JP2003214698A - Gas-liquid contacting device and heat pump having device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent intake of gas in an outflow passage for liquid in a device contacting the gas and liquid and causing physical or chemical change. <P>SOLUTION: Water (the liquid) is sent into a heating system 20 from a lower side part of an evaporator 13 of the heat pump 10, and it is heated and sent to an upper side part. By this, the water in the evaporator 13 flows down. A partition plate 16 is provided in the lower side part of the evaporator 13. Air entrained water is injected into a space 13b lower than the partition plate 16 from a refrigerant passage 11a. The air rises against a stream as bubbles in water in the space 13a above the plate 16 through a multiplicity of small holes 16a of the partition plate 16. A funnel shaped intake member 17 (a liquid outflow part) is provided in an upstream end of a heating passage 21 of the heating system 20. By this, an intake of the bubbles is prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus for bringing a gas and a liquid into contact with each other to cause a physical or chemical change therebetween, and a heat pump having the apparatus as an evaporator or a condenser.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Generally, a heat pump has a refrigerant circulation path for circulating a refrigerant in the order of an expansion valve, an evaporator, a compressor, and a condenser. The refrigerant is expanded by the expansion valve, evaporated by the evaporator, compressed by the compressor, and condensed by the condenser.
In addition, the applicant is a prior application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-72419).
No.), it was proposed to mix non-condensable gas such as air into the refrigerant. Further, in this gas mixing method, it was proposed that, for example, the liquid-phase refrigerant be taken out from the lower part of the evaporator, heated by a heat source, and then returned to the upper part of the evaporator. As a result, in the evaporator, the liquid-phase refrigerant flows downward from above, while the bubbles of the non-condensable gas rise in the liquid-phase refrigerant so as to face the liquid-phase refrigerant. Refrigerant molecules evaporate in the bubbles (heat quantity moves from liquid to gas), and output can be improved. However, not only the liquid-phase refrigerant but also the bubbles may be taken into the pipe (liquid outflow passage) extending from the lower side of the evaporator to the heat source. Then, the liquid feed pump provided in the pipe is damaged, the liquid feed performance is impaired, and the efficiency of heat exchange with the heat source is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for bringing a gas and a liquid into contact with each other to cause a physical or chemical change, such as the above-mentioned evaporator. The purpose is to prevent gas from being taken into the outflow path for liquids.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object,
The present invention relates to an apparatus for bringing a gas and a liquid into contact with each other to cause a physical or chemical change. This gas-liquid contact device includes a device body having a receiving space for the liquid, a liquid outflow portion for discharging the liquid from the receiving space, and a gas injecting portion for injecting the gas into the liquid in the receiving space. It has. In the receiving space, it is preferable that the liquid inflow portion is arranged on the upper side and the liquid outflow portion and the gas injecting portion are arranged on the lower side. The liquid outflow portion has an intake port which faces the receiving space and extends downward. In this intake port, the upper end opening facing the receiving space is larger than the flow cross-sectional area of the lower side portion. This makes it possible to prevent the intake of gas.

It is desirable that the intake port has an inverted pyramidal shape, and that the flow cross-sectional area is continuously reduced as it goes downward. It is desirable that the gas injection section has a large number of injection ports that face the receiving space. The inlets are distributed with respect to one another and are preferably evenly arranged on the cross section of the receiving space. Furthermore, the gas injecting section includes a partition plate having a large number of small holes and vertically partitioning the lower part of the receiving space, and an introducing section for introducing the gas into the space below the partition plate, As a result, it is desirable that the lower space of the partition plate becomes a part of the gas injection path, and the small hole constitutes the injection port. The upper end opening of the liquid intake port is preferably arranged above the partition plate.

An example of the physical or chemical change is the transfer of heat quantity from one of gas and liquid to the other. At this time, the gas-liquid contact device is provided as a heat exchanger. The transferred heat includes not only sensible heat but also latent heat.
As described below, when the gas-liquid contact device is provided as an evaporator or a condenser of a heat pump, it will move as latent heat. In addition, as the above-mentioned change, one in which one of a gas and a liquid absorbs the other constituent component (for example, an absorption / extraction device for oxygen etc.), or a chemical reaction occurs between the gas and the liquid (reaction device), etc. To be

The present invention also relates to a heat pump having the vapor-liquid contact device as an evaporator. In this heat pump, the physical or chemical change is caused by the molecules of the liquid serving as a refrigerant being evaporated into the gas. The vaporized refrigerant molecules and the gas are sucked into the compressor and compressed. The gas-liquid contact device in this heat pump, that is, the liquid outflow portion of the evaporator is connected to a heating system for returning the refrigerant to the evaporator after heating, or a cold heat utilization system for utilizing the cold heat of the refrigerant. Examples of the cold heat utilization system include an indoor air conditioner and a cold water supply device. It is desirable that the refrigerant after passing through the indoor air conditioner or the like be returned to the evaporator as in the heating system. In this case, it is desirable to return to the upper side of the receiving space via the liquid inflow portion.

Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a heat pump having the gas-liquid contact device as a condenser. In this heat pump, the gas containing the gas-phase refrigerant molecules is compressed by the compressor and then injected into the receiving space through the gas injection unit. Then, the vapor phase refrigerant molecules are condensed into a liquid phase and melted in the liquid as the liquid phase refrigerant to cause the change. The gas-liquid contact device in the heat pump, that is, the liquid outflow portion of the condenser is connected to a heat utilization system that utilizes the heat of the refrigerant or a cooling system that returns the refrigerant to the condenser after cooling. The heat utilization system includes a hot water supply system and an indoor heater. It is desirable that the refrigerant after passing through these heat utilization systems be returned to the condenser in the same manner as the cooling system.
In this case, it is desirable to return to the upper side of the receiving space via the liquid inflow portion.

The heat pump refrigerant according to the present invention is preferably a liquid condensable fluid (eg, water) at room temperature and normal pressure, and the gas to be brought into contact with the refrigerant is a non-condensable gas such as air (gas phase refrigerant molecule). May be included) is desirable. This gas is mixed into the liquid of the evaporator from the gas injection part in an unsaturated state.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the hot water supply heat pump system S includes a water-refrigerant heat pump 10, a heating system 20, and a heat utilization system 30.

The heat pump 10 includes an expansion valve 12 (expansion means), an evaporator 13 (evaporation means, gas-liquid contact device), a compressor 14 (compression device), and a condenser 15 (condensing device, gas-liquid contact device). I have it. Each of the evaporator 13 and the condenser 15 is composed of a tank (apparatus body) extending vertically. Water (a liquid-phase condensable fluid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure) is stored as a refrigerant inside these vessels 13 and 15 (reception space). From the upper end (upper part) of the condenser 15 to the refrigerant passage 11
a extends and is connected to the lower end (lower side) of the evaporator 13. An expansion valve 12 is provided in the refrigerant passage 11a.
The refrigerant passage 11b extends from the upper end (upper side) of the evaporator 13 and is connected to the lower end (lower side) of the condenser 15. The compressor 14 is provided in the refrigerant passage 11b. The refrigerant passage 11a, 11b constitutes the refrigerant circulation path 11.

The refrigerant passage 11a on the upstream side of the expansion valve 12 (condenser 15 side) has an atmosphere opening passage 11c (air mixing passage).
Are lined up. As a result, the outside air (non-condensable gas) is taken into the passage 11a from the atmosphere open passage 11c and mixed in the liquid refrigerant water.

The heating system 20 is connected to the evaporator 13. The heating system 20 has a heating passage 21 extending from a lower side portion of the evaporator 13 and connected to an upper side portion of the evaporator 13, and a liquid feed pump 22 and a heat source 23 are sequentially provided in the heating passage 21. There is. Water in the lower side of the evaporator 13 is taken into the heating passage 21 by the liquid feed pump 22, and the heat source 23 heats the water, for example, about 60
After being heated to ℃, it is sent to the upper part of the evaporator 13. The flow rate of water in the heating system 20 is, for example, 10 liters per minute. This is the refrigerant passage 11
The flow rate from a is very large, for example, several hundred times. Therefore, the water in the evaporator 13 generally flows from top to bottom.

Although a fuel cell is used as the heat source 23, the heat source 23 is not limited to this, and a solar heat collector, another heat pump using CFC as a refrigerant, or the like may be used.

The heat utilization system 30 is connected to the condenser 15. The heat utilization system 30 includes a hot water storage tank 31, a water supply passage 34 extending from a lower side portion of the hot water storage tank 31 and connected to an upper end portion (upper side portion) of the condenser 15, and a hot water storage passage extending from a lower side portion of the condenser 15. A hot water supply passage 35 connected to the upper side of the tank 31, a liquid feed pump 36 provided in the hot water supply passage 35, a water supply pipe 32 connected to the lower end of the hot water storage tank 31, and a hot water supply extending from the upper end of the hot water storage tank 31. A tube 33 is provided. The hot water storage tank 31 is filled with water supplied from the water supply pipe 32. The relatively low-temperature water in the lower part of the hot water storage tank 31 is sent to the condenser 15 through the water supply passage 34, while the hot water in the lower part of the condenser 15 passes through the hot water supply passage 35 to store hot water. It is sent to the upper part of the tank 31 and further supplied to the hot water through the hot water supply pipe 33. This causes the water in the condenser 15 to flow from top to bottom.

The most characteristic part of the present invention will be described. A partition plate 16 is provided on the lower side of the evaporator 13. The partition plate 16 partitions the inside of the evaporator 13 into an upper main space 13a (main part of the receiving space) and a lower small space (part of the gas injection path) 13b.
The downstream end (introduction part) of the refrigerant passage 11a is connected to the small space 13b.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the partition plate 16
Is a large number of small holes 1 connecting the upper and lower spaces 13a and 13b.
6a (injection port) is formed. The diameter of each hole 16a is, for example, 0.6 mm. The holes 16a are evenly arranged in a grid pattern so as to extend over the entire area of the partition plate 16 at intervals of 1 cm, for example.

A liquid intake member 17 (liquid outflow portion) is provided on the upper surface of the central portion of the partition plate 16. The liquid intake member 17 has an inverted cone shape (funnel shape). That is, the liquid intake member 17 has an intake port 17a whose flow path is directed from top to bottom. The flow cross-sectional area of the intake port 17a continuously decreases as it goes downward. Therefore, at the intake 17a, the main space 1
The upper end opening facing 3a is larger than the flow cross-sectional area of the lower end. At the lower end portion of the intake port 17a, the heating passage 21
The upstream end of is connected.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1, the condenser 1
A partition plate 18 for partitioning the inside into an upper main space 15a (main part of the receiving space) and a lower small space (a part of the gas injection path) 15b is provided in the lower part of the No. 5. Small space 15b
Is connected to the downstream end (introduction part) of the refrigerant passage 11b.
A large number of small holes 18a (injection ports) are provided in the entire area of the partition plate 18.
Are formed uniformly. A funnel-shaped liquid intake member 19 (liquid outflow portion) is provided on the upper surface of the central portion of the partition plate 18. Intake port 19 of this liquid intake member 19
The upstream end of the hot water supply passage 35 is connected to the lower end of a.

The operation will be described. When the compressor 14 is driven, the suction valve action causes the expansion valve 12 to expand and depressurize the refrigerant water containing air in the refrigerant passage portion 11a. As a result, the air in the coolant water can be surely brought into an unsaturated state. The coolant water containing the unsaturated air is injected into the small space 13b below the evaporator 13.

The unsaturated air in the water injected into the small space 13b passes through the small holes 16a of the partition plate 16 and the main space 13a.
to go into. Then, the water in the main space 13a becomes bubbles and rises so as to face the water flow. Surrounding water molecules evaporate in the ascending bubbles (the gas and the liquid come into contact with each other to cause a physical or chemical change), and the latent heat of the water is taken away (the amount of heat moves from the liquid to the gas). That is, the evaporator 24
Evaporation of water molecules can occur not only from the water surface (free liquid surface) of but also in water. Thereby, even if the compressor 25 is small, a sufficient amount of evaporation can be obtained. Moreover, since the small holes 16a are evenly arranged over the entire area of the partition plate 16, it is possible to form a large number of bubbles and spread them throughout the water. Thereby, the amount of evaporation can be further increased, and the evaporator 13 can be downsized.

Further, the evaporator 13 is provided by the heating system 20.
Since the water temperature in the main space 13a is increased, the evaporation amount can be further increased. Here, the main space 13a
The water in the inside is sent to the heating passage 21 of the heating system 20 through the intake 17a of the liquid intake member 17. At this time, since the intake port 17a is in the shape of an inverted cone, water is absorbed in the intake port 1a.
It is slowly taken into the upper opening of 7a, and then the flow velocity is gradually increased. Therefore, in the vicinity of the upper end opening of the intake port 17a, the rising speed of bubbles (thin line arrow in FIG. 2) is higher than the flow velocity of water (thick line arrow in FIG. 2). Thereby, the bubbles can rise even near the opening of the intake port 17a and are not taken into the intake port 17a together with water. As a result, the liquid feed pump 22 is damaged,
It is possible to prevent the liquid transfer performance from being impaired and the efficiency of heat exchange with the heat source 23 to be reduced.

The above-mentioned bubbles eventually come out of the water surface of the evaporator 13. As a result, a large amount of water molecules (gas phase) and air are sucked into the compressor 14 and discharged. Therefore, the suction pressure of the compressor 14 is higher than that of sucking only water molecules,
The compression ratio can be reduced. This ensures that the compressor 14 can be downsized.

A large amount of water molecules (gas phase) and air discharged from the compressor 14 are injected into the small space 15b below the condenser 15. Then, it passes through the small holes 18a of the partition plate 18 and enters the main space 15a, and the water in the main space 15a becomes bubbles to rise so as to face the water flow. The water molecules in the bubbles on the way of ascending condense and dissolve in the surrounding water (liquid phase) (the gas and the liquid come into contact with each other to cause a physical or chemical change). At this time, heat of condensation is generated (the amount of heat moves from gas to liquid). Since each water molecule has a large latent heat and a large amount of water molecules are condensed, a large amount of heat of condensation can be generated. Due to this large amount of heat of condensation, the water temperature in the condenser 15 can be made sufficiently high. This high temperature water can be taken in by the liquid intake member 19 and sent to the hot water storage tank 31 for hot water supply. At this time, the evaporator 1
Since the intake port 19a of the liquid intake member 19 is in the shape of an inverted pyramid as in the case of 3, air bubbles are taken into the intake port 19a together with water.
It is not captured by a. As a result, the liquid delivery pump 3
6 can be protected and the liquid transfer performance can be maintained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various forms can be adopted. For example, the expanded liquid-phase refrigerant and the gas may be injected into the lower part of the evaporator through separate pipes. As the non-condensable gas, helium, nitrogen or the like may be used in addition to air. A heat pump system for heating may be configured by thermally connecting a heater to the condenser as a heat utilization system instead of the hot water storage tank. A heat pump system for cooling or a heat pump system for supplying cold water may be configured by thermally connecting a cold heat utilization system such as a cooler or a cold water supplier to the evaporator instead of the heating system. In this case, a cooling system that radiates the heat of condensation may be connected to the condenser instead of the heat utilization system.

The gas-liquid contactor of the present invention is a heat exchanger other than the evaporator / condenser, or one of gas and liquid absorbs the other constituent component (for example, water (liquid) is oxygen in air (gas)). It can also be applied to an absorption / extraction device that absorbs () and a reaction device that causes a chemical reaction between gas and liquid.

[0027]

As described above, according to the gas-liquid contact device of the present invention, it is possible to prevent gas from being taken in through the inlet of the liquid outflow portion. By disposing a large number of gas inlets dispersed in each other, physical or chemical changes can be caused in a wide range, and the device can be downsized. By providing the partition plate with the small holes in the receiving space, the injection port can be easily configured. If the gas-liquid contactor is applied to an evaporator or condenser of a heat pump, the output can be improved and gas can be prevented from being taken into a heating system or a heat utilization system. It is possible to prevent damage to the liquid pump.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a hot water supply heat pump system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory front view showing a main part of the evaporator of the system.

[Explanation of symbols]

S Hot water supply heat pump system 10 Water Refrigerant Heat Pump 13 Evaporator (gas-liquid contact device, heat exchanger) 13a Main space (main part of reception space) 13b Small space (part of gas injection path) 14 compressor 15 Condenser (gas-liquid contact device, heat exchanger) 15a Main space (main part of receiving space) 15b Small space (part of gas injection path) 16,18 Partition board 16a, 18a Small hole (injection port) 17, 19 Liquid intake member (liquid outflow part) 17a, 19a Intake port 20 heating system 30 heat utilization system

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A device for bringing a gas and a liquid into contact with each other to cause a physical or chemical change, the device main body having a receiving space for the liquid, and a device disposed below the receiving space. A liquid outflow portion for discharging the liquid from the receiving space,
A gas injecting portion disposed below the receiving space for injecting the gas into the liquid in the receiving space, wherein the liquid outflow portion has an intake port facing the receiving space and extending downward. A gas-liquid contact device, wherein an upper end opening facing the receiving space is larger than a flow cross-sectional area of a lower portion of the intake port. 2. The gas-liquid contactor according to claim 1, wherein the intake port has an inverted pyramidal shape, and the flow cross-sectional area is continuously reduced as it goes downward. 3. The gas-liquid contactor according to claim 1, wherein the gas injection part has a large number of injection ports which face the inside of the receiving space and are dispersed in each other. 4. A partition plate, wherein the gas injection part partitions the lower part of the receiving space into upper and lower parts and has a large number of small holes, and an introducing part for introducing the gas into a space below the partition plate. The gas-liquid according to claim 3, wherein the space below the partition plate becomes a part of the gas injecting path, and the small hole constitutes the injecting port. Contact device. 5. The gas according to claim 1, wherein the change is a transfer of heat quantity from one of the gas and the liquid to the other and is provided as a heat exchanger. Liquid contact device. 6. The vapor-liquid contact device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided as an evaporator, and when the molecules of the liquid as a refrigerant are vaporized into the gas, the change is made, and the vaporized gas is evaporated. A heat pump in which a phase refrigerant molecule and the gas are sucked into a compressor and compressed, wherein the liquid outflow portion is
A heat pump, characterized in that the heat pump is connected to a heating system for returning the refrigerant to the evaporator after heating or a cold heat utilization system for utilizing the cold heat of the refrigerant. 7. A gas-liquid contact device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 as a condenser, wherein the gas is compressed by a compressor in a state of containing gas-phase refrigerant molecules, and then the gas injection part. Injected into the receiving space via, the gas-phase refrigerant molecules are condensed into a liquid phase, which is a heat pump that changes by dissolving in the liquid as a liquid-phase refrigerant, wherein the liquid outflow portion is the refrigerant. A heat pump that is connected to a heat utilization system that utilizes the heat of or a cooling system that returns the refrigerant to the condenser after cooling.