EP2795207A1

EP2795207A1 - Capacity-increasing device for four-way valve in air conditioning system and the air conditioning system

Info

Publication number: EP2795207A1
Application number: EP12816180.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Haijun Li; Pan GAO
Original assignee: Carrier Corp
Current assignee: Carrier Corp
Priority date: 2011-12-21
Filing date: 2012-12-12
Publication date: 2014-10-29
Also published as: CN202484358U; WO2013096035A1; US20150121946A1

Abstract

A capacity-increasing device for a four-way valve, the four-way valve has a first port, a second port, a third port and a fourth port, wherein first port is connected with an output end of a compressor via a first line, second port is connected with an input end of the compressor via a second line, third port is connected with a first heat exchanger via a third line, and fourth port is connected with a second heat exchanger via a fourth line, the capacity-increasing device includes a first bypass line and a first valve, the first bypass line connected between third line and second line, the first valve in the first bypass line, a second bypass line and a second valve, the second bypass line connected between fourth line and second line, the second valve in the second bypass line.

Description

CAPACITY-INCREASING DEVICE FOR FOUR- WAY VALVE IN AIR

CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to the air conditioning system field, and more particularly, to a capacity-increasing device for a four- way valve in an air conditioning system and the air conditioning system that is equipped with the capacity-increasing device.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The air conditioning system plays an extremely important role in our modern life and various air conditioning systems are disposed in many environments such as factories, offices and bedrooms. However, with the progress of present age and the development of science and technology, and especially the scale of promotion in such aspects as people's living consumption, commercial activities and manufacturing, many application environments with high standards, high power and high heat density loads emerge, thus raising a higher requirement for the refrigeration capacity of the existing air conditioning system.

[0003] As for the existing air conditioning system, the above-mentioned problems especially exist in situations where the capacity of the four-way valve in the air conditioning system is restricted during practical use, which may cause many inconveniences. For example, as for a certain air conditioning system using a refrigerant R134a, the maximum capacity of a high-capacity four- way valve that is available in the market commercially is only 140 tons; and when it is required to develop an air conditioning system with capacity exceeding the maximum capacity, a new matched four-way valve must be redesigned and manufactured. However, if the new four- way valve is to be successfully applied, a series of processes such as design, test, authentication and manufacturing are required, which is both time-consuming and labor-intensive and needs significant input costs. In addition, since it is often difficult to effectively control the maturity of the new product, there will be many problems during the later installing and maintaining services.

[0004] In PRC Application No. CN 101, 236,027 A, a multifunctional wind cooling cold and hot water unit is disclosed, wherein a four-way change-over valve (2) is connected with the inlet port and the outlet port of the compressor (1). In addition, in PRC Application No. CN 101,055,116A, a composite condensing/evaporating four-functional hot water air conditioning system air conditioner device including a four- way valve (3) is also disclosed. However, the problems mentioned above still cannot be solved by using the four- way reversing valve or the four- way valve that are involved in these patent applications.

SUMMARY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

[0005] According to one aspect of the utility model, a capacity-increasing device for a four-way valve in an air conditioning system is provided, thereby effectively solving the above-mentioned as well as other problems in the prior art. In the air conditioning system, the four-way valve has a first port, a second port, a third port and a fourth port. The first port is connected with an output end of a compressor in the air conditioning system via a first line. The second port is connected with an input end of the compressor via a second line. The third port is connected with a first heat exchanger in the air conditioning system via a third line. The fourth port is connected with a second heat exchanger in the air conditioning system via a fourth line. The capacity- increasing device comprises:

a first bypass line and a first valve, wherein the first bypass line is connected between the third line and the second line, the first valve is arranged in the first bypass line and has an on position and an off position, a refrigerant in the air conditioning system runs through the first bypass line at the on position of the first valve when the air conditioning system is in a refrigeration mode, and the refrigerant is prevented from running through the first bypass line at the off position of the first valve when the air conditioning system is in a heating mode; and/or

a second bypass line and a second valve, wherein the second bypass line is connected between the fourth line and the second line, the second valve is arranged in the second bypass line and has an on position and an off position, the refrigerant in the air conditioning system runs through the second bypass line at the on position of the second valve when the air conditioning system is in the heating mode, and the refrigerant is prevented from running through the second bypass line at the off position of the second valve when the air conditioning system is in the refrigeration mode.

[0006] In an embodiment of the capacity-increasing device of the utility model, optionally, the first valve is an electromagnetic valve or an electric ball valve.

[0007] In an embodiment of the capacity-increasing device of the utility model, optionally, the second valve is an electromagnetic valve or an electric ball valve.

[0008] In an embodiment of the capacity-increasing device of the utility model, optionally, the first heat exchanger is a shell-tube type heat exchanger, a sleeve type heat exchanger or a plate type heat exchanger. [0009] In an embodiment of the capacity-increasing device of the utility model, optionally, the second heat exchanger is a fin heat exchanger or a micro passage heat exchanger.

[0010] In an embodiment of the capacity- increasing device of the utility model, optionally, the compressor is a screw compressor, a turbine compressor, a reciprocating compressor or a rotor compressor.

[0011] Further, according to another aspect of the utility model, an air conditioning system is further provided, and the air conditioning system is equipped with the capacity- increasing device for a four- way valve in the air conditioning system as mentioned above.

[0012] An air conditioning system is provided, and the air conditioning system is equipped with the capacity-increasing device for a four- way valve in the air conditioning system as mentioned above.

[0013] In an embodiment of the air conditioning system of the utility model, optionally, the air conditioning system further comprises an oil separator disposed in the first line.

[0014] In an embodiment of the air conditioning system of the utility model, optionally, the air conditioning system further comprises a gas-liquid separator disposed in the second line.

[0015] In an embodiment of the air conditioning system of the utility model, optionally, the air conditioning system further comprises a reservoir disposed between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger.

[0016] In an embodiment of the air conditioning system of the utility model, optionally, the air conditioning system further comprises a dry filter disposed between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger.

[0017] In an embodiment of the air conditioning system of the utility model, optionally, the air conditioning system further comprises an economizer disposed between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger, and the economizer is connected with a central air supply port on the compressor.

[0018] In contrast with the prior art, the capacity-increasing device for a four- way valve in an air conditioning system is used, which can effectively break the inherent capacity limit of the four-way valve, and directly apply the existing four-way valve to occasions that require larger capacity than its maximum and have higher requirements for the flow capacity, without a need of specially developing and manufacturing a new four- way valve satisfying the requirements of higher flow capacity. The capacity-increasing device has many advantages such as simple structure, flexible configuration, low manufacturing cost and easy installation. When the application requires, already quite matured four-way valve products and the existing matched manufacturing, installing and maintaining services in the prior art can be fully used by disposing the capacity-increasing device in an air conditioning system, and thereby being better for ensuring the long-term, stable and efficient operation of the air conditioning system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The technical solution of the utility model will further be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and the embodiments.

[0020] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of an air conditioning system of the utility model, where a capacity-increasing device for a four-way valve in an air conditioning system is disposed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] First, it should be noted that, the design principles, features and advantages of an air conditioning system and a capacity-increasing device for a four- way valve in an air conditioning system will be described below in an exemplary way, however, all the descriptions are used for illustrations only, and should not be construed as any limitation to the utility model. In addition, any single technical feature described or implied in various embodiments mentioned herein, or any single technical feature shown or implied in the drawings can still be arbitrarily combined between these technical features (or equivalents thereof), thereby obtaining more embodiments of the utility model that may not be directly mentioned herein.

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of an air conditioning system. In the figure, many components included in the air conditioning system as well as their connections and dispositions relationships and the like are shown in a schematic way. Particularly, the capacity-increasing device that is disposed in the air conditioning system and is used to improve the flow processing ability of the four- way valve is shown in the figure. These contents will be described in detail below through the drawing.

[0023] As shown in Figure 1, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the air conditioning system mainly includes a compressor 1, a gas-liquid separator 2, an oil separator 3, a four-way valve 4, a first heat exchanger 7, a second heat exchanger 8, a reservoir 9, an economizer 10, a dry filter 11, an electronic expansion valve 12, an electronic expansion valve 13 and check valves 14, 15, 16 and 17.

[0024] In the air conditioning system, the four-way valve 4 is a key element configured to control and switch the circulation flow of a refrigerant (for example, by using R134a), and it has four connection ports, that is., a first port 41, a second port 42, a third port 43 and a fourth port 44 that are marked in Figure 1. The first port 41 is a permanent input port (referring to the input direction of the refrigerant shown by arrow C in Figure 1), which is connected with an output end 111 of the compressor 1 via a first line 411, so as to receive a refrigerant fluid output from the output end 111. At this time, the refrigerant fluid is at high pressure due to the compression applied by the compressor 1. Definitely, in order to remove the oil composition that may mixed in the high-pressured refrigerant fluid, an oil separator 3 may also be added to the first line 411 in this embodiment, that is, the separator 3 is disposed between the first port 41 of the four- way valve 4 and the output end 111 of the compressor 1, thereby being capable of effectively avoiding device damages and reduced efficiency that result from the oil composition undesirably entering the flowing operations of the air conditioning system.

[0025] Corresponding to the first port 41, the second port 42 of the four- way valve 4 is a permanent output port (referring to the output direction of the refrigerant shown by arrow D in Figure 1), which is connected with an input end 112 of the compressor 1 via a second line 421, so that the refrigerant fluid which is at low pressure after heated and evaporated can enter the second line 421 via the second port 42 and then backflow to the compressor 1 to be recompressed. As shown in Figure 1, the gas-liquid separator 2 is also disposed in the second line 421, and the purpose of disposing such a gas-liquid separator is to separate gas from liquid as much as possible, so as to avoid the compressor from being impacted by the liquid, thereby better ensuring the whole air conditioning system running reliably.

[0026] In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the third port 43 is connected with the first heat exchanger 7 via a third line 431 to form a fluid flow passage; and the fourth port 44 is connected with the second heat exchanger 8 via a fourth line 441.

[0027] In a four-way valve 4, its third port 43 and the fourth port 44 are not permanent uni-directional ports. According to different operating modes that the air conditioning system is in, the third port 43 may be used as an input port as well as an output port. Similarly, the fourth port 44 may also be used as an input port or an output port. During actual operation of the four- way valve 4, one of the third port 43 and the fourth port 44 is used as the input port and the other one is used as the output port by the inner switch, which is definitely illustrated in Figure 1 by a solid arrow A and a dashed arrow B in opposite directions. More specifically, the respective directions illustrated in Figure 1 by the solid arrow A and the dashed arrow B actually represent two different operation circulation flows of the refrigerant when the air conditioning system is in a heating mode and a refrigeration mode. In the former situation, the refrigerant fluid will flow into the four- way valve 4 from the fourth port 44, and then flow out of the four- way valve 4 from the third port 43. The later situation is opposite to the former one. That is, in the later situation, the refrigerant fluid will flow into the four- way valve 4 from the third port 43, and then flow out of the four- way valve 4 from the fourth port 44. The above-mentioned contents will be further described in detail below.

[0028] In the above-mentioned embodiment, a first bypass line 51, a second bypass line 61, a first valve 52 and a second valve 62 are also disposed. As for the capacity- increasing device for a four- way valve in an air conditioning system of the utility model, the capacity-increasing device may only include the first bypass line 51 and the first valve 52; or may only include the second bypass line 61 and the second valve 62; and definitely may also be a combination of the two situations. No matter which configuration mode is adopted, the capacity-increasing device may be used to achieve the purpose of increasing the capacity of a four-way valve in an air conditioning system. Definitely, if the first bypass line 51, the first valve 52, the second bypass line 61 and the second valve 62 are disposed in the capacity- increasing device at the same time, better and more comprehensive technical effects can be achieved.

[0029] Specifically, referring to Figure 1, the first bypass line 51 is disposed to be connected between the third line 431 and the second line 421, so that with respect to the main circulation passage of the refrigerant operation flow illustrated by arrows A and B in Figure 1, the first bypass line 51 is used to help provide a bypass passage for the refrigerant operation flow, which is equivalent to effectively expand the inherent pipe diameter and the flow area of the four- way valve 4, and increases the fluid flow within the unit time thereof. That is to say, the inherent maximum flow capacity limit of the four-way valve 4 can be broken by specially disposing the first bypass line 51, thereby being capable of significantly improve its flow capacity during actual applications based on its existing physical structure. Undoubtedly, this is very beneficial for making full use of the existing mature four-way valve products, not only helping to thoroughly eliminate the problems such as high cost inputs, long period and relatively low product maturity that are caused by design and development, test and authentication and manufacturing of new four- way valve products, but also meaning that the existing compact and relatively cheap four- way valve may be directly applied to situations where a larger capacity is needed. In this way, an application requirement for higher capacity of the four-way valve is met without a need of occupying larger installing space or consuming higher costs. At the same time, in some situations (for example, when it is required to perform capacity increasing on the already installed and used air conditioning systems), it will be obviously more flexible and convenient to adopt the above-mentioned mode.

[0030] As for the first bypass line 51, the first valve 52 is still needed to be disposed therein to perform on-off control on the line. Optionally, the first valve 52 may be an electromagnetic valve, an electric ball valve or any other proper on-off control elements. The first valve 52 itself has an on position and an off position, and in the on position and off position, the refrigerant is accordingly permitted to or prevented from running through the first bypass line 51 based on actual requirements of the air conditioning system.

[0031] For example, as shown in Figure 1, when the air conditioning system is in a refrigeration mode, the high pressure refrigeration fluid compressed by the compressor 1 first enters the oil separator 3, and then flows into the first port 41 of the four- way valve 4 via the first line 411 along the direction shown by arrow C in Figure 1. Thereafter, the refrigerant fluid flows out of the fourth port 44 of the four- way valve 4, and enters the second heat exchanger 8 along the direction shown by the dashed arrow B in Figure 1. In the current refrigeration mode, the second heat exchanger 8 is used as a condenser, so as to conduct heat exchange with the refrigerant fluid, and it may be a fin heat exchanger, or any other proper device. Then, the high pressure liquid refrigerant after being condensated flows on along the direction shown by the dashed arrow B, and it will flow through the check valve 15, the dry filter 11, the economizer 10, the electronic expansion valve 12, the check valve 16 and the reservoir 9 in order, and then enter the first heat exchanger 7.

[0032] In the above-mentioned flow processes, the dry filter 11 is used to collect and remove moisture and other solid impurities from the refrigerant fluid, thereby making the system clear, and ensuring that the whole air conditioning system runs normally and efficiently. In addition, a small part of the refrigerant is shunted (a secondary path) to be expanded and depressurized by the electronic expansion valve 13, and then the low pressure and low temperature refrigerant enters the economizer 10 and heat exchanges with the refrigerant that is in the main path and flows into the economizer 10 from the main path, so as to further improve the under-cooling of the liquid refrigerant that is in the main path and flows into the economizer 10, thereby helping to improve capacity and energy efficiency level of the air conditioning system (for example, the energy efficiency level may be adjusted to level 2 from level 3). In this way, the under-cooled refrigerant in the main path, which has been processed by the economizer and become stable, is expanded and depressurized by the electronic expansion valve 12; and the heat-exchanged gaseous refrigerant in the secondary path directly enters, via the line connected between the economizer 10 and a central air supply port 113 of the compressor 1, the compressor 1 to be recompressed. The flowing direction of the refrigerant is shown as the direction shown by an arrow H in Figure 1.

[0033] In a refrigeration mode, the first heat exchanger 7 is used as an evaporator to evaporate and heat exchange the inflowing refrigerant fluid. Optionally, the first heat exchanger 7 may be a shell-tube type heat exchanger, a sleeve type heat exchanger, a plate type heat exchanger or any other proper device. After that, a part of the evaporated low pressure refrigerant fluid enters the third port 43 of the four- way valve 4 via the third line 431 along the direction shown by the dashed arrow B, flows out of the second port 42 of the four- way valve 4, flows into the second line 421 along the direction shown by arrow D, flows into the gas-liquid separator 2 along the direction shown by arrow G to get the gas and liquid separated, and then backflows to the compressor 1 to accomplish the refrigerant operation circulation in the refrigeration mode. Another part of the evaporated low pressure refrigerant fluid enters the first bypass line 51, and the first valve 52 is in an on position in the current refrigeration mode. Thus, this part of the low pressure refrigerant fluid will run through the first bypass line 51 along the direction shown by arrow F, flow into the gas-liquid separator 2 along the direction shown by arrow G, and backflow to the compressor 1. Apparently, this part of the refrigerant fluid shunted through the first bypass line 51 and the first valve 52 does improve the overall redundancy ability of the air conditioning system, which is equivalent to improve the actual fluid capacity of the four- way valve 4, therefore, the existing four- way valve may be applied to occasions that require larger capacity than its maximum and have higher requirements for the flow capacity. When the air conditioning system is in the heating mode, since the first valve 52 is in an off position, the refrigerant is prevented from running through the first bypass line 51.

[0034] Referring to Figure 1 again, similar to the above descriptions about the first bypass line 51 and the first valve 52, as for the second bypass line 61 and the second valve 62, the former one is disposed to be connected between the fourth line 441 and the second line 421, and the later one is disposed in the second bypass line 61 to perform on-off control on the line. The second valve 62 may specifically be an electromagnetic valve, an electric ball valve or any other proper on-off control device. According to the actual requirements of the air conditioning system, by making the second valve 62 be in the on position and the off position, the refrigerant is accordingly permitted to or prevented from running through the second bypass line 61.

[0035] The working processes of the second bypass line 61 and the second valve 62 in the air conditioning system will be further described below with reference to the directions shown by arrows in Figure 1, so that the design principles, features and advantages of the capacity-increasing device for a four- way valve in an air conditioning system can be comprehensively understood.

[0036] When the air conditioning system is in a heating mode, the refrigerant fluid is first compressed in the compressor 1, and then input to the oil separator 3 to get the oil separated, and then flows into the first port 41 of the four- way valve 4 via the first line 411 along the direction shown by arrow C in Figure 1, flows out of the third port 43, and enters the first heat exchanger 7 along the direction shown by arrow A in Figure 1. At this time, the first heat exchanger 7 is used as a condenser to conduct heat exchange with the refrigerant fluid. Then, the condensated high pressure liquid refrigerant flows on along the direction shown by arrow A, and it will flow through the reservoir 9, the check valve 17, the dry filter 11, the economizer 10, the electronic expansion valve 12 and the check valve 14 in order, and then enter the second heat exchanger 8. For detailed operations of the dry filter 11, the economizer 10, the electronic expansion valve 13 and the electronic expansion valve 12, reference may be made to the above descriptions, and no detail will be repeated herein again.

[0037] In the current heating mode, the second heat exchanger 8 is used as an evaporator, so as to evaporate and heat exchange the inflowing refrigerant fluid. A part of the evaporated low pressure refrigerant fluid enters the fourth port 44 of the four-way valve 4 via the fourth line 441 along the direction shown by the dashed arrow A, flows out of the second port 42, flows into the second line 421 along the direction shown by arrow D, flows into the gas-liquid separator 2 along the direction shown by arrow G and then backflows to the compressor 1 to accomplish the refrigerant operation circulation in the heating mode. In addition, since the second valve 62 is in an on position in the current heating mode, the other part of the evaporated low pressure refrigerant fluid will run through the second bypass line 61 along the direction shown by arrow E, flow into the gas-liquid separator 2 along the direction shown by arrow G, and backflow to the compressor 1. Thus, this part of the refrigerant fluid shunted through the second bypass line 61 and the second valve 62 can also improve the overall redundancy ability of the air conditioning system, so that these existing four-way valves may be used securely and reliably in occasions that require larger capacity than its maximum and require lager flow. Since the second valve 62 is in an off position when the air conditioning system is in a refrigeration mode, the refrigerant is prevented from running through the second bypass line 61.

[0038] It should be understood that, the capacity-increasing device for a four-way valve in an air conditioning system and the air conditioning system are explained above with reference to Figure 1, however, more modifications and adjustments can further be made to them according to actual situations.

[0039] For example, although many elements such as the gas-liquid separator 2, the oil separator 3, the reservoir 9, the economizer 10, the dry filter 11, the electronic expansion valve 13, and the check valves 14, 15, 16 and 17 are disposed as shown in Figure 1, in specific applications, adjustments can be obviously made to configurations of these elements, for example, in certain embodiments, one or more of these elements are not necessary to be disposed.

[0040] For another example, in some embodiments not shown herein, some extra elements and devices may further be added to the air conditioning system based on customer requirements or on-site needs. For example, some element(s) or device(s) may be disposed in the first bypass line 51 and/or the second bypass line 61.

[0041] Further, the compressor 1 may be a screw compressor, a turbine compressor, a reciprocating compressor or a rotor compressor. In addition, the first valve 52 and the second valve 62 may be valves of the same or different models.

[0042] Some specific embodiments are provided above to explain the capacity- increasing device for a four- way valve in an air conditioning system and the air conditioning system disposed with the capacity-increasing device. These examples are only for illustrating the principles and embodiments of the utility model rather than limiting the utility model. Various variations and improvements can still be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and the spirit of the utility model. Therefore, all equivalent technical solutions belong to the scope of the utility model and should be defined by the appended claims of the utility model.

Claims

Claims:

1. A capacity-increasing device for a four- way valve in an air conditioning system, the four- way valve has a first port, a second port, a third port and a fourth port, wherein the first port is connected with an output end of a compressor in the air conditioning system via a first line, the second port is connected with an input end of the compressor via a second line, the third port is connected with a first heat exchanger in the air conditioning system via a third line, and the fourth port is connected with a second heat exchanger in the air conditioning system via a fourth line, characterized in that, the capacity-increasing device comprises:

2. The capacity- increasing device of claim 1, characterized in that, the first valve is an electromagnetic valve or an electric ball valve.

3. The capacity- increasing device of claim 1, characterized in that, the second valve is an electromagnetic valve or an electric ball valve.

4. The capacity- increasing device of claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that, the first heat exchanger is a shell-tube type heat exchanger, a sleeve type heat exchanger or a plate type heat exchanger.

5. The capacity-increasing device of claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that, the second heat exchanger is a fin heat exchanger or a micro passage heat exchanger.

6. The capacity- increasing device of claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that, the compressor is a screw compressor, a turbine compressor, a reciprocating compressor or a rotor compressor.

7. An air conditioning system, characterized in that, the air conditioning system is equipped with a capacity-increasing device as that for a four-way valve in an air conditioning system in any of claims 1-6.

8. The air conditioning system of claim 7, characterized in that, the air conditioning system further comprises an oil separator disposed in the first line.

9. The air conditioning system of claim 7, characterized in that, the air conditioning system further comprises a gas-liquid separator disposed in the second line.

10. The air conditioning system of claims 7, 8 or 9, characterized in that, the air conditioning system further comprises a reservoir disposed between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger.

11. The air conditioning system of claims 7, 8 or 9, characterized in that, the air conditioning system further comprises a dry filter disposed between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger.

12. The air conditioning system of claims 7, 8 or 9, characterized in that, the air conditioning system further comprises an economizer disposed between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger, and the economizer is connected with a central air supply port on the compressor.