zh) * 2018-12-29 2022-01-14 上海新时达电气股份有限公司 一种空调寻址方法、电子设备及存储介质
CN111006306B (zh) * 2019-11-22 2021-09-07 青岛海信日立空调系统有限公司 一种多联机
KR20210063586A (ko) 2019-11-25 2021-06-02 천상일 통신망을 이용한 냉동 공조기 수리 매칭방법 및 이를 실행하는 매칭서버
CN113566318A (zh) * 2021-07-30 2021-10-29 佛山市顺德区美的电子科技有限公司 空调器的控制方法、控制装置、空调器和存储介质

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2204621A3 (fr) * 2009-01-06 2012-07-04 Lg Electronics Inc. Climatiseur et procédé de détection de dysfonctionnements correspondant

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Publication number Publication date
CN1908535A (zh) 2007-02-07
KR20070017269A (ko) 2007-02-09

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