EP4269927A1 - Cooling register for cold air generation - Google Patents

Abstract

A cold register for generating cold air, in particular for snowmaking systems, has a mechanically operating de-icing device which has at least one rotation shaft (6), which extends between two pipe layers (5) transversely to the refrigerant guide pipes and can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide pipes (4), and one Rotary drive for rotating the rotation shaft (6). The removal elements (16) are designed as rotation elements attached to the rotation shaft (6), which remove the ice and frost deposits from the refrigerant guide pipes (4) by a rotational movement.

Description

The invention relates to a cold register for generating cold air, in particular for snowmaking systems, according to the preamble of claim 1.

Snow production systems are known to be used to produce artificial snow, which can be used for ski slopes, for example. Snow making systems work in such a way that water is sprayed into a cold air stream, whereby the water droplets cool down accordingly and are converted into snow or snow and ice crystals.

Cold registers (heat or cold exchangers) in the form of finned cold registers are known for cooling the air flow. Such finned cold registers have a very large number of fins that are strongly cooled using a suitable refrigerant, which creates a large cooling surface for the air flow flowing past.

Icing is a major problem with cold registers. As icing increases, the efficiency of a cold register is significantly reduced. This can lead to a complete functional failure of the cold register. An attempt is made to counter this problem with finned cold registers, for example, by providing two such cold registers, of which only one cold register is used during operation. If one cold register is away, the second cold register is put into operation while the icy cold register is defrosted. However, this principle is associated with high costs and a large space requirement. For applications in which the air to be cooled has a high humidity, this principle cannot be used economically because the cold register would freeze too quickly. This is particularly true for snowmaking systems, where humidity is often between 65% and 100%.

From the CH 237257 A a cold register according to the preamble of claim 1 is known. This known cold register has a device for mechanically removing the frost from refrigerant guide pipes, with a scraping device acting on two adjacent pipe layers simultaneously being provided. The scraping device there comprises a scraper shaft equipped with scratching knives, which can be moved manually along the refrigerant guide tubes and scrapes off the frost deposits by pulling the scraping device back and forth. However, pulling the scratching device back and forth in this way is laborious, complicated and time-consuming.

The invention is therefore based on the object of creating a cold register for generating cold air, which is particularly suitable for cooling air that has high humidity and which enables particularly effective, rapid, energy- and energy-saving defrosting.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a cold register with the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the further claims.

In the cold register according to the invention, the de-icing device comprises at least one rotary shaft, which extends between two pipe layers and is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide tubes, and a rotary drive for rotating the rotary shaft. The removal elements are designed as rotation elements attached to the rotation shaft, which remove the ice and frost deposits from the refrigerant guide pipes through a rotation movement.

The term "ice" or "ice and frost deposits" is used in the broadest sense in the context of the discovery and is intended to include all types of frozen substances that can form and deposit on the refrigerant pipes, especially snow.

In the de-icing device according to the invention, the ice and frost deposits are removed by a type of milling movement, with the removal elements being rotated by a rotary drive about an axis of rotation which runs transversely to the longitudinal axis of the refrigerant guide pipes. The rotating removal elements are then moved along the refrigerant guide pipes in such a way that the refrigerant guide pipes are de-iced over their entire length.

In this way, the defrosting of the cold register according to the invention can be carried out fully automatically, quickly and effectively and with relatively little energy expenditure. Since the removal elements do not remove the ice and frost deposits through a pure scraping movement in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide tubes, but through a rotational movement, moving the rotation shaft(s) along the refrigerant guide tubes requires a relatively small amount of force. De-icing can therefore be carried out in an energy-saving manner. Furthermore, the de-icing device according to the invention can also be used in particular in cold registers that work in an environment with high humidity and usually ice up very quickly.

The removal elements preferably have contour cutting edges which form a cutting profile adapted to the circumference of the refrigerant guide tubes, which extends at least over a third, preferably over an area between a third and half, of the circumference of the refrigerant guide tubes. Particularly preferably, the cutting profile encloses half of the circumference of the refrigerant guide tubes. Preferably, the refrigerant guide pipes of two adjacent pipe layers are de-iced simultaneously by means of a single rotary shaft, the upper circumferential region, preferably the upper half of the circumference, of the lower refrigerant guide pipes and the lower circumferential region, preferably the lower half of the circumference of the upper refrigerant guide pipes are processed at the same time. This allows the number of rotation shafts to be reduced and the structural design to be simplified. The removal elements can also extend at least slightly beyond half of the pipe circumference.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the removal elements consist of a metal that has a lower hardness than the refrigerant guide tubes, or the removal elements have scraping lips on which the contour cutting edges are formed and which consist of a hard plastic or hard rubber or of a metal that has a lower hardness Hardness than the refrigerant guide pipes. This prevents wear on the refrigerant guide tubes if the removal elements closely surround the refrigerant guide tubes and contact between the removal elements and the refrigerant guide tubes occurs due to manufacturing tolerances.

The removal elements are preferably designed in such a way that the contour cutting edges are at a distance of 0.5 to 3 mm, preferably 2 to 3 mm, from the refrigerant guide pipes. In this way, contact between the removal elements and the refrigerant guide pipes and the resulting wear can be avoided in a simple manner, without the manufacturing tolerances having to be kept very small. Surprisingly, it has also been shown that a thin layer of hard-packed snow or ice, which remains on the refrigerant guide pipes due to this distance, promotes cold transfer from the refrigerant pipes to the air does not deteriorate significantly.

The removal elements preferably consist of a steel material. Alternatively, it is also possible to produce the removal elements from a plastic material, rubber, rubber-fabric materials, Kevlar, fabric or leather materials.

Alternatively, it is also possible for the removal elements to be designed as brushes, preferably as round contour brushes.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the removal elements are flexibly mounted on the rotation shaft, such that the position of the removal elements relative to the rotation shaft can be adapted to the position of the refrigerant guide tubes. This allows tolerances in the pipe arrangement and/or the removal elements to be compensated for.

Preferably, the rotation shaft has radially projecting retaining tabs on which the removal elements are releasably held. The holding tabs can, for example, be welded to the rotation shaft, while the removal elements are screwed to the holding tabs. This allows the removal elements to be easily replaced if this is necessary due to wear, for example.

According to an advantageous embodiment, a plurality of removal elements are integrally formed in the form of a removal bar that can be fastened along the rotation shaft. One Such a removal strip advantageously extends over all of the refrigerant guide tubes of a pipe layer, ie over the entire width of the stack of refrigerant guide tubes, but can also only extend over a smaller number of refrigerant guide tubes of a pipe layer. Alternatively, however, it is also possible to provide separate removal elements for each refrigerant guide pipe of a pipe layer.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the cold register comprises a plurality of tube layers arranged one above the other, between each of which a rotation shaft with removal elements is arranged, with adjacent rotation shafts being arranged offset in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide tubes. As a result, the removal elements can protrude the refrigerant guide pipes over slightly more than half of the pipe circumference without colliding with removal elements of the adjacent rotation shaft. This ensures in a simple manner that the layer of ice or frost is removed without leaving any residue, even in the central circumferential area of the refrigerant pipes.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the rotation shaft is rotatably mounted at the end on a side support arrangement, which can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide tubes, the rotary drive being attached to the side support arrangement and movable together with it.

It is particularly advantageous here if the rotary drive comprises at least one motor, which drives several rotary shafts together via a gearbox. For example It is possible to drive 2 to 20, preferably 5 to 13, particularly preferably 7 to 11 rotary shafts via a single motor by means of several drive chains or toothed belts, which are drivingly coupled to one another via gears of the rotary shafts. Other types of transmissions, for example pure gear transmissions, and a different number of jointly driven rotary shafts are easily possible.

The refrigerant guide pipes are preferably mounted in a radially floating manner in end plates which are designed as perforated plates. Through such a floating storage, a mutual alignment of refrigerant guide pipes and removal elements is possible to a certain extent. Furthermore, this allows the refrigerant guide pipes to expand or contract unhindered when the temperature changes, which means that material stresses and deformations of the refrigerant guide pipes and/or end plates can be avoided. For this purpose, the refrigerant guide pipes can advantageously also be fixed in a floating manner in the longitudinal direction.

Preferably the end plates are heated. This allows scraped ice that has gotten onto the end plates to be easily melted and removed if necessary.

Figur 1:

eine räumliche Darstellung eines erfindungsgemäßen Kälteregisters;

Figur 2:

das Kälteregister von Figur 1, wobei äußere Rahmenelemente und der Antrieb zum Verfahren der Enteisungseinrichtung längs der Kältemittelführungsrohre weggelassen wurden;

Figur 3:

eine stirnseitige Ansicht des Kälteregisters von Figur 2;

Figur 4:

eine Darstellung entsprechend Figur 2, jedoch ohne Kältemittelführungsrohre;

Figur 5:

eine der Übersichtlichkeit halber stark reduzierte Anzahl von Rotationswellen und Kältemittelführungsrohren, wobei drei Rotationswellen dargestellt sind, die zwischen drei Rohrlagen mit jeweils zwei Kältemittelführungsrohren angeordnet sind;

Figur 6:

eine Seitenansicht der Elemente von Figur 5;

Figur 7:

die Einzelheit VII von Figur 5 in vergrößerter Darstellung;

Figur 8:

eine vergrößerte Darstellung eines Endabschnitts einer einzelnen Rotationswelle, die zwischen zwei Kältemittelführungsrohren angeordnet ist;

Figur 9:

eine räumliche Darstellung des Kälteregisters von Figur 1, wobei die Mehrzahl der Kältemittelführungsrohre und Rotationswellen weggelassen wurden, um den Drehantrieb und den Verfahrantrieb zu verdeutlichen;

Figur 10:

eine räumliche Darstellung eines einzelnen Motors des Drehantriebs und der von diesem Motor angetriebenen Rotationswellen; und

Figur 11:

eine Seitenansicht der Elemente von Figur 10.

The invention is explained in more detail below using the drawings as an example. Show it:

Figure 1:

a spatial representation of a cold register according to the invention;

Figure 2:

the cold register of Figure 1 , wherein external frame elements and the drive for moving the de-icing device along the refrigerant guide pipes were omitted;

Figure 3:

a front view of the cold register from Figure 2 ;

Figure 4:

a representation accordingly Figure 2 , but without refrigerant pipes;

Figure 5:

for the sake of clarity, a greatly reduced number of rotation shafts and refrigerant guide tubes, three rotation shafts being shown, which are arranged between three pipe layers, each with two refrigerant guide tubes;

Figure 6:

a side view of the elements of Figure 5 ;

Figure 7:

the detail VII of Figure 5 in an enlarged view;

Figure 8:

an enlarged view of an end portion of a single rotary shaft disposed between two refrigerant guide tubes;

Figure 9:

a spatial representation of the cold register of Figure 1 , where the majority of the refrigerant guide tubes and rotation shafts have been omitted to clarify the rotary drive and the traverse drive;

Figure 10:

a spatial representation of a single motor of the rotary drive and the rotary shafts driven by this motor; and

Figure 11:

a side view of the elements of Figure 10 .

Figure 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cold register 1 for generating cold air in snowmaking systems.

The cold register 1 essentially has a cube- or cuboid-shaped outer contour, which is delimited by a housing frame 2. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the air inlet side is at the bottom and the air outlet side is at the top. The air to be cooled flows through the cold register 1 from bottom to top in the direction of arrows 3.

A different orientation of the cold register 1, in which the air flow flows through the cold register 1, for example from top to bottom or in a horizontal direction, is also conceivable within the scope of the invention.

The cold register 1 comprises a plurality of straight refrigerant guide tubes 4 through which a refrigerant, for example a glycol-water mixture, can be passed. The refrigerant guide pipes 4 are connected at one end to an external refrigeration machine, not shown, which cools the refrigerant to a low temperature of, for example, -30 ° C. The refrigerant cools the refrigerant guide pipes 4 accordingly, which then have a correspondingly cold surface.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the refrigerant guide tubes 4 are arranged horizontally and parallel to one another at a predetermined distance such that they form a stack/bundle. A certain number of refrigerant guide tubes 4, for example 10 to 100 refrigerant guide tubes 4, form a row or tube layer 5 of refrigerant guide tubes 4 arranged horizontally next to one another, which lie in a specific horizontal plane. How out Figure 1 As can be seen, the cold register 1 comprises a large number, for example 20 to 100, of such pipe layers 5 arranged one above the other.

The cold register 1 can therefore include a very large number, for example 100 to several thousand, of refrigerant guide tubes 4. The number is variable to a large extent and is determined by the size of the cold register 1 and the desired cold transfer capacity.

The refrigerant guide tubes 4 are preferably stainless steel tubes which have a very precise, constant outside diameter with only very small tolerance deviations over their entire length.

The mutual distance between the refrigerant guide tubes 4 in the vertical direction, ie the vertical distance between the individual horizontal tube layers 5, is preferably the same and is advantageously 0.5 - 4 times, particularly preferably 0.8 - 2 times, in particular 0 .9 - 1.2 times the outside diameter of the refrigerant guide pipes 4.

The mutual distance between the refrigerant guide pipes 4 in the horizontal direction can be the same or different to their vertical distance.

The cold register 1 also has a de-icing device for mechanically removing ice or frost formed on the refrigerant guide pipes 4. This de-icing device is designed in such a way that it can work permanently and very effectively while the cold register 1 is in operation, with the cooling and the flow of air through the cold register 1 not being hindered or only slightly hindered.

Figure 4 shows the de-icing device without traversing drive. The de-icing device comprises a large number of rotation shafts 6 arranged one above the other, which are rotatably mounted on both sides in side supports 7a, 7b and can be set in rotation by means of motors 8a, 8b. The side supports 7a, 7b can collectively be referred to as a side support arrangement. They extend, like in particular Figure 2 visible, over the entire height of the stack of refrigerant guide tubes 4.

How out Figure 3 As can be seen, in the exemplary embodiment shown, three motors 8a are attached to the left support 7a so that they act on the left end of some rotation shafts 6, while two further motors 8b are attached to the right support 7b so that they act on the right end of some rotation shafts 6 . Due to the mutual arrangement of the motors 8a, 8b, a relatively large number of motors 8a, 8b can be attached to the side support arrangement, so that only a small number of rotation shafts 6 must be driven by a single motor 8a, 8b. This reduces the power required per motor 8a, 8b.

A rotation shaft 6 extends between two adjacent pipe layers 5 transversely to the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide pipes 4, as shown in FIG Figures 5 to 8 will be explained in more detail.

The rotation shafts 6 can be used by means of a traversing drive, which is in one in the Figures 1 and 9 shown acts on the side supports 7a, 7b, can be moved over the entire length of the refrigerant guide tubes 4.

The traversing drive includes two motors 9a, 9b, which are stationary in the opposite side regions of the cold register 1 on a holding structure 10 ( Figure 1 ) are attached and vertical shafts 11 can rotate, each end with a drive pinion 13 ( Figure 9 ) are rotationally coupled. The drive pinions 13 mesh with four horizontally guided racks 12, which are arranged parallel to one another in the edge regions of the stack of refrigerant guide tubes 4 and are displaced in their longitudinal direction relative to the housing frame 2 by the rotational movement of the drive pinions. Since the racks 12 are firmly connected to the side supports 7a, 7b, the side supports 7a, 7b and thus the rotation shafts 6 are correspondingly taken along and moved along the refrigerant guide tubes 4.

Like from the Figures 5 to 8 As can be seen, the rotation shafts 6 extend transversely to the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide pipes 4. A rotation shaft 6 is provided between each pipe layer 5. All rotation shafts 6 are designed at least essentially the same.

The rotation shafts 6 have two opposite rows of retaining tabs 14, which protrude radially beyond the tubular or cylindrical shaft body 15 and are preferably welded to it. Instead of two rows, a different number of rows, for example one to four rows of holding tabs 14, can also be provided, which are preferably arranged regularly around the circumference of the shaft body 15. The retaining tabs 14 are arranged and designed in such a way that they each protrude with some distance into the intermediate area between two adjacent refrigerant guide pipes 4.

The holding tabs 14 are used to fasten removal elements 16, with which a buildup of ice or frost that has formed on the refrigerant guide pipes 4 can be removed. For this purpose, the removal elements 16 each have a contour cutting edge 17, i.e. H. a cutting edge adapted to the circumferential contour of the refrigerant guide tubes 4, which can be guided past the circumference of the refrigerant guide tubes 4 at a very small distance when the rotation shafts 6 are rotated. The removal elements 16 are therefore milling elements with which the ice or frost deposits are milled off.

The removal elements 16 protrude with their contour cutting edges 17 over the holding tabs 14. Continue to extend the removal elements 16 extend so far into the space between horizontally adjacent refrigerant guide tubes 4 that the contour cutting edges 17 enclose half of the circumference of the refrigerant guide tubes 4 with a narrow distance when the removal elements 16 are aligned vertically.

The removal elements 16 arranged next to one another in a row thus form a removal strip 18, which has semicircular indentations formed by the contour cutting edges 17 and fastening sections 19 arranged between the indentations, which are spaced apart in accordance with the distance between the refrigerant guide tubes 4.

The fastening means for fastening the removal elements 16 to the holding tabs 14 are in the Figures 7 and 8 not shown in more detail. The fastening means can in particular consist of screws which are passed through bores 20 which are provided in the holding tabs 14 and fastening sections 19 of the removal elements 16. The fastening means can in particular be designed in such a way that the removal elements 16 are mounted on the retaining tabs 14 in a floating manner, ie somewhat laterally flexible. This can be achieved, for example, by sleeve-like rubber inserts that are inserted into the bores 20.

The removal elements 16 of a row can be designed integrally in the form of a single, coherent removal bar 18 that extends over the entire width of a pipe layer 5. Alternatively, it is also possible for a removal bar 18 to be formed by individual, separate removal elements 16 or by several groups is formed by coherent removal elements 16. With separate removal elements 16, it is expedient if the dividing line lies in the middle of the contour cutting edges 17, ie at the deepest point of the indentations.

Like in particular Figure 6 can be seen, adjacent rotation shafts 6 arranged one above the other are arranged offset from one another in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide tubes 4. As a result, the removal elements 16 of adjacent rotation shafts 6 cannot touch each other even if they extend beyond half of the tube circumference. The rotation shafts 6 are arranged in two mutually parallel, spaced vertical planes.

Based on Figures 10 and 11 the rotary drive for the rotary shafts 6 is explained in more detail, with a single motor 8a and the rotary shafts 6 driven by this motor 8a being shown.

Each rotary shaft 6 has an end section 21, to which at least one chain wheel 22, 23 is secured in a rotationally fixed manner. The chain wheels 22, 23 can also be toothed pulleys. In the exemplary embodiment shown, a total of nine rotation shafts 6 arranged one above the other are driven by a single motor 8a.

The drive takes place via four drive chains 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d, which are shown only schematically, or corresponding toothed belts. Each drive chain 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d runs over the chain wheels 22, 23 of three rotation shafts 6 arranged one above the other and over a tensioning sprocket 25 with which the tension of the drive chains 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d can be adjusted.

The third, fifth and seventh rotation shafts 6, in the Figures 10 and 11 counted from below, each carries two chain wheels 22, 23 arranged one behind the other. The drive chains 24a, 24c are in engagement with the front chain wheels 22, while the drive chains 24b, 24d are in engagement with the rear chain wheels 23. In this way, all nine rotation shafts 6 are rotationally coupled to one another.

The rotary drive can thus be realized in that one of the rotary shafts 6, in the exemplary embodiment shown the fifth rotary shaft 6 from below, is coupled in a rotationally fixed manner to the output gear shaft, not shown, of the motor 8a. The remaining eight rotation shafts 6 are then rotated accordingly.

In Figure 9 It is also indicated that the refrigerant guide pipes 4 are guided through end plates 26, which are designed as perforated plates. As a result, the refrigerant guide tubes 4 are positioned radially. The end plates 26 form the end of the displacement path for the rotation shafts 6.

In order to enable a radial expansion of the refrigerant guide tubes 4 in the event of temperature fluctuations and a certain flexible mounting in the radial direction, the refrigerant guide tubes 4 are preferably floatingly mounted in the end plates 26, for example by means of an elastic O-ring.

Claims (14)

Cold register for generating cold air with several pipe layers (5) of refrigerant guide tubes (4) and with a mechanically acting de-icing device for removing the ice and frost deposits from the refrigerant guide tubes (4), the de-icing device comprising removal elements (16) which run along the refrigerant guide tubes (4). are displaceable, characterized in that the de-icing device has at least one rotary shaft (6), which extends between two pipe layers (5) transversely to the refrigerant guide tubes and is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide tubes (4), and a rotary drive for rotating the rotary shaft (6) includes, and that the removal elements (16) are designed as rotation elements attached to the rotation shaft (6), which remove the ice and frost deposits from the refrigerant guide tubes (4) by a rotational movement. Cold register according to claim 1, characterized in that the removal elements (16) have contour cutting edges (17) which form a cutting profile adapted to the circumference of the refrigerant guide tubes (4), which extends at least over a third of the circumference of the refrigerant guide tubes (4). Cold register according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the removal elements (16) consist of a metal which has a lower hardness than the refrigerant guide tubes (4), or that the removal elements (16) have scraping lips on which the contour cutting edges (17) are formed and which consist of a hard plastic or hard rubber or of a metal that has a lower hardness than the refrigerant guide pipes (4). Cold register according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the removal elements (16) are designed such that the contour cutting edges (17) are at a distance of 0.5 to 3 mm from the refrigerant guide tubes (4). Cold register according to claim 1, characterized in that the removal elements (16) are designed as brushes. Cold register according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the removal elements (16) are flexibly mounted on the rotation shaft (6) in such a way that the position of the removal elements (16) relative to the rotation shaft (6) corresponds to the position of the refrigerant guide pipes (4). is customizable. Cold register according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rotation shaft (6) has radially projecting holding tabs (14) on which the removal elements (16) are held. Cold register according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a plurality of removal elements (16) are integrally formed in the form of a removal bar (18) which can be fastened along the rotation shaft (6). Cold register according to claim 8, characterized in that the removal bar (18) extends over all of the refrigerant guide tubes (4) of a tube layer (5). Cold register according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cold register (1) comprises a plurality of pipe layers (5) arranged one above the other, between each of which a rotation shaft (6) with removal elements (16) is arranged, with adjacent rotation shafts (6) in the longitudinal direction the refrigerant guide pipes (4) are arranged offset. Cold register according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rotation shaft (6) is rotatably mounted at the end on a side support arrangement which can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the refrigerant guide tubes (4), the rotary drive being attached to the side support arrangement and movable together with it. Cold register according to claim 11, characterized in that the rotary drive comprises at least one motor (8a, 8b) which drives a plurality of rotary shafts (6) together via a gearbox. Cold register according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the refrigerant guide pipes (4) are mounted radially floating in end plates (26), which are designed as perforated plates. Cold register according to claim 13, characterized in that the end plates (26) are heated.

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