JP2002221370A - Air conditioner and its operation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner and its operation method, in which unexpected variation is prevented from occurring in the capacity of equipment for using hot water supplied from a hot-water intake system. SOLUTION: In the air conditioner 10, a compressor 16 equipped in an outdoor machine 11 is driven by a gas engine 30. The outdoor machine 11 is equipped with an engine cooler 41 for cooling the gas engine with engine-cooling water. The engine cooler is equipped with a hot-water intake system 49, for enabling intake of hot water by heat exchanging with the engine-cooling water. The outdoor unit and indoor unit 12A, 12B are controlled respectively by a controller 13. The controller controls so that operation of the hot-water intake system is shut down in an automatic cooling/heating operation mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner provided with an engine cooling device in which a compressor is driven by an engine and which cools the engine and uses engine exhaust heat as hot water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A gas heat pump type air conditioner in which a compressor is driven by a gas engine is known as an air conditioner, and an engine cooling device cools the gas engine with engine cooling water.

[0003] The above-mentioned engine cooling device cools an engine cooling water for cooling a gas engine by directing it to a radiator by switching a hot water three-way valve, or guiding it to a radiator through a hot water heat exchanger. There is.
The hot water heat exchanger exchanges heat between the hot water flowing through the hot water extraction system and the engine cooling water, and the heated hot water is taken out of the hot water extraction system and supplied.

Conventionally, in a heating operation mode of an air conditioner, heat of engine cooling water (exhausted heat of the engine) is used as a heat source of an outdoor heat exchanger functioning as an evaporator. Extraction of hot water is not performed in the heating operation mode of the air conditioner, but is performed in the cooling operation mode and the dry operation mode of the air conditioner.

[0005]

The operation mode of the air conditioner includes a cooling / heating automatic operation mode in which a cooling operation and a heating operation are determined by the air conditioner itself.
If the hot water extraction system is operated to take out hot water also during the cooling operation in the automatic cooling / heating automatic operation mode, the hot water extraction system is stopped during the heating operation in the automatic heating / cooling operation mode. There is a risk that the capability of the equipment using the hot water fluctuates unexpectedly, for example, the hot water usage equipment may be operated or stopped.

An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an air conditioner and an air conditioner capable of preventing the capability of equipment using hot water from a hot water extracting system from unexpectedly fluctuating. It is to provide a driving method.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, wherein a compressor mounted on the outdoor unit is driven by an engine, and the outdoor unit includes the engine An engine cooling device that cools the water with engine cooling water, the engine cooling device includes a hot water extraction system that exchanges heat with the engine cooling water to take out and supply hot water, and the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are controlled by the outdoor unit and the indoor unit. In the air conditioner controlled by the device, the control device controls to stop the hot water extraction system in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the engine cooling device cools the engine cooling water by guiding the engine cooling water to a radiator or a heat exchanger by a hot water three-way valve. In the cooling / heating automatic operation mode, the control device switches the hot water three-way valve to the heat exchanger side and controls to stop the hot water extraction system.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a compressor mounted on an outdoor unit is driven by an engine, and the outdoor unit includes an engine cooling device for cooling the engine with engine cooling water. The apparatus is an operating method of an air conditioner including a hot water extraction system that can take out and supply hot water by exchanging heat with engine cooling water, wherein in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode, the hot water extraction system is stopped. Is what you do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode, the hot water three-way valve for guiding the engine cooling water to a radiator or a heat exchanger is used as the heat exchanger. Side, and the hot water extraction system is stopped.

The first to fourth aspects of the present invention have the following effects.

The air conditioner stops the hot water extraction system in the heating operation mode, uses the heat of the engine cooling water of the engine cooling device as the heat source of the outdoor heat exchanger functioning as an evaporator, and extracts the hot water in the cooling operation mode. The system is operated to exchange heat with engine cooling water to take out and supply hot water. Therefore, by stopping the hot water extraction system in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode in which the cooling operation and the heating operation are determined by the air conditioner itself, the capability of the equipment using the hot water of the hot water extraction system in this cooling / heating automatic operation mode is expected. It can be reliably prevented from fluctuating without performing.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a refrigerant circuit and the like in an embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a heat pump type air conditioner 10 as a refrigerating apparatus includes an outdoor unit 11, a plurality of (for example, two) indoor units 12A and 12B, and a control unit 13. The outdoor refrigerant pipe 14 of the outdoor unit 11 is connected to the indoor refrigerant pipes 15A and 15B of the indoor units 12A and 12B.

The outdoor unit 11 is installed outdoors. A compressor 16 is provided in the outdoor refrigerant pipe 14, and an accumulator 17 is provided on a suction side of the compressor 16 and a four-way valve 18 is provided on a discharge side. An outdoor heat exchanger 19, an outdoor expansion valve 24, and a dry core 25 are sequentially arranged on the four-way valve 18 side. An outdoor fan 20 that blows air toward the outdoor heat exchanger 19 is disposed adjacent to the outdoor heat exchanger 19. The compressor 16 is connected to a gas engine 30 via a flexible coupling 27 and the like, and is driven by the gas engine 30. Furthermore,
A bypass pipe 26 is provided to bypass the outdoor expansion valve 24.

On the other hand, the indoor units 12A and 12B are installed indoors, and the indoor refrigerant pipes 15A and 15B are respectively provided.
The indoor heat exchangers 21A and 21B are arranged in
In each of the indoor refrigerant pipes 15A and 15B, the indoor expansion valves 22A and 22A are located near the indoor heat exchangers 21A and 21B.
B is arranged and configured. The indoor heat exchanger 21A,
The indoor fans 23A and 23B that blow air to the indoor heat exchangers 21A and 21B are arranged adjacent to the indoor heat exchanger 21B.

Reference numeral 28 in FIG. 1 denotes a strainer. Reference numeral 29 denotes a safety valve for releasing the refrigerant pressure on the discharge side of the compressor 16 to the suction side of the compressor 16.

The control device 13 is installed in the outdoor unit 11 and controls the operation of the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor units 12A and 12B. Specifically, the control device 13 controls the gas engine 30 (that is, the compressor 16) in the outdoor unit 11 and the four-way valve 1
8. The outdoor fan 20 and the outdoor expansion valve 24, and the indoor expansion valves 22A and 22B and the indoor fans 23A and 23B in the indoor units 12A and 12B are respectively controlled. Further, the control device 13 controls a circulating pump 47, a hot water three-way valve 45, an external pump 50, and the like of the engine cooling device 41 described later.

By switching the four-way valve 18 by the control device 13, the heat pump type air conditioner 10 is set to the cooling operation mode or the heating operation mode. That is, when the control device 13 switches the four-way valve 18 to the cooling side, the refrigerant flows as indicated by the solid line arrow and the outdoor heat exchanger 19
Are used as condensers, and the indoor heat exchangers 21A and 21B are used as evaporators to be in a cooling operation state.
B cools the room. Further, the control device 13 is a four-way valve 18.
Is switched to the heating side, the refrigerant flows as shown by the dashed arrows, the indoor heat exchangers 21A and 21B become condensers, the outdoor heat exchanger 19 becomes an evaporator, and enters a heating operation state, and each indoor heat exchanger 21A , 21B heat the room.

The control device 13 operates during the cooling operation.
The valve opening of each of the indoor expansion valves 22A and 22B is controlled according to the air conditioning load. During the heating operation, the controller 13
Controls the respective opening degrees of the outdoor expansion valve 24 and the indoor expansion valves 22A and 22B according to the air conditioning load.

On the other hand, a combustion chamber (not shown) of a gas engine 30 for driving the compressor 16 is provided with an engine fuel supply device 3.
A mixture is supplied from 1. The engine fuel supply device 31 includes two fuel cutoff valves 33 in a fuel supply pipe 32,
Zero governor 34, fuel regulating valve 35, and actuator 3
6 are sequentially arranged, and an end of the fuel supply pipe 32 on the actuator 36 side is connected to the combustion chamber of the gas engine 30.

The two fuel cut-off valves 33 are arranged in series to form a two-closed fuel cut-off valve mechanism, and the two fuel cut-off valves 33 are fully closed or fully opened in conjunction with each other, so that the fuel gas leaks. Interception without interruption and communication are performed alternatively.

The zero governor 34 has a primary pressure a of a primary fuel gas pressure (primary pressure a) and a secondary fuel gas pressure (secondary pressure b) before and after the zero governor 34 in the fuel supply pipe 32. The secondary pressure b is also adjusted to a constant predetermined pressure by the fluctuation of the pressure, and the operation of the gas engine 30 is stabilized.

The fuel adjusting valve 35 is for optimally adjusting the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture generated by introducing air from the upstream side of the actuator 36. Further, the actuator 36 controls the rotation speed of the gas engine 30 by adjusting the supply amount of the air-fuel mixture supplied to the combustion chamber of the gas engine 30.

An engine oil supply device 37 is connected to the gas engine 30. The engine oil supply device 37 includes an oil supply pipe 38 provided with an oil cutoff valve 39, an oil supply pump 40, and the like, and appropriately supplies engine oil to the gas engine 30.

The gas engine 30 by the control device 13
Specifically, the fuel cutoff valve 33, the zero governor 34, the fuel adjustment valve 35 and the actuator 36 of the engine fuel supply device 31, and the engine oil supply device 37
The control is performed by the control device 13 of the oil cutoff valve 39 and the oil supply pump 40.

Now, the gas engine 30 is connected to the outdoor unit 1
The engine 1 is cooled by the engine cooling water circulating in the engine cooling device 41 installed in the engine 1. This engine cooling device 4
Reference numeral 1 denotes a substantially closed-loop cooling water pipe having one end connected to an exhaust gas heat exchanger (not shown) attached to the gas engine 30 via the gas engine 30 and the other end directly connected to the exhaust gas heat exchanger. 42, a three-way wax valve 43;
A hot water three-way valve 45, a hot water heat exchanger 44 as a heat exchanger,
A radiator 46 and a circulation pump 47 are sequentially arranged, and have a hot water extraction system 49.

The circulating pump 47 pressurizes the engine cooling water during operation and supplies the engine cooling water to the cooling water pipe 4.
Circulate within 2.

The wax three-way valve 43 is for warming up the gas engine 30 quickly. The wax three-way valve 43 has an inlet 43A on the side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger attached to the gas engine 30 in the cooling water pipe 42 and a low-temperature side outlet 43B on the side of the circulating pump 4 in the cooling water pipe 42.
The high-temperature side outlet 43C is connected to the hot water three-way valve 45 side of the cooling water pipe 42 at the suction side of No. 7.

The engine cooling water flows from the discharge side of the circulation pump 47 into the exhaust gas heat exchanger of the gas engine 30 at about 40 ° C. and recovers the exhaust heat of the gas engine 30 (heat of exhaust gas). The gas engine 30 flows through the inside and is cooled, and is heated to about 80 ° C. The engine cooling water flowing into the wax three-way valve 43 from the gas engine 30 has a low-temperature side outlet 4 when the temperature is low (for example, 80 ° C. or less).
3B, the gas engine 30 is quickly returned to the circulation pump 47 and quickly warmed up. When the temperature is high (for example, 80 ° C. or higher), the gas flows from the high temperature side outlet 43C to the hot water three-way valve 45.

The hot water three-way valve 45 has an inlet 45A connected to the wax three-way valve 43 in the cooling water pipe 42, an ON-side outlet 45B connected to the hot water heat exchanger 44 in the cooling water pipe 42, and an OFF-side. The outlet 45C is connected to the radiator 46 side of the cooling water pipe 42.

This hot water three-way valve 45 is
The engine cooling water flowing in through the ON-side outlet 45B to the hot-water heat exchanger 44 side or the OFF-side outlet 45C
And is a switching type three-way valve that selectively leads each to the radiator 46 side via a motor, and is driven by a motor (not shown). This motor is controlled by the control device 13.

The hot water heat exchanger 44 is connected to the external pump 5
The hot water flowing through the external pipe 53 of the hot water extraction system 49 provided with the heat exchanger 2 and the engine cooling water flowing from the hot water three-way valve 45 exchange heat, and the hot water of the hot water extraction system 49 is discharged by the exhaust heat of the gas engine 30. The temperature is raised by heating. The external pump 52 is controlled by the control device 13.

The hot water of the hot water extraction system 49 is supplied to the hot water heat exchanger 4.
4, the temperature is increased and taken out and supplied to the outside. The heated water of the heated water extraction system 49 whose temperature has been raised is supplied to a hot water supply device using the hot water and a dehumidifier drying device of the desiccant air conditioner. Here, the desiccant air conditioner is an air conditioner that can perform dehumidification using a dehumidifier without lowering the room temperature.

The engine cooling water cooled by being exchanged with the hot water of the hot water extracting system 49 by the hot water heat exchanger 44 is guided to the radiator 46 to be further cooled (dissipated), and the OFF-side outlet 45 C of the hot water three-way valve 45. Like the engine cooling water which is directly guided to the radiator 46 and cooled (radiated),
The gas is led to the exhaust gas heat exchanger of the gas engine 30 via the suction side of the circulation pump 47. The gas engine 30 is cooled by the guided engine cooling water. This radiator 4
6 is arranged adjacent to the outdoor heat exchanger 19.

In the heating operation mode of the air conditioner 10,
The hot water three-way valve 45 directly guides the engine cooling water from the wax three-way valve 43 to the radiator 46, and this radiator 4
The heat radiated from 6 is taken into the outdoor heat exchanger 19 functioning as an evaporator and used as a heat source of the evaporator.

In the cooling operation mode of the air conditioner 10,
The hot water three-way valve 45 guides the engine cooling water from the wax three-way valve 43 to the hot water heat exchanger 44, and the hot water heat exchanger 4
4 exchanges heat between the hot water flowing through the hot water extracting system 49 and the engine cooling water, and uses the heat of the engine cooling water to heat the hot water extracting system 49.
Heat the warm water. The heated and heated warm water is effectively used for hot water supply and the like.

The air conditioner 10 has a dry operation mode, a ventilation operation mode, a stop mode, and a cooling / heating automatic operation mode in addition to the above-described cooling operation mode and heating operation mode. In this cooling / heating automatic operation mode, the cooling operation state and the heating operation state are controlled by the controller 13 of the air conditioner 10.
Is the operation mode determined by

The controller 13 sets the hot water three-way valve 45 to the hot water heat exchanger 4 only in the cooling operation mode (including the cooling test operation) and the dry operation mode of the air conditioner 10.
Switching to the fourth side, the engine coolant flowing into the inlet 45A is led from the ON-side outlet 45B to the hot water heat exchanger 44, and the external pump 52 is driven to operate the hot water extraction system 49.

Therefore, the control device 13 controls the air conditioner 1
0 in each of the heating operation mode, the ventilation operation mode, the stop mode, and the cooling / heating automatic operation mode.
5 is switched to the ON side outlet 45B side (the hot water heat exchanger 44 side), but the external pump 52 is not driven and the hot water extraction system 4 is not driven.
9 is stopped. In the cooling / heating automatic operation mode, the control device 1 is controlled in both the heating operation state and the cooling operation state.
3, the hot water extraction system 49 is stopped while the hot water three-way valve 45 is switched to the ON side outlet 45B side (the hot water heat exchanger 44 side).

Therefore, according to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

The air conditioner 10 stops the hot water extraction system 49 in the heating operation mode, uses the heat of the engine cooling water of the engine cooling device 41 as the heat source of the outdoor heat exchanger 19 functioning as an evaporator, and performs the cooling operation. In the mode, hot water extraction system 49
Is operated to heat the hot water of the hot water extracting system 49 by exchanging heat with the engine cooling water by the hot water heat exchanger 44, and the heated hot water is taken out from the hot water extracting system 49 and supplied. Therefore, in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode in which the cooling operation and the heating operation are determined by the air conditioner 10 itself, the hot water extraction system 4
In this cooling / heating automatic operation mode, it is possible to reliably prevent unexpectedly fluctuating capabilities of devices (the above-described hot water supply device and dehumidifier drying device) that use hot water in the hot water extraction system 49 in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode. .

Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, when there are a plurality of air conditioners 10 and some of the air conditioners 10 are in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode, the air conditioning devices 10 in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode are used. Even if the cooling operation state and the heating operation state are intermingled between each other, the hot water extraction systems 49 in the multiple systems of air conditioners 10 are stopped by stopping the hot water extraction systems 49 of the respective systems in the cooling / heating automatic operation mode. It is possible to prevent the capacity of the device that uses the hot water from fluctuating.

[0046]

According to the air conditioner according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the capability of the equipment using hot water from the hot water extracting system from fluctuating unexpectedly.

According to the method for operating an air conditioner according to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent unexpected fluctuations in the capacity of a device that uses hot water from a hot water extracting system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a refrigerant circuit and the like in an embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 air conditioner 11 outdoor unit 12A, 12B indoor unit 13 control unit 16 compressor 30 gas engine 41 engine cooling unit 44 hot water heat exchanger (heat exchanger) 45 hot water three-way valve 46 radiator 49 hot water extraction system

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Haruhiko Konno 1 Otsukicho, Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture Sanyo Electric Air Conditioning Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 3L060 AA08 CC19 DD01 EE44

Claims (4)

[Claims] A compressor having an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, wherein the compressor mounted on the outdoor unit is driven by an engine; the outdoor unit includes an engine cooling device for cooling the engine with engine cooling water; An air conditioner in which the engine cooling device includes a hot water extraction system that exchanges heat with engine cooling water to take out and supply hot water, wherein the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are controlled by a control device. Is an air-conditioning apparatus that controls to stop the hot water extraction system in a cooling / heating automatic operation mode. 2. The engine cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the engine cooling water is selectively guided to a radiator and a heat exchanger by a hot water three-way valve to cool the engine cooling water. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioner is switched to a heat exchanger and is controlled to stop the hot water extraction system. 3. A compressor mounted on an outdoor unit is driven by an engine, and the outdoor unit includes an engine cooling device that cools the engine with engine cooling water. An operation method of an air conditioner provided with a hot water extraction system capable of taking out and supplying hot water by heat exchange, comprising: stopping the hot water extraction system in a cooling / heating automatic operation mode. . 4. In the cooling / heating automatic operation mode, a hot water three-way valve for selectively introducing engine cooling water to a radiator and a heat exchanger is switched to the heat exchanger side, and a hot water extraction system is stopped. The method for operating the air conditioner according to claim 3.