JP2010002092A - Refrigerating cycle device renewing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerating cycle device renewing method reducing the influence of pressure loss and allowing the use of existing piping when replacing constitutive equipment using a high pressure refrigerant (a high boiling point refrigerant) with constitutive equipment using a low pressure refrigerant (a low boiling point refrigerant) or replacing constitutive equipment with constitutive equipment different in capacity. <P>SOLUTION: A new outdoor unit 5 and a new indoor unit 6 are connected by an existing liquid pipe 4 and a new gas pipe 9a when performing replacement. The new gas pipe 9a is formed of new branch pipes 7, 7 installed at an inlet of the new outdoor unit 5 and an outlet of the new indoor unit 6 respectively; an existing gas pipe 3 connected to one side of the new branch pipes 7, 7: and new piping 8a connected to the other side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for updating a refrigeration cycle apparatus, and more particularly to a method for updating a refrigeration cycle apparatus when changing a working refrigerant or replacing constituent devices constituting the refrigeration cycle device with constituent devices having different capacities.

  Conventionally, when replacing the working refrigerant, the existing refrigerant pipe is washed, the old working refrigerant used for washing is recovered, replaced with a new working refrigerant, and the washed refrigerant existing pipe is reused ( This corresponds to a refrigerating cycle renewal method) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3680740 (page 5-6, FIG. 1)

However, the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses the washed existing refrigerant pipe (hereinafter simply referred to as “pipe”) as it is, and has the following problems.
Replacing components that make up the refrigeration cycle from those that use high-pressure refrigerant (low-boiling point refrigerant) to those that use low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling point refrigerant), or those that have higher capacity than existing components In such a case, the performance deteriorates due to an increase in pressure loss.
In other words, low pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant) is greatly affected by the pressure loss due to the piping, so it is common to use a thick pipe, whereas high pressure refrigerant (low boiling point refrigerant) is affected by the pressure loss of the piping. Therefore, high performance can be demonstrated not only with thick pipes but also with thin pipes. Therefore, when reusing a large pipe used for low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling refrigerant) and replacing it with equipment for high-pressure refrigerant (low-boiling refrigerant), the pipe becomes thicker than usual, and the effect of performance degradation due to pressure loss Is not a problem.

However, when switching from a component that uses high-pressure refrigerant (thin piping) to a component that uses low-pressure refrigerant (thick piping), the pipe should be thinner than usual, where it should normally be thick. Performance degradation due to pressure loss increases.
For this reason, since new thick pipes are constructed without using existing thin pipes, the cost of pipe members is high, and workability such as bending is poor, so workability for newly handling pipes is low. There are problems such as bad. Alternatively, when using an existing thin pipe, it is necessary to take measures such as obtaining performance equivalent to that of an existing device by installing a component device having a large capacity in anticipation of performance degradation due to the effect of pressure loss.

  Similarly, when updating a component device that does not involve a change in the working refrigerant, when replacing the component device with a larger capacity than the existing component device, the component device with a larger capacity usually has a larger refrigerant circulation amount and a thicker pipe. Therefore, when diverting existing piping (having a smaller diameter than the desired thickness), the performance degradation due to pressure loss increases. Therefore, in order to suppress the capacity reduction, it is necessary to newly construct a thick pipe without using the existing pipe.

  The present invention was made in order to solve the above problems, and when replacing a component device using a high pressure refrigerant (low boiling point refrigerant) with a component device using a low pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant), Alternatively, an object of the present invention is to provide a renewal method of a refrigeration cycle apparatus that reduces the influence of pressure loss and enables the use of existing pipes when switching to components having different capabilities.

The refrigerating cycle device updating method according to the present invention includes a compressor that compresses a refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant compressed in the compressor, an expansion valve that expands the refrigerant condensed in the condenser, A refrigerating cycle having an evaporator for evaporating refrigerant expanded in an expansion valve, a liquid pipe connecting the expansion valve and the evaporator, and a gas pipe connecting the evaporator and the compressor. In contrast,
In addition to the gas pipe, a new pipe for connecting the evaporator and the compressor is installed.

  In the renewal method of the refrigeration cycle apparatus according to the present invention, since a new pipe is installed in addition to the existing gas pipe, when changing the refrigerant from a high pressure refrigerant (low boiling point refrigerant) to a low pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant), When replacing with a component having a large capacity without changing the refrigerant, it is possible to reduce the effect of pressure loss and eliminate the need to newly construct a thick pipe. In addition, new pipes to be added can be handled with thin pipes, so that the material cost can be reduced and at the same time the pipe construction work such as bending is facilitated, so that the workability is good.

[Embodiment 1]
1 to 3 are diagrams for explaining a renewal method of the refrigeration cycle apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the refrigeration cycle apparatus before the update, and FIG. The refrigerant circuit diagram of the refrigeration cycle apparatus before the update, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the refrigeration cycle apparatus after the update.

In FIG. 1, an existing air conditioner 100 includes an outdoor unit 1, an indoor unit 2, and a gas pipe 3 and a liquid pipe 4 that connect the two.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 in FIG. 1 in detail. In FIG. 2, the refrigerant circuit of the air conditioner 100 includes a compressor 13, a four-way valve 14, an outdoor heat exchanger 15, an expansion valve 16, an indoor heat exchanger 17, and a gas pipe 3 connecting them. And a liquid pipe 4.

The state of the refrigerant and the like will be described with reference to FIG. 2 taking the cooling operation as an example. During the cooling operation, the high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant compressed in the compressor 13 of the outdoor unit 1 is led to the outdoor heat exchanger (same as the condenser) 15 side by the four-way valve 14 for switching the cooling circuit / heating circuit, and the outdoor heat exchange. Flows toward vessel 15. Then, the outdoor heat exchanger 15 exchanges heat with the outside air to condense and liquefy it into a medium temperature and high pressure liquid refrigerant. Thereafter, the refrigerant is expanded by the expansion valve 16 and becomes a low-temperature low-pressure two-phase refrigerant.
Thereafter, the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant evaporates in the outdoor heat exchanger (same as the evaporator) 17 of the indoor unit 2 via the liquid pipe 4. That is, the heat of the room air is absorbed to become a gaseous refrigerant, and the temperature of the room air that has been deprived of heat is lowered to enable cooling.

  Thereafter, the air is guided to the compressor 13 side by the four-way valve 14 via the gas pipe 3 connecting the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2. The refrigerant sucked into the compressor 13 is compressed again, becomes a high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant, is discharged again from the compressor 13, and the same cycle is repeated.

As described above, the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 are connected by two pipes. The pipe mainly includes a gas pipe 3 through which a gas refrigerant circulates, a liquid pipe 4 through which a liquid refrigerant mainly circulates, It is constituted by.
Moreover, R410A which is a high-pressure refrigerant (low-boiling point refrigerant) is often used as the refrigerant of the air conditioner 100 that is positioned as an air conditioner before renewal in the present invention.

  In general, regarding the cooling performance, the pressure loss of the gas pipe 3 on the low pressure side during cooling greatly affects. When the pressure loss is large, the pressure of the refrigerant sucked into the compressor 13 is lowered, the refrigerant density is lowered with the pressure drop, and the amount of the refrigerant sucked into the compressor 13 is reduced. When the amount of refrigerant sucked into the compressor 13 decreases, the amount of refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit decreases, and the performance also decreases. However, since the equipment using R410A, which is a high-pressure refrigerant (low-boiling point refrigerant), is hardly affected by pressure loss, the diameter of the existing gas pipe 3 is narrow due to the convenience of workability such as cost reduction of members and bending ( The diameter is about 15.88 mm).

In the present invention, when the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 of the existing air conditioner 100 are thus updated to an outdoor unit and an indoor unit that use a low-pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant), the refrigerant is not changed. However, the following measures are taken for the case of updating to an outdoor unit or indoor unit having a large capacity.
In place of the air conditioner using R410A which is a high pressure refrigerant (low boiling point refrigerant), when the operating refrigerant of the newly installed air conditioner is a low pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant) including, for example, HFO-1234yf As described above, the gas pipe needs to be thick (for example, a diameter of 19.05 mm or more) in consideration of performance degradation due to low pressure loss during cooling.

In FIG. 3, a new air conditioner 200 using a low pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant) including, for example, HFO-1234yf instead of the air conditioner using R410A which is a high pressure refrigerant (low boiling point refrigerant) is shown in FIG. The outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 of the existing air conditioner 100 in 1 and 2 are replaced with the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6 using a low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling point refrigerant) as the working refrigerant, respectively, and installed with a high-pressure refrigerant specification. The existing liquid pipe 4 is left as it is, and the existing gas pipe 3 installed in the high-pressure refrigerant specification is replaced with a plurality of gas pipes 9 a including the gas pipe 3.
In this figure, the gas pipe 9a is formed of, for example, two pipes arranged in parallel. That is, branch pipes 7 and 7 are newly installed at the inlet of the outdoor unit 5 (same as the inlet of the four-way valve 14) and the outlet of the indoor unit 6 (same as the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 17), respectively. The gas pipe 3 that has been installed in accordance with the high-pressure refrigerant specification is connected to one side of 7 and 7, and the newly installed pipe 8a is connected to the other side.
With this configuration, the existing gas pipe 3 installed with the high-pressure refrigerant specification can be used to the maximum, and at the same time, the pressure loss of the gas pipe 9a installed with the low-pressure refrigerant specification can be reduced. It becomes possible, and performance degradation can be suppressed. And in this method, since the pipe diameter of the newly installed pipe 8a can be arbitrarily selected, it is possible to appropriately set the pipe cross-sectional area necessary for the gas pipe 9a, which is suitable for suppressing performance degradation. It becomes possible to cope with.

In addition, the pipe 8a can be handled with a thin pipe compared to removing the existing gas pipe 3 and installing a new thick gas pipe (installing a thick gas pipe instead of the existing gas pipe 3). In this case, for example, it is necessary to set the diameter to 19.05 mm or more in consideration of performance degradation due to low pressure loss during cooling. When a thin pipe (for example, 9.52 mm in diameter) is used as the pipe 8a, the cost of the pipe member can be reduced, and at the same time, the workability such as bending is good, and the workability for newly handling the pipe is also good. .
As for the liquid pipe, since the existing liquid pipe 4 is used as it is, new piping member costs and construction costs do not occur.

By configuring the gas pipe 9a with two or more pipes as described above, the total cross-sectional area of the two or more pipes can be increased and the pressure loss can be reduced. it can.
In addition, the gas pipe 3 and the liquid pipe 4 can be used to the maximum, and at the same time, the newly constructed pipe 8a can be handled by a thin pipe, so compared with the case of newly installing a thick gas pipe. The piping member cost can be reduced and the workability is good.
Furthermore, since it is possible to suppress the performance deterioration due to pressure loss, it is possible to update the device with a cheaper device. That is, it is not necessary to install a device having a large capacity enough to compensate for the performance degradation in consideration of the performance degradation of the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6.

  In addition, by renewing the equipment by this method, it is possible to divert existing pipes, extend the service life of the pipes, eliminate the need for disposal as waste materials, and reduce waste. Furthermore, it becomes possible to use components that use refrigerants with a low global warming potential through device replacement, and to suppress global warming, thereby reducing the impact on the global environment.

In addition, although the above has demonstrated the case of the apparatus update accompanying a refrigerant | coolant change, this invention is not limited to this, and it is not accompanied by a refrigerant | coolant change, and it is thick piping by the apparatus update to a component apparatus with big capability. Even if it becomes necessary, it becomes possible to apply the renewal method of the refrigeration cycle apparatus of the present invention.
The refrigeration cycle apparatus is not limited to an air conditioner, and refers to, for example, a refrigerator (storage), a refrigerator (storage), a hot water supply apparatus (water cooler), and the like. Furthermore, the number of new pipes 8a is not limited to one, and a plurality of new pipes 8a may be used (the new gas pipe 9a may have three or more pipes).

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the updated refrigeration cycle apparatus for explaining the update method of the refrigeration cycle apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.
4, a new air conditioner 300 that uses a low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling point refrigerant) including, for example, HFO-1234yf instead of an air conditioner that uses R410A, which is a high-pressure refrigerant (low-boiling point refrigerant), is shown in FIG. 2, the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 of the existing air conditioner 100 are replaced with the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6 using a low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling point refrigerant) as the working refrigerant, respectively, and are installed with a high-pressure refrigerant specification. In addition, a plurality of gas pipes 9b including the existing liquid pipe 4 and the existing gas pipe 3 installed in accordance with the high-pressure refrigerant specification are replaced. A new pipe 8b is newly installed in the liquid pipe 10b.

In this figure, the gas pipe 9b is formed of two pipes arranged in parallel. That is, branch pipes 7 and 7 are newly installed at the inlet of the outdoor unit 5 (same as the inlet of the four-way valve 14) and the outlet of the indoor unit 6 (same as the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 17), respectively. The gas pipe 3 installed with the high-pressure refrigerant specification is connected to one side of 7 and 7, and the liquid pipe 4 installed with the high-pressure refrigerant specification is connected to the other side, respectively.
With this configuration, the existing gas pipe 3 and liquid pipe 4 installed with the high-pressure refrigerant specification can be used to the maximum, and at the same time, the pressure loss of the gas pipe 9b installed with the low-pressure refrigerant specification is reduced. It is possible to suppress the performance degradation. In this method, since the total cross-sectional area of the newly installed gas pipe 9b depends on the cross-sectional areas of the existing gas pipe 3 and the existing liquid pipe 4, it cannot be arbitrarily set, but the existing gas pipe 3 and the existing liquid pipe Since the pipes 4 are installed close to each other, it is easy to install the new branch pipe 7 and the like.

  The newly installed liquid pipe 10b is a newly installed pipe 8b. The pipe 8b (same as the new liquid pipe 10b because it is a single pipe in this figure) can be handled by a thin pipe as compared to newly installing a thick gas pipe. Therefore, the new pipe 8b can be constructed with a thin pipe (for example, a diameter of 9.52 mm), and the cost of the pipe member can be reduced. At the same time, the workability such as bending is good, and the pipe is newly operated. Good workability.

When the pipe is constructed as described above, the gas pipe 9b is constituted by two pipes, so that the total cross-sectional area of the pipe is increased and the pressure loss is reduced, so that the performance deterioration can be suppressed. And, since the existing gas pipe 3 and the existing liquid pipe 4 can be used to the maximum, the new pipe 8b to be newly constructed can be handled by a thin pipe, so that it is compared with the construction of a new thick gas pipe. Thus, the piping member cost can be reduced and the workability is improved.
Moreover, since it becomes possible to suppress the performance degradation due to pressure loss, it is possible to update the device with a cheaper device. That is, it is not necessary to install a device having a large capacity enough to compensate for the performance degradation in consideration of the performance degradation of the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6.

  Further, as in the first embodiment, waste can be reduced by updating the equipment by this method. Furthermore, in order to suppress global warming, it is possible to reduce the influence on the global environment. In addition, the present invention can be applied when the refrigeration cycle apparatus is updated without changing the refrigerant. Furthermore, the refrigeration cycle apparatus is not limited to an air conditioner (see Embodiment 1).

[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the updated refrigeration cycle apparatus for explaining the update method of the refrigeration cycle apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.
5, a new air conditioner 400 that uses a low pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant) including, for example, HFO-1234yf instead of the air conditioner that uses R410A, which is a high pressure refrigerant (low boiling point refrigerant), is shown in FIG. 2, the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 of the existing air conditioner 100 are replaced with the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6 using a low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling point refrigerant) as the working refrigerant, respectively, and are installed with a high-pressure refrigerant specification. The existing liquid pipe 4 and the new pipe 8c are replaced with a gas pipe 9c, and the existing gas pipe 3 that has been installed with a high-pressure refrigerant specification is replaced with a new liquid pipe 10c.

In this figure, the gas pipe 9c is formed of two pipes arranged in parallel. That is, branch pipes 7 and 7 are newly installed at the inlet of the outdoor unit 5 (same as the inlet of the four-way valve 14) and the outlet of the indoor unit 6 (same as the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 17), respectively. 7 and 7 are connected to the liquid pipe 4 that has been installed in accordance with the high-pressure refrigerant specification, and the other side is connected to a new pipe 8c.
With this configuration, it is possible to make maximum use of the existing liquid pipe 4, and at the same time, it is possible to reduce the pressure loss of the gas pipe 9c, and suppress performance degradation. In this method, since the pipe diameter of the pipe 8c can be arbitrarily selected, the total pipe cross-sectional area necessary for the gas pipe 9c can be appropriately set, and it is possible to appropriately cope with suppression of performance degradation.

In addition, the pipe 8c can be handled with a thin pipe as compared with a new thick gas pipe. Accordingly, the new pipe 8c can be constructed with a thin pipe as compared with newly constructing a thick gas pipe, and the pipe member cost can be reduced. Good workability and good workability for handling new piping.
On the other hand, with respect to the liquid pipe, the gas pipe 3 installed in the high-pressure refrigerant specification is used as the liquid pipe 10c, so that no new piping member cost is generated.

When the pipe is constructed as described above, the gas pipe 9c is composed of two or more pipes, so that the total cross-sectional area of the pipe increases and the pressure loss is reduced, so that the performance deterioration can be suppressed. Therefore, the gas pipe 3 and the liquid pipe 4 can be used to the maximum, and at the same time, the newly constructed pipe 8c can be handled by a thin pipe. Compared to the construction of a new thick gas pipe, The piping member cost can be reduced and the workability is good.
Moreover, since it becomes possible to suppress the performance degradation due to pressure loss, it is possible to update the device with a cheaper device. That is, it is not necessary to install a device having a large capacity enough to compensate for the performance degradation in consideration of the performance degradation of the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6.

  Further, as in the first embodiment, waste can be reduced by updating the equipment by this method. Furthermore, in order to suppress global warming, it is possible to reduce the influence on the global environment. In addition, the present invention can be applied when the refrigeration cycle apparatus is updated without changing the refrigerant. Furthermore, the refrigeration cycle apparatus is not limited to an air conditioner (see Embodiment 1).

[Embodiment 4]
FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the updated refrigeration cycle apparatus for explaining the update method of the refrigeration cycle apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.
6, a new air conditioner 500 that uses a low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling point refrigerant) including, for example, HFO-1234yf instead of an air conditioner that uses R410A, which is a high-pressure refrigerant (low-boiling point refrigerant), is shown in FIG. 2, the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 of the existing air conditioner 100 are replaced with the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6 using a low-pressure refrigerant (high-boiling point refrigerant) as the working refrigerant, respectively, and are installed with a high-pressure refrigerant specification. The existing liquid pipe 4 was replaced with a plurality of liquid pipes 10 d including the liquid pipe 4, and the existing gas pipe 3 installed with high-pressure refrigerant specifications was replaced with a plurality of gas pipes 9 d including the gas pipe 3. Is.

In this figure, the gas pipe 9d is formed of two pipes arranged in parallel. That is, branch pipes 7 and 7 are newly installed at the inlet of the outdoor unit 5 (same as the inlet of the four-way valve 14) and the outlet of the indoor unit 6 (same as the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 17), respectively. 7 and 7 are connected to the gas pipe 3 that has been installed in accordance with the high-pressure refrigerant specification, and the other side is connected to a new pipe 8d.
The liquid pipe 10d is formed of two pipes arranged in parallel. That is, branch pipes 11 and 11 are newly installed at the outlet of the outdoor unit 5 (same as the outlet of the expansion valve 16) and the inlet of the indoor unit 6 (same as the inlet of the indoor heat exchanger 17), respectively. The existing liquid pipe 4 that has been installed in accordance with the high-pressure refrigerant specification is connected to one side of 11 and 11, and a new pipe 8e is connected to the other side.

With this configuration, regarding the gas pipe 8d, the existing gas pipe 3 installed with the high-pressure refrigerant specification can be used to the maximum, and at the same time, by adding a new pipe 8d, the gas pipe It becomes possible to reduce the pressure loss as a whole of 9d, and it can suppress a performance fall. In this method, since the pipe diameter of the pipe 8d can be arbitrarily selected, the total pipe cross-sectional area necessary for the gas pipe 9d can be appropriately set, and it is possible to appropriately cope with suppression of performance degradation.
In addition, the pipe 8d can be handled with a thin pipe as compared with newly installing a thick gas pipe. Accordingly, the pipe 8d can be constructed with a thin pipe (for example, a diameter of 9.52 mm), and the cost of the pipe member can be reduced, and at the same time, the workability such as bending is good and the pipe is newly operated. Good workability.

  On the other hand, the liquid pipe 10d is configured by two pipes arranged in parallel by connecting the existing liquid pipe 4 and the new pipe 8e installed in the high-pressure refrigerant specification at the branch pipe 11. With this configuration, it is possible to make maximum use of the existing liquid pipe 4, and at the same time, it is possible to reduce the pressure loss of the liquid pipe 10d and suppress performance degradation.

When pipes are constructed as described above, the gas pipe 9d and the liquid pipe 10d are each composed of two pipes, so that the total cross-sectional area of the pipes can be increased and pressure loss can be reduced, and performance degradation can be suppressed. can do.
In addition, the existing gas pipe 3 and the existing liquid pipe 4 can be used to the maximum, and at the same time, the newly constructed pipe 8d and pipe 8e can be handled by thin pipes, so that a new thick gas pipe and thick liquid pipe can be used. Compared with the construction, the piping member cost can be reduced and the construction workability is good.
Moreover, since it becomes possible to suppress the performance degradation due to pressure loss, it is possible to update the device with a cheaper device. That is, it is not necessary to install a device having a large capacity enough to compensate for the performance degradation in consideration of the performance degradation of the outdoor unit 5 and the indoor unit 6.

  Further, as in the first embodiment, waste can be reduced by updating the equipment by this method. Furthermore, in order to suppress global warming, it is possible to reduce the influence on the global environment. In addition, the present invention can be applied when the refrigeration cycle apparatus is updated without changing the refrigerant. Furthermore, the refrigeration cycle apparatus is not limited to an air conditioner (see Embodiment 1).

[Embodiment 5]
FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the updated refrigeration cycle apparatus for explaining the update method of the refrigeration cycle apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In FIG. 7, a new air conditioner 600 that uses a low pressure refrigerant (high boiling point refrigerant) including, for example, HFO-1234yf instead of an air conditioner using R410A that is a high pressure refrigerant (low boiling point refrigerant) is shown in FIG. A gas pipe connecting the inlet of the outdoor unit 5 (same as the inlet of the four-way valve 14) and the outlet of the indoor unit 6 (same as the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 17) of the air conditioner 300 (see Embodiment 2) 9b is changed to the gas pipe 9e.
In the gas pipe 9e, an electromagnetic valve (same as the pipe closing means) 12 is installed on the existing liquid pipe 4 which has been installed with the high-pressure refrigerant specification constituting the gas pipe 9b. That is, by installing a flow rate adjusting means such as a solenoid valve on either the gas pipe 3 or the new gas pipe diverting the existing liquid pipe 4 (here, the new gas pipe diverting the liquid pipe 4), The flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the gas pipe diverted from the liquid pipe 4 is adjusted so that the refrigerant passes through the gas pipe 3 and the circulation of the refrigerating machine oil circulating in the circuit is promoted.

If the cross-sectional area of the gas pipe is increased in order to reduce the pressure loss of the gas pipe, the refrigerant flow speed decreases during operation when the refrigerant circulation rate is reduced, and the flow speed sufficient to circulate the refrigerating machine oil circulating with the refrigerant is reduced. There is a possibility that the refrigerating machine oil may stagnate inside the pipe.
Therefore, an electromagnetic valve 12 that closes the flow of the refrigerant is installed in one of the two pipes constituting the new gas pipe 9e. During normal operation with a large amount of refrigerant circulation, the solenoid valve 12 is opened and the refrigerant is circulated through the two pipes, thereby reducing the pressure loss.
During operation in which the amount of refrigerant circulation is reduced to suppress the capacity, the refrigerant is circulated through only one pipe by closing the solenoid valve 12. As a result, the cross-sectional area of the gas pipe can be reduced and the refrigerant flow rate can be increased, and the refrigerant flow rate in the gas pipe can be prevented from being below the refrigerant flow rate that does not circulate.

  By this method, when the refrigerant circulation amount is large, the solenoid valve 12 is opened to suppress performance degradation due to an increase in pressure loss, and when the refrigerant circulation amount is small, the solenoid valve 12 is closed to promote the circulation of refrigerating machine oil. Thus, it is possible to promote the return of oil to the compressor and improve the reliability of the compressor, and it is possible to achieve both improvement of reliability by suppressing the deterioration of the performance and promoting the circulation of the refrigeration oil.

  In addition, according to this method, in equipment with a large gas pipe diameter, the refrigerant flow rate decreases, and it becomes possible to operate at a low flow rate where refrigeration oil could not be used because it could not circulate, so operation with reduced capacity was possible Therefore, it becomes possible to widen the capacity control range of the equipment, and more continuous operation is possible with respect to load fluctuations, so it is possible to reduce the loss of equipment startup and stop, and energy-saving operation is possible. .

The solenoid valve 12 may be installed in the existing gas pipe 3 instead of the existing liquid pipe 4. The solenoid valve 12 is installed in any of the new gas pipes 9a, 9c, 9d (the first, third, fourth, and fifth) instead of the new gas pipe 9b (the second embodiment). Is also feasible.
The fifth embodiment exhibits the effects of the second embodiment (including the effects of the first embodiment).

  The refrigerating cycle apparatus updating method according to the present invention can be used as an existing pipe and can suppress performance degradation. Therefore, it is widely used as an updating method for various refrigerating cycle apparatuses corresponding to various updating reasons. Can be used.

The block diagram which shows typically the structure of the refrigerating cycle apparatus before the update explaining the renewal method of the refrigerating cycle apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The refrigerant circuit figure of the refrigerating-cycle apparatus before the update explaining the renewal method of the refrigerating-cycle apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The refrigerant circuit figure of the refrigerating cycle apparatus after the update explaining the renewal method of the refrigerating cycle apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The block diagram which shows typically the structure of the refrigerating cycle apparatus after the update explaining the renewal method of the refrigerating cycle apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The block diagram which shows typically the structure of the refrigerating cycle apparatus after the update explaining the renewal method of the refrigerating cycle apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. The block diagram which shows typically the structure of the refrigerating cycle apparatus after the update explaining the renewal method of the refrigerating cycle apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. The block diagram which shows typically the structure of the refrigerating cycle apparatus after the update explaining the renewal method of the refrigerating cycle apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  1: Old outdoor unit, 2: Old indoor unit, 3: Existing gas pipe, 4: Existing liquid pipe, 5: New outdoor unit, 6: New indoor unit, 7: New branch pipe, 8a: New pipe, 8b: New Pipe, 8c: New pipe, 8d: New pipe, 8e: New pipe, 9a: New gas pipe, 9b: New gas pipe, 9c: New gas pipe, 9d: New gas pipe, 9e: New gas pipe, 10b: New Liquid pipe, 10c: New liquid pipe, 10d: New liquid pipe, 11: New branch pipe, 12: Solenoid valve, 13: Compressor, 14: Four-way valve, 15: Outdoor heat exchanger, 16: Expansion valve, 17: Indoor heat exchanger, 100: Air conditioner, 200: Air conditioner (Embodiment 1), 300: Air conditioner (Embodiment 2), 400: Air conditioner (Embodiment 3), 500: Air Conditioner (Embodiment 4), 600: Air conditioner (Embodiment 5).

Claims (8)

A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an outdoor unit installed outside; an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger; and between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit In a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising: an existing liquid pipe provided in a gas pipe; and an existing gas pipe provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit;
A method for updating a refrigeration cycle apparatus, comprising: adding a new pipe to an existing gas pipe when updating the outdoor unit and the indoor unit to make a plurality of gas pipes. A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an outdoor unit installed outside; an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger; and between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit In a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising: an existing liquid pipe provided in a gas pipe; and an existing gas pipe provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit;
A method for updating a refrigeration cycle apparatus, comprising: adding a new pipe to an existing gas pipe to form a plurality of gas pipes when the specification corresponds to a refrigerant having a pressure lower than that of the refrigerant used so far.   The renewal method for a refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a new pipe is added to the existing liquid pipe to form a plurality of liquid pipes. A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an outdoor unit installed outside; an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger; and between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit In a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising: an existing liquid pipe provided in a gas pipe; and an existing gas pipe provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit;
A renewal method for a refrigeration cycle apparatus, wherein, when the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are updated, the existing gas pipe and the existing liquid pipe are replaced with new gas pipes, and a plurality of gas pipes are provided. A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an outdoor unit installed outside; an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger; and between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit In a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising: an existing liquid pipe provided in a gas pipe; and an existing gas pipe provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit;
Renewal of the refrigeration cycle system characterized in that the existing gas pipe and the existing liquid pipe are replaced with new gas pipes and multiple gas pipes are used when the specification is compatible with refrigerants lower in pressure than the refrigerants used so far. Method. A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an outdoor unit installed outside; an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger; and between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit In a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising: an existing liquid pipe provided in a gas pipe; and an existing gas pipe provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit;
A refrigerating cycle characterized in that when the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are updated, an existing gas pipe is used as a liquid pipe, an existing liquid pipe is used as a gas pipe, and a new pipe is added to the gas pipe to form a plurality of gas pipes. How to update the device. A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an outdoor unit installed outside; an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger; and between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit In a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising: an existing liquid pipe provided in a gas pipe; and an existing gas pipe provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit;
When making the specification compatible with a refrigerant having a pressure lower than that of the refrigerant used so far, the existing gas pipe is a liquid pipe, the existing liquid pipe is a gas pipe, and a new pipe is added to the gas pipe. A method for updating a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising a plurality of refrigeration cycle apparatuses.   The renewal method for a refrigeration cycle apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein means for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant is provided in any of the plurality of gas pipes.

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