EP3008401B1

EP3008401B1 - A cooling device comprising a flow regulator

Info

Publication number: EP3008401B1
Application number: EP14727485.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Aleks KUYUMCUOGLU; Ozgun SAKALLI; Caner SIMSEK
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2013-06-10
Filing date: 2014-05-30
Publication date: 2021-01-27
Anticipated expiration: 2034-05-30
Also published as: PL3008401T3; EP3008401A1; WO2014198555A1

Description

The present invention relates to a cooling device comprising a flow regulator which reduces the noise originating from the fluid during the refrigeration cycle.
In the refrigeration circuits of cooling devices, capillary pipes are used in order to lower the pressure of the cooling device fluid. In order to deliver the fluid, the pressure of which is decreased by means of the capillary pipes, to the evaporator, it is required to be transferred into wider pipes. Noise is generated due to the vibration and turbulence originating from the sudden pressure difference during the transfer of the fluid from the capillary pipes with narrow cross-sectional area to the pipes having wider cross-sectional area. The fluid generally has two phases at the outlet of the capillary pipe and the flow rate is high. The fluid is in the gas phase at the evaporator outlet. The fluid that is two-phased or in the gas phase and that tends to have hydrodynamic instability causes the generation of noise. In the state of the art, utilization of porous flow regulators is known in order to absorb the said disturbing sound which can be generally heard from the outside.
In the state of the art European Patent Application No. EP0943879 , it is described that the porous flow regulator that provides reduction in the noise originating from the refrigerant fluid is fixed between the capillary pipe and the pipe wherein at least some part of the capillary pipe is located Moreover, WO 01/67011 A1 , US 5 619 861 A and JP 2008 145030 A each disclose a cooling device according to the preamble of claim 1.
The aim of the present invention is the realization of a cooling device comprising a flow regulator that reduces the noise originating from the fluid.
The cooling device realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, as set out in the first claim and the respective claims thereof, comprises a compressor that enables the refrigeration cycle to be performed, a condenser that transfers thermal energy to the outside environment, an evaporator that draws the thermal energy in the environment being cooled, a capillary pipe that is disposed between the condenser and the evaporator and that enables the refrigerant at the outlet of the condenser to be delivered to the evaporator by expanding, and a return pipe disposed between the evaporator and the compressor.
The cooling device of the present invention comprises an inlet pipe connected to the evaporator inlet, an outlet pipe connected to the outlet of the capillary pipe, and a flow regulator that is disposed between the outlet pipe and the inlet pipe and that prevents the noise originating from the refrigerant, with one end being connected to the inlet pipe so as to be in the same direction as the inlet pipe, and the outlet pipe being connected to the other end thereof tangentially in the vertical direction. By means of the flow regulator disposed between the capillary pipe and the inlet pipe, the cavitations and vibration noise originating from pressure change during transfer of the refrigerant between pipes with different diameters are dampened effectively. The refrigerant flows from the outlet pipe to the flow regulator so as to be tangent to the wall of the flow regulator. The refrigerant shows a tendency to flow close to the walls of the flow regulator with the effect of liquid phase centrifugal force as a result of flowing from the outlet pipe connected with a bend-like structure and turning while passing through the flow regulator. Thus, a stable flow is provided and noise originating from flow is decreased.
In a derivative of this embodiment, the inner wall of the flow regulator is porous. When the fluid fills into the pores of the flow regulator, the flow speed of the fluid decreases and turbulence, and hence noise, is prevented from being generated.
In an embodiment not forming part of the present invention, the flow regulator is configured as a hollow cylinder and enables the refrigerant to flow helically on the inner wall.
In an embodiment not forming part of the present invention, the cooling device comprises an orifice that is arranged on the flow regulator and that enables the outlet pipe to be mounted so as to extend vertically to the flow regulator and tangentially to its cylindrical outer surface. The cross-sectional area of the orifice is almost equal to the cross-sectional area of the outlet pipe and enables the refrigerant to flow from the outlet pipe to the flow regulator in a leak-proofing manner.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the end of the flow regulator extending to the outlet pipe is almost entirely closed and the end thereof opening to the inlet pipe is open.
2. According to the present invention, the flow regulator is in frustoconical form and gets wider from the outlet pipe towards the inlet pipe. While passing through the flow regulator, the physical characteristics of the fluid changes slowly and decisively. Thus, since no air bubbles are formed in the fluid and the sudden change of the fluid pressure is prevented, and the noise originating from the bursting of the bubbles in the fluid, the turbulence and/or the vibration is prevented.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the flow regulator is connected to the outlet pipe and the inlet pipe by welding. Connecting the simple structured pipes with welding provides savings in material costs.
By means of the present invention, the flow regulator prevents generation of noise by directing the flow between the inlet pipe and the capillary pipe where the level of noise is high by enabling the fluid to turn and flow thereinto after leaving the outlet pipe.
The cooling device realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figure 2, where:

Figure 1 - is the schematic view of the cooling device.
Figure 2 - is the perspective view of the flow regulator related to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 - is the perspective view of the outlet pipe, the flow regulator and the inlet pipe related to an embodiment not forming part of the present invention.

The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

1. Cooling device
2. Compressor
3. Condenser
4. Evaporator
5. Capillary pipe
6. Inlet pipe
7. Outlet pipe
8. Flow regulator
9. Orifice

The cooling device (1) comprises a compressor (2) enabling the refrigeration cycle to be performed, a condenser (3) that transfers thermal energy to the outside environment, an evaporator (4) that draws thermal energy from the environment being cooled and at least one capillary pipe (5) that is disposed between the condenser (3) and the evaporator (4) and that enables the refrigerant to be delivered to the evaporator (4) by expanding at the outlet of the condenser (3).
The cooling device (1) of the present invention comprises an inlet pipe (6) connected to the evaporator (4) inlet, an outlet pipe (7) connected to the outlet of the capillary pipe (5), and a flow regulator (8) that is disposed between the outlet pipe (7) and the inlet pipe (6), with one end being connected to the inlet pipe (6) so as to be in the same direction as the inlet pipe (6) and the outlet pipe (7) being connected to the other end thereof tangentially in the vertical direction. By means of the outlet pipe (7) being placed to the flow regulator (8) tangentially, the two phase refrigerant is split into phases while passing from the outlet pipe (7) into the flow regulator (8) with the effect of centrifugal force. The liquid phase flows towards the inlet pipe (6) by skimming the inner wall of the flow regulator (8) and the gas phase flows towards the inlet pipe (6) approximately through the center of the flow regulator (8). Consequently, the acoustical energy of the fluid is decreased and generation of noise is prevented.
In an embodiment not forming part of the present invention, the flow regulator (8) is configured as a hollow cylinder and enables the refrigerant to flow helically by its inner wall.
In an embodiment not forming part of the present invention, the cooling device (1) comprises an orifice (9) that is arranged on the flow regulator (8) and that enables the outlet pipe (7) to be mounted so as to extend vertically to the flow regulator (8) and tangentially to its cylindrical outer surface.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the end of the flow regulator (8) extending to the outlet pipe (7) is almost entirely closed and the end opening to the inlet pipe (6) is open.
According to the present invention, the flow regulator (8) is in frustoconical form and gets wider from the outlet pipe (7) towards the inlet pipe (6). By means of the form of the flow regulator (8), the fluid that leaves the capillary pipe (5) with increased speed, slows down while moving forward inside the flow regulator (8) and the acoustic energy thereof is decreased.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the flow regulator (8) is connected to the outlet pipe (7) and the inlet pipe (6) by welding. Connecting the simple structured pipes with welding provides savings in material costs.
By means of the present invention, the fluid is enabled to flow from the outlet pipe (7) to the flow regulator (8) so as to be tangential to the inner wall of the flow regulator (8). Consequently, generation of flow-based noise and/or originating from physical characteristics of the fluid is prevented and the cooling device (1) is enabled to operate more silently.

Claims

A cooling device (1) comprising a compressor (2) that enables the refrigeration cycle to be performed, a condenser (3) that transfers the thermal energy to the outside environment, an evaporator (4) that draws thermal energy from the environment being cooled, at least one expansion device (5) that is disposed between the condenser (3) and the evaporator (4) and that enables the refrigerant to be delivered to the evaporator (4) by expanding at the outlet of the condenser (3), an inlet pipe (6) connected to the evaporator (4) inlet, an outlet pipe (7) connected to the outlet of the at least one expansion device (5), and a flow regulator (8) that is disposed between the outlet pipe (7) and the inlet pipe (6), characterized by the at least one expansion device (5) being at least one capillary pipe (5), the flow regulator (8) being a frustoconical flow regulator (8), with one end being connected to the inlet pipe (6) so that the flow regulator (8) extends in the same direction as the inlet pipe (6), and the outlet pipe (7) being tangentially connected to the other end of the flow regulator (8) in a vertical direction, wherein the frustoconical flow regulator (8) gets wider from the outlet pipe (7) towards the inlet pipe (6).
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by an orifice (9) that is arranged on the flow regulator (8) and that enables the outlet pipe (7) to be mounted so as to extend tangentially to the flow regulator (8).
A cooling device (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by the flow regulator (8), of which the end extending to the outlet pipe (7) is almost entirely closed and the end opening to the inlet pipe (6) is open.
A cooling device (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by the flow regulator (8) that is connected to the outlet pipe (7) and the inlet pipe (6) by welding.