JP2004010636A - Cooling medium composition - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new cooling medium that does not comprise a chlorofluorocarbon component that destructs the ozonosphere, has chemical properties similar to those of the conventional cooling media, can substitute for cooling media for use in conventional cooling apparatuses such as an air conditioner, and, when used to substitute for such conventional cooling media, shows the same performances as the conventional cooling media. <P>SOLUTION: This cooling medium comprises isobutane and propane, wherein the mixing ratio of isobutane to propane is 1:1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a refrigerant charged in an air conditioner mounted on an automobile or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, R12 (dichlorodifluoromethane) has been widely used as a refrigerant for an air conditioner (hereinafter, referred to as an air conditioner) attached to an automobile or the like. Since the refrigerant R12 has a boiling point of −29.8 degrees Celsius, it is suitable for use in an air conditioner. Even when the suction temperature into the air conditioner equipment is relatively high, the discharge temperature of the refrigerant R12 is reduced by the oil sludge of the compressor. Is not high enough to cause Further, the refrigerant R12 has good compatibility with the oil of the compressor and plays a role of drawing the oil in the refrigerant circuit back to the compressor.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above R12 is a kind of so-called chlorofluorocarbon gas, and when it is released into the air at the time of exchanging a refrigerant for an air conditioner, etc., it destroys the ozone layer and causes global warming. The use of R12 is regulated (the global warming potential is 8500 for R12 when CO2 is 1). For this reason, research is being conducted on alternative refrigerants that can replace these regulated refrigerants, and refrigerants mainly composed of HFC-134a (tetrafluoroethane), called alternative chlorofluorocarbons, have been developed and are being widely used. However, although the HFC-134a has substantially the same properties as the conventional refrigerant with respect to the boiling point and the like as compared with the conventionally used refrigerant, it is necessary to increase the pressure applied during cooling when used. For this reason, when using this HFC-134a as a refrigerant, it is necessary to create a dedicated air conditioner designed on the assumption that this HFC-134a is used as a refrigerant. Further, when the new refrigerant HFC-134a is added to the air conditioner using the conventional refrigerant R12, the performance of the air conditioner is not sufficiently exhibited, and the air conditioner may be broken down. Furthermore, HFC-134a has a very high global warming potential (1300 in the above global warming potential), which is inappropriate from the viewpoint of global environmental protection. In addition, as an alternative refrigerant, a hydrocarbon gas using non-fluorocarbon R600a (isobutane) or the like alone has been developed. However, this is a refrigerant for a refrigerator, and is used in a short time like an air conditioner. It is not suitable for use in equipment for rapid cooling.
[0004]
Therefore, the present invention has been proposed to solve the problems of the conventional refrigerant described above, and does not include a component of chlorofluorocarbon which destroys the ozone layer, does not have a global warming effect, and has a conventional structure. It has the same chemical properties as a refrigerant and can be used in place of a refrigerant for a conventional cooling device such as an air conditioner, and can be used for a conventional cooling device such as an air conditioner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel refrigerant that can exhibit the same performance as a conventional refrigerant when used in place of a refrigerant.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and the first invention (the invention described in claim 1) is characterized by containing isobutane and propane.
[0006]
The refrigerant according to the first invention is obtained by mixing isobutane used as a refrigerant of a refrigerator and propane used as a refrigerant of an industrial air conditioner. It has not been used since it does not contain chlorofluorocarbon, has no global warming effect (3 to 5 in the above global warming potential), and has the same chemical properties as conventional refrigerants. It can be used in place of a refrigerant for cooling equipment such as an air conditioner.
[0007]
The second invention (the invention described in claim 2) is characterized in that, in the first invention, the mixing ratio of isobutane and propane is 1: 1.
[0008]
According to this second invention, in addition to having the same effect as the first invention, the same performance as the conventional one is exhibited even when the refrigerant is used in place of the refrigerant of a cooling device such as an air conditioner which is conventionally used. You can do it.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a refrigerant according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a case where the refrigerant is used for an air conditioner.
[0010]
This air conditioner uses a refrigerant containing isobutane and propane according to the present invention (mixing ratio 1: 1), and has a refrigerant circuit 1 shown in FIG. The discharge side pipe 3 of the compressor 2 is connected to a condenser 4, and the condenser 4 is connected to a gas-liquid separator 5. The liquid phase pipe 6 coming out of the gas-liquid separator 5 is connected to a capillary tube 7, and the capillary tube 7 is connected to an intermediate heat exchanger 8. The gas-phase pipe 9 coming out of the gas-liquid separator 5 passes through the intermediate heat exchanger 8 and is connected to a capillary tube 10, and the capillary tube 10 is connected to an evaporator 11. The pipe 12 coming out of the intermediate heat exchanger 8 and the pipe 13 coming out of the evaporator 11 are joined at a connection point P and connected to the suction side pipe 14 of the compressor 2. The refrigerant filled in the refrigerant circuit 1 includes methane (Methane), carbon dioxide (Carbon dioxide), ethane (Ethane), propane (Propane), isobutane (Isobutane), 1-butane (1-Butene), and N -What consists of butane (n-Butane), cis-2-butane (cis-2-butene), trans-2-butane (trans-2-butene), N-pentane (n-Pentane) or isopentane (Isopentane) In the conventional refrigerator, R600a (a refrigerant mainly composed of Isobutane) and R290 (a refrigerant mainly composed of propane) were mixed at a ratio of 1: 1. Thing .
[0011]
The operation of the refrigerant circuit 1 of the air conditioner is as follows. The high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant mixture discharged from the compressor 2 flows into the condenser 4 through the discharge-side pipe 3 and dissipates heat. Most of the refrigerant is liquefied and enters the gas-liquid separator 5. The liquefied refrigerant flowing into the gas-liquid separator 5 flows to the liquid-phase pipe 6, and the refrigerant that is still gaseous is separated into the gas-phase pipe 9. The refrigerant flowing into the liquid phase pipe 6 is decompressed by the capillary tube 7, flows into the intermediate heat exchanger 8, and evaporates in the intermediate heat exchanger 8. On the other hand, in the process of passing through the intermediate heat exchanger 8, the refrigerant flowing into the gas-phase pipe 9 is cooled by the refrigerant that evaporates there and condensed, decompressed by the capillary tube 10 and flows into the evaporator 11. The surroundings are cooled by evaporation in the vessel 11. The refrigerant flowing out of the intermediate heat exchanger 8 passes through the pipe 12, and the refrigerant flowing out of the evaporator 11 passes through the pipe 13, joins at the connection point P, and returns to the compressor 2 through the suction side pipe 14. Will return.
[0012]
The oil of the compressor 2 circulating in the refrigerant circuit 1 is returned to the compressor 2 while being dissolved in the refrigerant. At this time, an alkylbenzene-based oil having a property of dissolving the refrigerant is used as the oil of the compressor 2. However, since only a small amount of the refrigerant is soluble in the alkylbenzene oil, the composition of the refrigerant mixture sealed in the refrigerant circuit 1 must be determined within the limit at which the refrigerant is soluble in the oil of the compressor 2. . According to the above-mentioned refrigerant, the condenser 4 is not destroyed, and a remarkable cooling effect (boiling point: -31.5 degrees Celsius) can be obtained.
[0013]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description of the embodiment of the present invention, according to the present invention (the invention of claim 1), it does not include a component of chlorofluorocarbon which destroys the ozone layer and has a global warming effect. Instead, since it has the same chemical properties as conventional refrigerants, it can be used in place of conventional refrigerants for cooling equipment such as air conditioners.
[0014]
According to the second invention (the invention described in claim 2), in addition to the effects of the first invention, the boiling point of the refrigerant can be significantly reduced, and the cooling effect can be further improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a refrigerant circuit of an air conditioner using the refrigerant of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Refrigerant circuit

Claims (2)

A refrigerant comprising isobutane and propane. 2. The refrigerant according to claim 1, wherein the mixing ratio of isobutane and propane is 1: 1.

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