JP2003083649A - Icemaker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an icemaker capable of efficiently icemaking even when a non-azeotrope refrigerant is used. SOLUTION: A pipe 16 made of a copper or the like is wound on an outer periphery of an icemaking cylinder 17 as an evaporator 15 for constituting a part of a refrigerating circuit. The non-azeotrope refrigerant flows through the pipe 16 formed at its upper end as a refrigerant inlet 20 and at its lower end as a refrigerant outlet 21 from above to below. Thus, icemaking water supplied from a water supply tube 19 into the cylinder 17 is cooled to grow an ice on an inner surface of the cylinder 17, the ice is released by the rotation of an auger 22, and discharged from above the cylinder 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making machine,
In particular, the present invention relates to an ice making machine having a refrigerant passage as an evaporator in an ice making section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional auger ice making machine as shown in FIG. 2, a copper pipe 1 is wound around an outer circumference of an ice making cylinder 2 as an evaporator forming a part of a refrigerating circuit. The inside of the ice making cylinder 2 is cooled by flowing the refrigerant from the lower side to the upper side. Water supply pipe 3 to ice making cylinder 2
The ice making water supplied to the inside is cooled and discharged as ice from the upper portion of the ice making cylinder 2. In the evaporator of the refrigerator, particularly the so-called dry evaporator, the refrigerant is generally passed from the upper side to the lower side. However, since the heat transfer area as a heat exchanger is not sufficient in the auger ice maker,
By making the liquid refrigerant flow upward from the lower side to the copper pipe 1 wound around the outer circumference of the ice making cylinder 2 to increase the ratio of the liquid refrigerant staying in the copper pipe 1, the heat transfer performance can be relatively improved. There is. That is, the lower part of the copper pipe 1 is used as the refrigerant inlet 5 and the upper part is used as the refrigerant outlet 6 to flow the refrigerant from the lower side to the upper side of the copper pipe 1. In this case, if ice is produced using a single refrigerant, an azeotropic mixed refrigerant, or a pseudo-azeotropic mixed refrigerant, the temperature inside the copper pipe 1 in the evaporator is almost uniform as a whole, or the temperature of the refrigerant above the copper pipe 1 is The outlet 6 has a temperature slightly higher than that of the refrigerant inlet 5 at the bottom of the copper pipe 1.

[0003]

However, the heat exchange performance of the ice making cylinder of the auger ice making machine has not yet reached a sufficient range in terms of performance due to improvements such as changing the flow of the refrigerant from the lower side to the upper side. When the ice making water is supplied from below the ice making cylinder 2, the ice making water has different functions such as cooling the ice making water in the lower area, ice making in the middle area, and supercooling of ice in the upper area. It is considered that the cooling is applied at a uniform evaporation temperature. Further, in recent years, many types of non-azeotropic mixed refrigerants have been developed, and there are many refrigerants that have excellent performance or have a small environmental impact, but this non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant is a refrigerant in the process of evaporation or condensation. Has a property of changing the mixing ratio of 1., for example, the evaporation temperature at the evaporator outlet during ice making may be about 5 to 7 K higher than that at the inlet. It was generally considered difficult for an ice-making machine that changes water to ice at 0 ° C. because the temperature deviation in the evaporator means uneven growth of ice. The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ice making machine that can efficiently make ice even if a non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant is used.

[0004]

An ice maker according to the present invention is an ice maker that cools ice making water supplied to an ice making section by flowing a refrigerant through a refrigerant passage provided in an ice making section as an evaporator of a refrigeration circuit. In the above, the non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant is caused to flow in the refrigerant passage so that the flow direction thereof and the flow direction of the ice making water are opposed to each other. Further, the ice making water supplied from below into the ice making cylinder may be cooled by flowing the non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant from the upper side to the lower side in the refrigerant passage.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. An overall structure of an auger ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be schematically described with reference to FIG. This auger ice machine has a compressor 11 and a condenser 1.
2, a dryer 13, an expansion valve 14, an evaporator 15, and the like are provided in a refrigeration circuit, and a pipe 16 made of copper or the like that constitutes the evaporator 15 is wound from the upper portion of an ice making cylinder 17 to the outer periphery of the lower portion. ing. Further, the water storage tank 18 that stores the ice making water is connected to the lower portion of the ice making cylinder 17 by a water supply pipe 19. The pipe 1 located in the upper region of the ice making cylinder 17.
The upper end of 6 serves as a refrigerant inlet 20, and the lower end of the pipe 16 located in the lower region of the ice making cylinder 17 serves as a refrigerant outlet 21 so that the refrigerant flows through the pipe 16 from above to below. As a result, the ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe 19 to the inside of the ice making cylinder 17 is cooled to produce ice on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 17, and the ice is peeled off by the rotation of the auger 22 provided inside the ice making cylinder 17. It is discharged from above the ice making cylinder 17. During the ice making operation, inside the ice making cylinder 17, ice making water is cooled in the lower region, ice is made in the middle region, and ice is supercooled in the upper region. As the refrigerant supplied into the pipe 16, R407A, R40 in which plural kinds of refrigerants are mixed
A non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant such as 7B is used. This non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant generally has a temperature glide because the mixing ratio of the refrigerant changes in the process of evaporation or condensation, and when it flows through the pipe 16, the temperature at the refrigerant outlet 21 side of the pipe 16 is increased. Has a property that the temperature becomes higher than the temperature at the refrigerant inlet 20 side.

Next, the operation of the auger ice maker having the above-described structure will be described when a non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant having a temperature glide of 6 K is applied. Ice maker 1
Refrigerant is caused to flow from the upper side to the lower side of the pipe 16 wound around the outer periphery of the ice 7, thereby cooling the inside of the ice making cylinder 17.
Here, assuming that the temperature of the non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant is about −18 ° C. near the refrigerant inlet 20 in the upper region of the ice making cylinder 17, for example, about −15 ° C. in the middle region of the ice making cylinder 17, and the lower part of the ice making cylinder 17 The temperature becomes approximately -12 ° C near the refrigerant outlet 21 in the region. At this time, when the ice making operation is performed with the temperature of the ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe 19 to the inside of the ice making cylinder 17 at about 15 ° C., the temperature inside the ice making cylinder 17 becomes lower in the lower region where the ice making water is cooled. Is gradually taken in from the water supply pipe 19, the temperature is about 2 to 5 ° C., the ice temperature is about 0 ° C. in the central region, and the ice temperature is slightly but negative in the upper region to supercool the ice. Be seen.

As described above, in each of the upper, middle, and lower regions of the ice making cylinder 17, it is possible to obtain a sufficient temperature difference between the evaporation temperature of the non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant and the ice making water or the produced ice. Therefore, the heat exchange performance of the evaporator is improved, which makes it possible to efficiently make ice even if a non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant is used. Further, since the supercooling of the ice in the upper region of the ice making cylinder 17 is also stably performed, it becomes possible to produce the good quality ice. The present invention is not limited to the auger ice making machine, but can be applied to other types of ice making machines such as a downflow type ice making machine.

[0008]

As described above, according to the present invention, the non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant is caused to flow in the refrigerant passage so that the flow direction and the flow direction of the ice making water are opposed to each other. In each region, the temperature difference between the non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant temperature and the ice-making water or the generated ice can be sufficiently taken, so that the heat exchange performance of the evaporator is improved, whereby the non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant is Even when used, it is possible to make ice efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway schematic view schematically showing an entire structure of an auger ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing a peripheral portion of an ice making cylinder in a conventional auger ice making machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 compressor, 12 condenser, 13 dryer, 14
Expansion valve, 15 evaporator, 16 pipe, 17 ice making cylinder,
18 water storage tank, 19 water supply pipe, 20 refrigerant inlet,
21 Refrigerant outlet, 22 auger.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ice making machine for cooling ice making water supplied to an ice making section by supplying a refrigerant to a refrigerant passage arranged in an ice making section as an evaporator of a refrigeration circuit, and a non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant in the refrigerant passage. The ice-making machine characterized in that the flow direction of the ice-making water and the flow direction of the ice-making water are opposed to each other. 2. The ice making water supplied from below into the ice making cylinder is cooled by flowing a non-azeotropic mixed refrigerant from above to below in the refrigerant passage. Ice machine.