JP2003222445A - Gas liquid separator for ejector cycle and oil separator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stabilize the level of liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in a gas/liquid separator and to prevent a lot of refrigerating machine oil from flowing into an evaporator. <P>SOLUTION: A tank body 51 of the gas liquid separator 50 is formed into a conical flask shape gradually increasing a tank cross sectional area S as approaching to its lower side, so that the turning speed of the refrigerant adjacent to a liquid-phase refrigerant outlet 54 is reduced to stabilize the level of the liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in the gas-liquid separator 50. The refrigerating machine oil flowing in the upper side of a refrigerant passage 61a is sucked by using a sucking pressure of a compressor 10 so as to be fed to the separated and selected compressor 10, while preventing a lot of refrigerating machine oil from flowing into the side of the evaporator 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gas-liquid separator and an oil separator for an ejector cycle.

[0002]

As is well known, the ejector cycle is a well-known ejector cycle in which a refrigerant is decompressed and expanded by an ejector to suck a vapor phase refrigerant evaporated in an evaporator and expansion energy is converted into pressure energy. It is a refrigerating cycle in which the suction pressure of the compressor is increased by converting into.

That is, in the ejector cycle, the refrigerant flow circulates in the order of compressor → radiator → ejector → gas-liquid separator → compressor, and circulates in the order of gas-liquid separator → evaporator → ejector → gas-liquid separator. There is a refrigerant flow, the gas-liquid separator separates the refrigerant flowing out of the ejector into a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant, supplies the gas-phase refrigerant to the suction side of the compressor, and evaporates the liquid-phase refrigerant. Supply to the side.

By the way, since the high-speed refrigerant flowing out of the ejector flows into the gas-liquid separator, the liquid surface of the liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in the gas-liquid separator may be waved by the inflowing high-speed refrigerant. , The swirling high-speed refrigerant flow swirling causes the swirling of the liquid-phase refrigerant in the gas-liquid separator,
The centrifugal force acting at that time pushes the inner wall of the gas-liquid separator.

As described above, in the gas-liquid separator for the ejector cycle, the liquid surface of the liquid-phase refrigerant is difficult to stabilize, so that it is difficult to stably supply the liquid-phase refrigerant to the evaporator.
It is difficult to separate and extract the refrigerating machine oil separated from the liquid-phase refrigerant and return it to the compressor.

Further, since it is difficult to separate and extract the refrigerating machine oil separated from the liquid phase refrigerant, a large amount of refrigerating machine oil flows into the evaporator together with the liquid phase refrigerant so that the refrigerating machine oil adheres to the inner surface of the evaporator. As a result, a large amount of refrigerating machine oil stays in the evaporator.

When the refrigerating machine oil adheres to the inner surface of the evaporator, the heat transfer coefficient between the liquid-phase refrigerant and the evaporator is reduced, which hinders the evaporation of the liquid-phase refrigerant and lowers the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator. At the same time, the cross-sectional area of the refrigerant passage is substantially reduced to decrease the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing in the evaporator, and in response to this, the heat absorption capacity of the evaporator is decreased.

Further, since the refrigerating machine oil stays in the evaporator, there is a possibility that the compressor may lack the refrigerating machine oil, that is, lack of lubrication.

In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to stabilize the liquid surface of the liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in the gas-liquid separator or prevent a large amount of refrigerating machine oil from flowing into the evaporator.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a compressor (1
0) a radiator (20) for cooling the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant, and an evaporator (3) for evaporating the low temperature and low pressure refrigerant.
0), a nozzle for converting pressure energy of the refrigerant flowing out from the radiator (20) into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and mixing the refrigerant injected from the nozzle with the refrigerant sucked from the evaporator (30) It is applied to an ejector cycle including an ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit that converts velocity energy into pressure energy to increase the pressure of the refrigerant, and the refrigerant flowing out from the ejector (40) is converted into a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant. Gas phase refrigerant is supplied to the suction side of the compressor (10) and liquid phase refrigerant is separated into the evaporator (30).
Which is a gas-liquid separator which is supplied to the side of the ejector (40)
A tank main body provided with an inflow part (52) into which the refrigerant flowing out of the tank flows, a gas-phase refrigerant outflow part (53) to outflow the gas-phase refrigerant, and a liquid-phase refrigerant outflow part (54) to outflow the liquid-phase refrigerant ( 51), and the tank cross-sectional area (S1) at the portion of the tank body (51) where the liquid-phase refrigerant outflow portion (54) is provided has an inflow portion (5) of the tank body (51).
It is characterized in that it is larger than the tank cross-sectional area (S2) at the portion where 2) is provided.

As a result, the refrigerant flow velocity in the vicinity of the liquid-phase refrigerant outflow portion (54) of the tank body (51) becomes smaller than the refrigerant flow velocity in the vicinity of the inflow port (52) of the tank body (51). The liquid level of the liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in the separator (50) can be stabilized.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the compressor (1
0) a radiator (20) for cooling the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant, and an evaporator (3) for evaporating the low temperature and low pressure refrigerant.
0), a nozzle for converting pressure energy of the refrigerant flowing out from the radiator (20) into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and mixing the refrigerant injected from the nozzle with the refrigerant sucked from the evaporator (30) It is applied to an ejector cycle including an ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit that converts velocity energy into pressure energy to increase the pressure of the refrigerant, and the refrigerant flowing out from the ejector (40) is converted into a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant. Gas phase refrigerant is supplied to the suction side of the compressor (10) and liquid phase refrigerant is separated into the evaporator (30).
Which is a gas-liquid separator which is supplied to the side of the ejector (40)
A tank main body provided with an inflow part (52) into which the refrigerant flowing out of the tank flows, a gas-phase refrigerant outflow part (53) to outflow the gas-phase refrigerant, and a liquid-phase refrigerant outflow part (54) to outflow the liquid-phase refrigerant ( 51), the tank main body (51) is formed in a conical flask shape such that the tank cross-sectional area (S) increases toward the lower side, and the liquid-phase refrigerant outflow portion (54) flows in. It is characterized in that it is provided below the portion (52) and the vapor-phase refrigerant outflow portion (53) is provided above the liquid-phase refrigerant outflow portion (54).

As a result, the refrigerant flow velocity in the vicinity of the liquid-phase refrigerant outflow portion (54) of the tank body (51) becomes smaller than the refrigerant flow velocity in the vicinity of the inflow port (52) of the tank body (51). The liquid level of the liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in the separator (50) can be stabilized.

In the invention described in claim 3, the compressor (1
0) a radiator (20) for cooling the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant, and an evaporator (3) for evaporating the low temperature and low pressure refrigerant.
0), a nozzle for converting pressure energy of the refrigerant flowing out from the radiator (20) into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and mixing the refrigerant injected from the nozzle with the refrigerant sucked from the evaporator (30) An ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit for converting velocity energy into pressure energy to increase the pressure of the refrigerant, and an ejector (40)
A gas-liquid separator that separates the refrigerant that has flowed out of the refrigerant into a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant, supplies the gas-phase refrigerant to the suction side of the compressor (10), and supplies the liquid-phase refrigerant to the evaporator (30) side. (50) is applied to an ejector cycle, and a gas-liquid separator (5
0) is an oil separator for extracting refrigerating machine oil from the liquid phase refrigerant supplied to the evaporator (30), wherein the liquid phase refrigerant supplied from the gas-liquid separator (50) to the evaporator (30) is Passage member (61) forming a flowing coolant passage (61a)
And a chamber means (6) which is provided above or below the refrigerant passage (61a) and constitutes an oil chamber (63a) which communicates with the refrigerant passage (61a) through the communication port (62).
3) and are included.

As a result, a liquid having a high proportion of refrigerating machine oil flows into the oil chamber (63a), so that a large amount of refrigerating machine oil is supplied to the separated and extracted compressor (10) without flowing to the evaporator (30) side. can do.

In the invention according to claim 4, the compressor (1
0) a radiator (20) for cooling the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant, and an evaporator (3) for evaporating the low temperature and low pressure refrigerant.
0), a nozzle for converting pressure energy of the refrigerant flowing out from the radiator (20) into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and mixing the refrigerant injected from the nozzle with the refrigerant sucked from the evaporator (30) An ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit for converting velocity energy into pressure energy to increase the pressure of the refrigerant, and an ejector (40)
The refrigerant flowing out of the compressor is separated into a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant, the gas-phase refrigerant is supplied to the suction side of the compressor (10), and the liquid-phase refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator (30) side. Alternatively, the refrigerating machine oil is extracted from the gas-liquid separator (50) according to 2 and the liquid-phase refrigerant supplied from the gas-liquid separator (50) to the evaporator (30) and returned to the compressor (10). An ejector cycle comprising the oil separator (60) according to claim 3.

As a result, the liquid surface of the liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in the gas-liquid separator (50) can be stabilized, so that the liquid-phase refrigerant can be stably supplied to the evaporator (30). Furthermore, since the amount of the enclosed refrigerant can be reduced, the manufacturing cost of the ejector cycle can be reduced.

Further, since a large amount of refrigerating machine oil can be supplied to the compressor (10) which has been separated and extracted without flowing to the side of the evaporator (30), the endothermic capacity of the evaporator (30) is reduced, and It is possible to prevent a shortage of refrigerating machine oil from occurring in the compressor (10), and further reduce the amount of enclosed refrigerant and the amount of enclosed refrigerating machine oil.

Incidentally, the reference numerals in the parentheses of the above-mentioned means are examples showing the correspondence with the concrete means described in the embodiments described later.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In this embodiment, the ejector cycle according to the present invention is applied to an air conditioner, and FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the ejector cycle according to the present embodiment.

The compressor 10 sucks and compresses the refrigerant, and the condenser 20 exchanges heat between the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 and the outdoor air, and releases the heat absorbed by the refrigerant to cool the high pressure side heat exchanger. Is. Incidentally, in the present embodiment, CFC (R404) is used as the refrigerant, but it goes without saying that carbon dioxide may be used as the refrigerant.

When Freon is used as the refrigerant, the refrigerant is condensed in the condenser 20, but when carbon dioxide is used as the refrigerant, the refrigerant pressure on the high pressure side becomes equal to or higher than the critical pressure of the refrigerant, Moreover, since the refrigerant has a temperature distribution such that the refrigerant temperature does not condense in the condenser 20 and decreases from the refrigerant inlet side toward the refrigerant outlet side, the condenser 20 functions as a radiator.

The evaporator 30 is a low-pressure heat exchanger that heat-exchanges the air blown into the room with the liquid-phase refrigerant to evaporate the liquid-phase refrigerant to evaporate the refrigerant and absorb heat from the air. The ejector 40 is A nozzle for expanding the refrigerant under reduced pressure,
In addition, the decompression unit is configured to have a pressure increasing unit including a mixing unit and a diffuser for sucking the vapor phase refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 30 and converting the expansion energy into pressure energy to increase the suction pressure of the compressor 10. And the pump means.

The gas-liquid separator 50 is a gas-liquid separation means for storing the refrigerant by separating the inflowing refrigerant into the gas-phase refrigerant and the liquid-phase refrigerant while the refrigerant flowing out from the ejector 40 flows in. The gas-phase refrigerant outlet of the compressor 50 is the compressor 10
Of the liquid phase refrigerant is connected to the inflow side of the evaporator 30. The details of the gas-liquid separator 50 will be described later.

The oil separator 60 is an oil separator for extracting refrigerating machine oil from the liquid-phase refrigerant supplied from the gas-liquid separator 50 to the evaporator 30, and the refrigerating machine oil separated and extracted by the oil separator 60. Are returned to the compressor 10.
The details of the oil separator 60 will be described later.

Next, the structure of the gas-liquid separator 50 and its function and effect will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the gas-liquid separator 50. The tank main body 51 has an inflow port 52 serving as an inflow part into which the refrigerant discharged from the ejector 40 flows, and a gas-phase refrigerant outflow part for discharging the gas-phase refrigerant. Gas-phase refrigerant outlet port 53 that forms a liquid-phase refrigerant outlet port 5 that forms a liquid-phase refrigerant outlet portion that causes the liquid-phase refrigerant to flow out.
4 is provided, and the refrigerant container is formed in a conical flask shape such that the tank cross-sectional area S increases toward the lower side.

At this time, the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet 54 is the inlet 5
2, the gas-phase refrigerant outlet port 53 is provided above the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet port 54 and the inlet port 52, so that the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet port 54 of the tank body 51 is provided. The tank cross-sectional area S1 in the portion is larger than the tank cross-sectional area S2 in the portion of the tank main body 51 where the inflow port 52 is provided.

The tank body 51 is made of a material excellent in workability, and in this embodiment, an aluminum alloy is used.

By the way, the high-speed refrigerant flow that has flowed into the tank main body 51 rapidly expands in the tank main body 51 and its flow velocity decreases.
4 is larger than the tank cross-sectional area S2 in the portion of the tank body 51 where the inflow port 52 is provided, the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet port of the tank body 51 is larger. The coolant flow velocity in the vicinity of 54 is smaller than the coolant flow velocity in the vicinity of the inflow port 52 of the tank main body 51.

Therefore, since the liquid surface of the liquid-phase refrigerant accumulated in the gas-liquid separator 50 can be stabilized, the liquid-phase refrigerant can be stably supplied to the evaporator 30. Furthermore, since the amount of the enclosed refrigerant can be reduced, the manufacturing cost of the ejector cycle can be reduced.

Next, the structure of the oil separator 60 and its function and effect will be described.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the oil separator 60.
The refrigerant pipe 61 forming the passage member is a refrigerant passage 61a through which the liquid-phase refrigerant supplied from the gas-liquid separator 50 to the evaporator 30 flows.
Is a flat tube made of aluminum, which is formed on the refrigerant pipe 61, that is, on the upper side of the refrigerant passage 61a.
A housing 63, which is a chamber means that constitutes an oil chamber 63a that communicates with the refrigerant passage 61a through the communication port 62, is brazed.

At this time, since the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant passage 61a and the refrigerating machine oil flow in a gentle laminar flow state, the liquid phase refrigerant layer and the refrigerating machine oil layer are arranged so that the refrigerating machine oil is located on the upper side in the refrigerant passage 61a. Separates and flows. For this reason,
Since the liquid having a high proportion of refrigerating machine oil flows into the oil chamber 63a, a large amount of refrigerating machine oil can be supplied to the separated and extracted compressor 10 without flowing to the evaporator 30 side.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the reduction of the heat absorption capacity of the evaporator 30 and the shortage of the refrigerating machine oil in the compressor 10, and it is possible to reduce the enclosed refrigerant amount and the enclosed refrigerating machine oil amount.

In addition to the fact that the oil chamber 63a is connected to the suction side of the compressor 10, the liquid-phase refrigerant flowing in the lower side of the refrigerant passage 61a is attempting to evaporate and its volume expands. Refrigerating machine oil is surely sucked into the oil chamber 63a so as to be pushed into the volumetrically expanding refrigerant.

Incidentally, in this embodiment, since the refrigerator oil has a lower density than the liquid-phase refrigerant, the communication port 62 is provided above the refrigerant passage 61a. However, when the refrigerator oil having a higher density than the liquid-phase refrigerant is used. It is necessary to provide a communication port 62 on the upper side of the refrigerant passage 61a.

(Other Embodiments) In the above-described embodiments, the present invention is applied to the air conditioner, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a water heater, a refrigerator, and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an ejector cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a gas-liquid separator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an oil separator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Compressor, 20 ... Condenser, 30 ... Evaporator, 40 ... Ejector, 50 ... Gas-liquid separator, 51 ... Tank body, 60
... Oil separator, 61a ... Refrigerant passage.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A radiator (20) for allowing a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by a compressor (10) to cool, and an evaporator (30) for evaporating a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant, the radiator (20) A nozzle that converts the pressure energy of the refrigerant that has flowed out into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and the refrigerant that is injected from the nozzle and the evaporator (3
0) and an ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit for increasing the pressure of the refrigerant by converting velocity energy into pressure energy while mixing with the refrigerant, and the ejector cycle is applied from the ejector (40). Gas-liquid separation in which the discharged refrigerant is separated into a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant, the gas-phase refrigerant is supplied to the suction side of the compressor (10), and the liquid-phase refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator (30) side. And an inflow part (52) into which the refrigerant flowing out from the ejector (40) flows, a gas-phase refrigerant outflow part (53) to outflow the gas-phase refrigerant, and a liquid-phase refrigerant outflow part to outflow the liquid-phase refrigerant. (54) is provided in the tank main body (51), the liquid phase refrigerant outflow portion (5
4) Tank cross-sectional area (S1)
Is the inflow part (52) of the tank body (51)
A gas-liquid separator for an ejector cycle, which is larger than a tank cross-sectional area (S2) in a portion where is provided. 2. A radiator (20) for cooling the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor (10), an evaporator (30) for evaporating the low temperature and low pressure refrigerant, and the radiator (20) A nozzle that converts the pressure energy of the refrigerant that has flowed out into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and the refrigerant that is injected from the nozzle and the evaporator (3
0) and an ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit for increasing the pressure of the refrigerant by converting velocity energy into pressure energy while mixing with the refrigerant, and the ejector cycle is applied from the ejector (40). Gas-liquid separation in which the discharged refrigerant is separated into a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant, the gas-phase refrigerant is supplied to the suction side of the compressor (10), and the liquid-phase refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator (30) side. And an inflow part (52) into which the refrigerant flowing out of the ejector (40) flows, a gas-phase refrigerant outflow part (53) to outflow the gas-phase refrigerant, and a liquid-phase refrigerant outflow part to outflow the liquid-phase refrigerant. (54) is provided in the tank body (51), and the tank body (51) is formed in a conical flask shape such that the tank cross-sectional area (S) increases toward the lower side. , The above The liquid-phase refrigerant outflow portion (54) is the inflow portion (5
2) provided below the gas phase refrigerant outflow portion (5)
3) A gas-liquid separator for an ejector cycle, which is provided above the liquid-phase refrigerant outflow portion (54). 3. A radiator (20) for cooling the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor (10), an evaporator (30) for evaporating the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant, and the radiator (20) A nozzle that converts the pressure energy of the refrigerant that has flowed out into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and the refrigerant that is injected from the nozzle and the evaporator (3
0), the ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit for increasing the pressure of the refrigerant by converting velocity energy into pressure energy while mixing with the refrigerant, and the refrigerant flowing out from the ejector (40) is a vapor phase refrigerant. A gas-liquid separator (50) for supplying the gas-phase refrigerant to the suction side of the compressor (10) and supplying the liquid-phase refrigerant to the evaporator (30) side. An oil separator which is applied to an ejector cycle and extracts refrigerating machine oil from a liquid-phase refrigerant supplied from the gas-liquid separator (50) to the evaporator (30), the gas-liquid separator (50) A passage member (61) constituting a refrigerant passage (61a) through which a liquid-phase refrigerant supplied from the evaporator (30) to the evaporator (30) is provided, and a communication port (61) is provided above or below the refrigerant passage (61a). 62) through the refrigerant Road (61a) and the oil separator for an ejector cycle, characterized in that it comprises an oil chamber for communicating the chamber means constituting the (63a) (63). 4. A radiator (20) for allowing the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor (10) to cool, and an evaporator (30) for evaporating the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant from the radiator (20). A nozzle that converts the pressure energy of the refrigerant that has flowed out into velocity energy to expand the refrigerant under reduced pressure, and the refrigerant that is injected from the nozzle and the evaporator (3
0), the ejector (40) having a pressure increasing unit for increasing the pressure of the refrigerant by converting velocity energy into pressure energy while mixing with the refrigerant, and the refrigerant flowing out from the ejector (40) is a vapor phase refrigerant. The gas according to claim 1 or 2, which is separated into a liquid phase refrigerant and a gas phase refrigerant to supply the gas phase refrigerant to the suction side of the compressor (10) and to supply the liquid phase refrigerant to the evaporator (30) side. Liquid separator (50)
The oil separator according to claim 3, wherein refrigerating machine oil is extracted from the liquid-phase refrigerant supplied from the gas-liquid separator (50) to the evaporator (30) and returned to the compressor (10). (6
0) and an ejector cycle.