JP2011052853A - Heat pump type hot water supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat pump type hot water supply device capable of reducing probability of leakage of a refrigerant and ensuring high safety in disposal even when a flammable refrigerant is used. <P>SOLUTION: This heat pump type hot water supply device 1 has a compressor 5, a condenser 6, an expansion valve 7 and an evaporator 8, which are connected by piping to configure an annular circuit. A heat medium is sealed in the circuit, and changes its phase in the circuit. The condenser 6 has two closing valves 14a, 14b, and a liquefied heat medium can be sealed and stored between the closing valves 14a, 14b, thus a probability of leakage of the heat medium can be reduced. Further as the condenser 6 and two closing valves 14a, 14b are received in a housing 11, the probability of leakage of the heat medium can be further reduced, and the safety in disposal can be ensured even when the flammable refrigerant is used. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat pump type hot water supply apparatus, and particularly to a heat pump type hot water supply apparatus using a highly flammable refrigerant.

  Conventionally, refrigerators, air conditioners, hot water heaters, etc. have mainly used chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants as the heat medium, but since the Montreal Protocol on Ozone-Depleting Substances was adopted in 1987, the ozone depletion coefficient has been increased. High chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants are regulated, and there is a shift toward using natural refrigerants that have zero ozone depletion coefficient and low global warming coefficient.

By the way, natural refrigerants include chemical substances such as ammonia, hydrocarbons such as isobutane, propane, and propylene, and CO _{2 that} exists in the natural world. Generally, among these natural refrigerants, a CO ₂ refrigerant is considered to have the highest safety, and has recently been adopted in a heat pump or the like as disclosed in Patent Document 1.

JP2007-247985

However, since the CO ₂ refrigerant requires a high-pressure environment as compared with the environment in which the conventional chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant is used, a highly functional compressor is required, and there is a complaint that the manufacturing cost is greatly increased.

  On the other hand, the chemical substances and hydrocarbon-based refrigerants are refrigerants that are easily phase-changed in the same manner as fluorocarbon refrigerants, but these refrigerants are toxic and flammable, and are safe when leaked to the outside. There was concern. In particular, there has been a demand for reliable safety when recovering and discarding this type of refrigerant.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus which can ensure the high safety | security at the time of disposal, even if it uses a combustible refrigerant | coolant while reducing the possibility of the leakage of a refrigerant | coolant.

  The invention described in claim 1 for solving the above-described problem is that a compressor, a condenser, an expansion means, and an evaporator are connected by a series of pipes to form an annular circuit. In a heat pump type hot water supply apparatus that forms a heat pump circuit by enclosing a phase change heat medium and exchanges heat generated by the condenser to supply hot water, in the condenser or at the end of the condenser, Two shutoff valves are provided, and the liquefied heat medium can be sealed in the path of the heat medium sandwiched between the shutoff valves. Both the condenser and the shutoff valve are accommodated in a housing. It is a heat pump type hot water supply apparatus characterized by having.

  The heat pump hot water supply apparatus of the present invention has a configuration in which a compressor, a condenser, an expansion means, and an evaporator are connected by a series of pipes to form an annular circuit, and a phase change heat medium is enclosed in the circuit. Have. In the heat pump hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, a closing valve is provided in the condenser or at the end of the condenser, and the liquefied heat medium is sealed and stored in a path sandwiched between the closing valves. That is, for example, when the operation of the hot water supply device is stopped, it is possible to store the liquefied heat medium in a condenser that can be expected to have a relatively high strength, thereby reducing the possibility of leakage of the heat medium. Become. Furthermore, since this condenser is accommodated in the housing together with the shut-off valve, the sealed heat medium is also accommodated in the housing. Therefore, even if the heat medium leaks from the condenser, the heat medium is temporarily retained by the housing, so that the heat medium can be prevented from rapidly leaking to the outside. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the concentration of the heat medium from increasing outside in a short time, and even if the heat medium leaks, the concentration can be diffused and diluted, so that safety can be ensured.

Moreover, since the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention is provided with the shut-off valve inside the housing, the heat medium stored in the condenser can be easily removed by disconnecting the piping and the like located outside the housing. It can be recovered. That is, the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention has little trouble of collecting the heat medium and can safely dispose of the heat medium.
Therefore, according to the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, the possibility of leakage of the heat medium is reduced, and even when a flammable hydrocarbon heat medium is employed, high safety at the time of disposal is achieved. A secured heat pump hot water supply apparatus can be provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the casing includes a storage space for storing a condenser and a shut-off valve, and a plurality of partition walls for partitioning the storage space and the outside. The heat pump type hot water supply device according to claim 1, wherein the heat pump type hot water supply device is permanently fastened to another adjacent partition wall.

  In the heat pump hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, the housing has a housing space for housing the condenser and the shutoff valve, and the housing space is formed by a plurality of partition walls. And since any partition wall is permanently fastened with respect to any adjacent partition wall, a housing | casing is not decomposed | disassembled easily. That is, according to the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, there is a possibility that the heat medium sealed between the shutoff valves is accidentally leaked due to an artificial factor (for example, an act of damaging the pipe with a tool or the like). Since there is almost no, the safety of the user can be ensured. The permanent fastening includes, for example, a connecting means such as rivet or welding, or a bending process.

  The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the condenser has a heat medium passage pipe formed by a pipe and stores the liquefied heat medium in the heat medium passage pipe. A heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

  The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention seals a liquefied heat medium in a heat medium passage pipe formed by a pipe. Here, the tube is generally homogeneous, has a seamless structure, and has high rigidity. On the other hand, a condenser having a plate-type pipe line of a known technique does not have a homogeneous structure like a pipe, so that the pressure strength is uneasy compared to a pipe. That is, according to the heat pump hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, since it is sealed in the heat medium passage pipe formed by the pipe, there is no fear of leakage, and a heat pump hot water supply apparatus with higher safety can be provided. .

  The invention according to claim 4 is the heat pump hot water supply apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the heat medium passage pipe forms a coil.

  In the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, since the heat medium passage pipe has a coil shape, even if the inside of the pipe is at a high pressure, the whole can be deformed. Can withstand pressure more than the strength. That is, the pressure resistance is excellent even when compared with a linear member having the same design strength.

  In the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, the condenser has a hot water passage pipe formed by a pipe, and the hot water passage pipe is arranged adjacent to and parallel to the heat medium passage pipe. It is recommended that there be. (Claim 5)

  The invention according to claim 6 is the heat pump hot water supply according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the shut-off valve is provided so as to be located inside a coil formed by the heat medium passage conduit. Device.

  In the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention, since the shut-off valve is located inside the coil shape of the heat medium passage conduit, the volume of the housing is suppressed to a size that can accommodate the coil shape heat medium passage conduit. Is possible. That is, since it is not necessary to make the housing into a volume that takes into account the size of the shut-off valve, it is possible to save the space of the entire apparatus.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the shutoff valves are arranged on an inlet side and an outlet side of the condenser.

  Since the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention has a configuration in which the shutoff valves are arranged on the inlet side and the outlet side of the condenser, it becomes possible to seal the heat medium by making the most of the capacity of the condenser, and more The liquefied heat medium can be stored in the condenser.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the heat pump hot water supply device according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the heat medium passage pipe is kept warm by a heat insulating material.

  Since the heat pump hot water supply apparatus of the present invention keeps the heat medium passage pipe line warm by the heat insulating material, the heat efficiency can be maintained high. Moreover, since the heat of the heat medium hardly leaks to the outside of the heat insulating material by the heat insulating material, it is possible to prevent the temperature inside the housing from rapidly rising due to the heat of the heat medium. Thereby, it can prevent that the electrical malfunction by heating a closing valve arises.

  The invention according to claim 9 is provided with a discharge means capable of discharging the heat medium sealed between the shut-off valves to the outside, and the heat pump according to any one of claims 1 to 8 This is a hot water supply device.

  Since the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention is provided with a discharge means capable of discharging the heat medium sealed between the shut-off valves to the outside, it is convenient when the heat medium is discarded. Examples of the discharging means include a means for providing a recess leading to the condenser on the outside of the housing, or a means for forcibly opening the valve by providing an energization line capable of energizing the shut-off valve.

  The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus of the present invention is provided with at least two shutoff valves in the condenser so that the heat medium can be sealed between the shutoff valves, and the condenser and the shutoff valve are housed in the housing. The possibility of leakage of the heat medium can be reduced. In addition, since a shut-off valve is provided inside the housing, even when the heat medium stored in the condenser is discarded, the heat medium stored in the condenser can be safely recovered without leaking. Can do. Thereby, even if it is a case where a combustible refrigerant | coolant is used, high safety | security can be ensured.

It is a piping system diagram showing a heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the condenser employ | adopted by embodiment of FIG. (A) is the A direction arrow directional view of the condenser of FIG. 2, (b) is a B direction arrow directional view which fractured | ruptured the condenser of FIG. 2 partially. It is a perspective view which shows the housing | casing which accommodates the condenser of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the step which discharges | emits a heat medium by an exhaust means, (a) is the state before screw penetration, (b) is the state which discharged | emitted the heat medium. It is explanatory drawing of the heat medium sealing operation | movement in a heat pump part, (a) is a normal operation state, (b) is an outlet side closing valve closed state, (c) is a compressor operation stop state. It is a time chart which shows operation | movement of each part of the heat pump type hot-water supply apparatus of embodiment of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the heat pump type hot-water supply apparatus of embodiment of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the heat pump type hot-water supply apparatus of another embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus 1 is roughly composed of a heat pump unit 2 and a hot water storage unit 3.

  In the heat pump unit 2, as in the known heat pump, the compressor 5, the condenser 6, the expansion valve (expansion means) 7, and the evaporator 8 constitute an annular circuit using pipes. A heat medium that changes phase is enclosed. The heat medium is specifically a hydrocarbon-based refrigerant, and changes phase between a gas phase state and a liquid phase state according to pressure and temperature. The heat medium is combustible.

  The compressor 5 is a known hermetic compressor.

  The condenser 6 has a coiled heat medium passage conduit 10 and a hot water passage conduit 45 as shown in FIG. That is, the condenser 6 is a water-cooled heat exchanger, and has a coiled heat medium passage (hereinafter referred to as a coiled heat medium passage) 10 and a coiled hot water passage (hereinafter referred to as a coil) in a housing 11. 45) (referred to as a hot water passage). The coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45 are arranged adjacent to each other in parallel.

  A heat medium flows through the coiled heat medium passage (primary side flow path) 10, and hot water passes through the coiled hot water passage (secondary side flow path) 45. The coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45 are made of a homogeneous copper pipe having a considerable thickness and have a pressure resistance of 16 MPa or more. That is, the coiled heat medium passage 10 has a design strength that can withstand a pressurization by the compressor 5 with a sufficient safety factor, and is compared with another device constituting the heat pump unit 2 or a pipe connecting them. Then, the pressure resistance is excellent. Therefore, the coiled heat medium passage 10 has a configuration that is not easily damaged even when the inside of the tube is made high by the compressor 5.

  Furthermore, since the coiled heat medium passage (primary side passage) 10 and the coiled hot water passage (secondary side passage) 45 have a coil shape, even if the inside of the pipe is at a high pressure, the whole is deformed. Can relieve pressure. That is, the coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45 are excellent in pressure resistance even when compared with a straight pipe line having the same design strength.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a heat insulating material 48 is provided in the coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45 so as to cover the outer periphery. Thereby, since the heat of the heat medium which flows through the coil-shaped heat-medium channel | path 10 becomes difficult to leak outside, the fall of the thermal efficiency of a heat medium and hot water can be prevented. As a result, the heat insulating material 48 can prevent the temperature inside the housing 11 from rising.

  Further, a closing valve 14 a and a closing valve 14 b are provided on both ends of the coiled heat medium passage 10. Specifically, the coil-like heat medium passage 10 is provided with an inlet side closing valve 14b on the inlet side of the condenser 6 and an outlet side closing valve 14a on the outlet side, and the closing valves 14a and 14b are closed. Thus, the sealed region 9 that can store the liquefied heat medium in the coiled heat medium passage 10 can be formed. In the present embodiment, known electromagnetic valves are employed as the shutoff valves 14a and 14b.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, the coiled heat medium passage 10 has a bent portion 12 in which the pipe line is bent inward in the horizontal direction of the coil shape on the inlet side and the outlet side of the condenser 6. The closing valves 14 a and 14 b are arranged at the bent portion 12. Thereby, since the pipe line adjacent to the bent portion 12 cannot be an obstacle for installing the closing valves 14 a and 14 b, the closing valves 14 a and 14 b can be easily attached to the coiled heat medium passage 10. Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the bent portion 12 is further bent inwardly in the coil shape in the vertical direction, so that it is outside the coil shape formed by the coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45. Further, the closing valves 14a and 14b are not exposed. In other words, the size formed by the coiled heat medium passage 10, the coiled hot water passage 45, and the shut-off valves 14a and 14b is equal to the size formed by the coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45. That is, it is possible to minimize the areas required for the coiled heat medium passage 10, the coiled hot water passage 45, and the shutoff valves 14a and 14b. The stop valves 14a and 14b are publicly known solenoid valves, which are closed when there is no power supply and open when there is power supply.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 11 includes a housing body 11 a having one surface opened and a lid portion 11 b that can close the opened surface of the housing body 11 a. That is, the housing 11 houses the condenser 6 and the shut-off valves 14a and 14b in a closed space (housing space 13) formed by the housing body 11a and the lid portion 11b. That is, as described above, the size of the area occupied by the condenser 6 and the shutoff valves 14a and 14b is equal to the size of the coil shape formed by the coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45. 11 can be made large enough to accommodate the coiled heat medium passage 10 and the coiled hot water passage 45. Thereby, since the magnitude | size of the housing | casing 11 is compactized, the heat pump part 2 whole can be compactized.

  The housing body 11a and the lid portion 11b are joined by a special screw (permanent fastening element) 29, so that it is difficult to disassemble them. The housing body 11a and the lid portion 11b are formed by bending and welding, respectively, and any surface (partition wall) is permanently fastened to the adjacent surface (partition wall). Thereby, the user cannot easily disassemble the casing 11 employed in the present embodiment. Therefore, according to the heat pump hot water supply device 1 of the present embodiment, it is difficult for the user to touch the condenser 6 accommodated in the housing 11, so the heat sealed between the shutoff valves 14 a and 14 b. It is possible to prevent the medium from leaking due to human factors (for example, an act of damaging the piping with a tool or the like).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the cover 11 b of the housing 11 is provided with a small substantially circular recess 39 that is recessed toward the accommodation space 13. As shown in FIG. 5A, the concave portion 39 is positioned vertically above the coiled heat medium passage 10, and is guided to the coiled heat medium passage 10 by penetrating a pointed screw 44 or the like. Is. And as shown in FIG.5 (b), the screw | thread 44 which penetrated the cover part 11b is further penetrated to the coil-shaped heat-medium channel | path 10, and the heat medium stored in the condenser 6 is discharged | emitted outside. . That is, the recess 39 and the screw 44 function as a discharge unit that discharges the heat medium stored in the condenser 6. Thereby, even when the stored heat medium becomes unnecessary and needs to be discarded, it can be easily discharged from a specific location in the condenser 6 to the outside, so that the safety is ensured. It can be performed.

  The evaporator 8 is a gas-liquid heat exchanger, has a heat medium passage channel through which the heat medium passes, has fins (not shown) around it, and receives heat from the blower 24 to exchange heat.

  Accordingly, as described above, the heat pump unit 2 includes the compressor 5, the condenser 6, the expansion valve 7, and the evaporator 8 that are annularly connected to each other. The gaseous heat medium is compressed and enters the condenser 6. The heat medium is deprived of heat by the condenser 6 and liquefied. The liquefied heat medium is discharged from the expansion valve 7 and expands in volume in the evaporator 8 to take heat from the surroundings. Then, the heat medium is vaporized again and returns to the compressor 5.

Next, the hot water storage unit 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the hot water storage unit 3 includes a storage tank 20 and a hot water storage pump 32, and includes a circuit that stores hot hot water in the hot water storage unit 3.
The storage tank 20 is a tank that forms temperature stratification inside, and is a sealed tank. The storage tank 20 has an upper water inlet 22 and an upper water outlet 23 on the upper side, and a lower water inlet 25, a lower water outlet 26, and an auxiliary water inlet 27 on the lower side.

  The storage tank 20 is provided with a plurality of temperature sensors 30 with different heights. The temperature sensor 30 is provided in order to know where the hot water has accumulated.

In the present embodiment, the hot water storage circuit 33 is configured by connecting the storage tank 20, the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6, and the hot water storage pump 32 in a ring shape.
That is, the lower water outlet 26 of the storage tank 20 is connected to the water inlet side of the coiled hot water passage (secondary flow passage) 45 of the condenser 6 via the hot water storage pump 32, and the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6 is connected. The outlet side is connected to the upper side inlet 22 of the storage tank 20 through a three-way valve 35.

  Temperature sensors 18 and 19 are provided in the vicinity of the inlet and the outlet of the coiled hot water passage 45, respectively. More specifically, an inlet side temperature sensor 18 is provided on the inlet side of the coiled hot water passage 45 that is the secondary side of the condenser 6, and an outlet side temperature sensor 19 is provided on the outlet side of the coiled hot water passage 45. Yes. Therefore, when hot water passes through the condenser 6, the temperature on the inlet side and the temperature on the outlet side of the coiled hot water passage 45 are measured by the temperature sensors 18 and 19.

The remaining port of the three-way valve 35 is connected to the auxiliary water inlet 27 of the storage tank 20.
Accordingly, when the hot water storage pump 32 is started with the hot water storage pump 32 and the upper water inlet 22 communicating with each other, the hot water is discharged from the lower portion of the storage tank 20 and passes through the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6. Then, the storage tank 20 returns to the storage tank 20 from the upper side water inlet 22.

  On the other hand, when the hot water storage pump 32 is started with the three-way valve 35 in communication with the hot water storage pump 32 and the auxiliary water inlet 27, hot water is discharged from the lower portion of the storage tank 20 and passes through the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6. Returning to the storage tank 20 from the auxiliary water inlet 27 provided at the lower part of the storage tank 20.

Further, the remaining two openings of the storage tank 20, the upper water outlet 23 and the lower water inlet 25, are connected to an external pipe.
More specifically, the lower side water inlet 25 is connected to an external water source 36. On the other hand, the upper water outlet 23 is connected to an external hot water supply facility (for example, a hot water tap 38) via a hot water supply path 37. Further, a bypass water passage 40 is provided between the water source 36 and the hot water supply passage 37, and a flow rate control valve 41 is provided in the bypass water passage 40.

  Therefore, when the hot water tap 38 is opened, cold water enters the storage tank 20 from the lower water inlet 25 of the storage tank 20 due to the water pressure of the water source 36, and from the upper water outlet 23 provided at the upper part of the storage tank 20. Hot water is pushed out into the hot water supply passage 37. As will be described later, since hot water is stored on the upper side of the storage tank 20, when the hot-water tap 38 is opened, the hot water stored in the storage tank 20 due to the water pressure of the water source 36. However, hot water is pushed out into the hot water supply passage 37. Then, cold water flowing through the bypass water channel 40 is mixed with the hot water, the temperature is adjusted, and hot water is supplied from the hot water tap 38.

Next, the function of the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described.
The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus 1 of the present embodiment makes hot water by exchanging heat generated in the condenser 6 of the heat pump unit 2, stores the hot water in a storage tank 20, and supplies the hot water as needed. There is a storage mode in which hot water is stored in the storage tank 20 as an operation mode. When stopping the hot water storage, a heat medium sealing operation is performed in which the heat medium is sealed in the condenser 6 to store the heat medium.

  In the storage mode, the heat pump unit 2 is operated and the hot water storage pump 32 of the hot water storage unit 3 is activated. Further, in the storage mode, the three-way valve 35 is brought into a state where the hot water storage pump 32 and the upper side water inlet 22 communicate with each other.

  When the compressor 5 of the heat pump unit 2 is started, as described above, the internal gaseous heat medium is compressed, and the heat medium enters the coiled heat medium passage 10 that is the primary flow path of the condenser 6. Here, the gaseous heat medium that has entered the condenser 6 is adiabatically compressed by the compressor 5, and the temperature rises.

  On the other hand, since the hot water storage pump 32 of the hot water storage section 3 is activated, there is a water flow in the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6, and the heat generated by the gaseous heat medium is taken away by the water flow in the coiled hot water passage 45. Thus, the heat medium in the condenser 6 is liquefied.

  In addition, the water flowing through the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6 receives heat and rises in temperature. Then, the hot water exiting the coiled hot water passage 45 returns to the storage tank 20 from the upper water inlet 22 through the three-way valve 35.

  That is, cold water is taken out from the lower part of the storage tank 20, and the cold water is heated by the heat of the condenser 6 and introduced into the storage tank 20 from the upper side of the storage tank 20. As a result, hot water is accumulated on the upper side of the storage tank 20, and cold water remains on the lower side. And if the storage mode is continued, the ratio of the hot water in the storage tank 20 will increase gradually. Finally, the storage tank 20 is filled with hot water.

Next, the heat medium sealing operation performed when stopping the storage will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, the heat medium sealing operation is performed when stopping the storage of hot water in the operation mode on a daily basis.
That is, when the predetermined condition is met and the compressor 5 is stopped from the state shown in FIG. 6A, prior to the stop of the compressor 5, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 7 and the flowchart of FIG. The rotation speed of a motor (not shown) of the compressor 5 is set to a low speed (operation frequency change) (STEP 2 in FIG. 8), and an outlet side closing valve provided on the outlet side of the coiled heat medium passage 10 of the condenser 6. 14a is closed (STEP 3).

On the other hand, on the hot water storage unit 3 side, the operation of the hot water storage pump 32 is maintained (STEP 2). However, the three-way valve 35 is switched so that the hot water storage pump 32 and the auxiliary water inlet 27 communicate with each other from the state where the hot water storage pump 32 and the upper water inlet 22 communicate with each other.
That is, as a result of switching the three-way valve 35, hot water is discharged from the lower portion of the storage tank 20, passes through the coiled hot water passage (secondary flow passage) 45 of the condenser 6, and is provided at the lower portion of the storage tank 20. The auxiliary water inlet 27 returns to the storage tank 20.

  Prior to stopping the compressor 5, the outlet side shut-off valve 14 a provided on the outlet side of the coiled heat medium passage (primary side passage) 10 of the condenser 6 is closed. As a result, the pressure in the condenser 6 is temporarily increased. However, as described above, the compressor 5 is slowed down before the outlet side closing valve 14a is closed, and the operation of the hot water storage pump 32 is maintained (STEP 2), and the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6 is maintained. Since water flow is maintained, the heat medium in the condenser 6 is deprived of heat in the condenser 6 and liquefied. However, since the outlet side closing valve 14a provided on the outlet side of the condenser 6 is closed as described above (STEP 3), the liquefied heat medium loses its outlet and accumulates in the condenser 6. (Fig. 6 (b))

  In STEP 3, since the operation of the blower 24 is maintained, the leaked gaseous heat medium can be diffused even if the heat medium leaks to the outside. That is, by temporarily maintaining the operation of the blower 24, it is possible to suppress an increase in the gas concentration at the leakage location, so that even if a flammable heat medium leaks, the safety is reduced. I won't let you.

  Then, the gaseous heat medium sent from the compressor 5 to the condenser 6 is liquefied one after another and accumulated in the condenser 6. On the other hand, the heat medium in the other equipment is taken away by the compressor 5 and the condenser 6, and the other parts are in a negative pressure state.

Thus, when most of the heat medium in the circuit of the heat pump unit 2 enters the condenser 6 and is liquefied in the condenser 6, the inlet side closing of the condenser 6 is performed as shown in FIG. The valve 14b is closed (STEP 5). As a result, most of the heat medium in the heat pump unit 2 is sealed and stored in a liquefied state in the sealed region 9 in the condenser 6.
Then, the compressor 5 is stopped.

  That is, in the present embodiment, one blocking area 9 is formed by using a total of two closing valves 14 a and 14 b of the outlet side closing valve 14 a and the inlet side closing valve 14 b, and the heat medium is transferred to the blocking area 9. It is sealed. In addition, since the condenser 6 and the shutoff valves 14a and 14b including the sealed region 9 are accommodated by the casing 11, even if a heat medium may leak from the condenser 6, Since the heat medium stays temporarily, the heat medium can be prevented from leaking rapidly to the outside, so that the concentration of the heat medium does not increase outside in a short time. That is, even if the heat medium leaks, the concentration can be diluted by dilution, so that safety can be ensured.

Furthermore, in the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the stored heat medium that is no longer necessary can be recovered and discarded together with the casing 11. More specifically, the heat medium is sealed between the shutoff valves 14a and 14b, and is stored in the condenser 6 even if a pipe extending outside the casing 11 connected to the condenser 6 is disconnected. The heat medium does not leak to the outside. That is, the heat medium stored in the condenser 6 is safely recovered by separating the housing 11 from the heat pump unit 2.
Further, as described above, the recovered casing 11 is provided with the recess 39, and the heat medium stored in the condenser 6 is passed through the coil 44 through the coiled heat medium passage 10 from the recess 39. It can be discharged to the outside. Thereby, since the stored heat medium which became unnecessary can be discharged | emitted from the specific location of the condenser 6, safety | security can be ensured and it can discard outside. Therefore, according to the heat pump type hot water supply apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the possibility of leakage of the heat medium is reduced, and high safety at the time of disposal can be ensured even if a combustible heat medium is used.

  Here, the timing at which the inlet side closing valve 14b of the condenser 6 is closed and the timing at which the compressor 5 is stopped, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 7 and the flowchart of FIG. Monitoring is performed (STEP 4), and when this variation is within a certain range, the inlet side closing valve 14b is closed (STEP 5), and immediately after that, the compressor 5 is stopped. Specifically, the temperature variation of the hot water is monitored by the inlet side temperature sensor 18 and the outlet side temperature sensor 19 disposed in the coiled hot water passage 45, and the temperature difference between the inlet side temperature sensor 18 and the outlet side temperature sensor 19 is monitored. The inlet side shut-off valve 14b is closed and the compressor 5 is stopped on condition that the temperature difference becomes a certain value or less.

  More specifically, since the condenser 6 is one in which a high-temperature and high-pressure gas (heat medium) is introduced from the compressor 5 and cooled and discharged to the expansion valve 7 side, The temperature of the introduction part of the heat medium is high and the temperature on the discharge side is low.

  However, as described above, when the outlet side of the condenser 6 is blocked by the outlet side closing valve 14a and the heat medium in the heat pump unit 2 is successively sent to the condenser 6 and cooled, the liquid is liquefied and the temperature decreases. As the heat medium accumulated is accumulated, the low temperature region in the condenser 6 gradually increases.

  And finally, since almost all the heat medium in the condenser 6 is liquefied, the temperature variation in the condenser 6 is eliminated. In other words, since almost all of the heat medium in the condenser 6 is liquefied, the temperature variation between the inlet side and the outlet side of the hot water flowing on the secondary side of the condenser 6 is eliminated. Therefore, the temperature variation in the condenser 6 serves as an index for knowing the recovery rate of the heat medium into the condenser 6.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the temperature sensors 18 and 19 are provided in the hot water storage circuit 33 in the vicinity of the inlet and the outlet of the coiled hot water passage 45 of the condenser 6, and the temperature on the inlet side and the temperature on the outlet side in the condenser 6 are set as temperatures. Monitoring is performed by sensors 18 and 19. Then, the detected temperatures of the two temperature sensors 18 and 19 are compared, and on condition that the difference between the two is small, the inlet side closing valve 14b is closed, and immediately after that, the compressor 5 is stopped.

  Specifically, when the temperature difference between the two becomes less than 5 to 1 degree Celsius, preferably less than 3 to 1 degree, the inlet side stop valve 14b is closed, and immediately after that, the compressor 5 is stopped. In the present embodiment, the compressor 5 is controlled from the normal operation to the low-speed operation, and it takes about 2 to 5 minutes for the compressor 5 to stop.

In addition to the temperature variation in the condenser 6 or in place of the temperature variation condition in the condenser 6, the inlet-side shut-off valve 14 b is closed according to the elapsed time after the outlet-side shut-off valve 14 a is closed. The compressor 5 may be stopped. For example, according to the flowchart of FIG. 9, after closing the outlet side closing valve 14a, the inlet side closing valve 14b is closed (STEP 5) on the condition that about 2 to 5 minutes have passed (STEP 4 in FIG. 9). The compressor 5 may be stopped.
The time described above is the time required for most of the heat medium in the heat pump unit 2 to enter the condenser 6 and be liquefied in the condenser 6, and the amount of the heat medium in the heat pump unit 2 and the compressor 5 This time is determined by the compression capacity of the. In practice, this is the time determined by experiment.

  In the above embodiment, the heat medium stored in the condenser 6 is guided to the coiled heat medium passage 10 by passing the screw 44 or the like having a pointed tip through the recess 39 provided in the housing 11, Although the structure provided with the discharging means that further penetrates the screw 44 and the like into the coiled heat medium passage 10 is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, after the housing 11 is separated from the heat pump unit 2. In this configuration, power can be supplied to the shutoff valve 14a or the shutoff valve 14b, and power is supplied to one of the shutoff valves 14a and 14b so that the heat medium is discharged to the outside. It doesn't matter. In short, any means may be used as long as it can discharge the heat medium stored in the condenser 6 to the outside without disassembling the casing 11.

  In the above embodiment, the case body 11a and the lid portion 11b constituting the case 11 are joined by the special screw 29. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the case body 11a The lid 11b may be joined by welding. That is, any configuration may be used as long as adjacent surfaces (partition walls) constituting the casing 11 are joined together by welding, rivets, bending, or the like and cannot be easily disassembled. In other words, the housing 11 does not need to be configured by the housing body 11a and the lid portion 11b, and it is only necessary that the closed housing space 13 can be formed by permanently fastening plate members (partition walls) to each other.

  In the said embodiment, although the structure which provided the two closing valves 14a and 14b in the condenser 6 was shown, this invention is not limited to this, The structure which provided the three or more closing valves may be sufficient. . By adopting such a configuration, even when a malfunction occurs in any of the shut-off valves, the other shut-off valve can be substituted, so the heat medium sealed between the shut-off valves can leak. Can be further reduced.

In the above embodiment, the configuration in which electromagnetic valves are employed for both the outlet side closing valve 14a and the inlet side closing valve 14b has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the check valve is provided in the inlet side closing valve 14b. It may be a configuration adopting Even in this case, as described above, the reliability of sealing the heat medium is further improved by employing a plurality of check valves for the inlet-side stop valve 14b.
Hereinafter, for example, a description will be given of a sealing operation in the case where two electromagnetic valves are employed as the outlet side closing valve 14a and two check valves are employed as the inlet side closing valve 14b.

As described above, when the sealing operation is performed, first, the rotational speed of the compressor 5 is lowered, and then the outlet-side stop valve 14a is closed. At this time, with the compressor 5 as a reference, the downstream side closing valves 14a are sequentially closed, or both the closing valves 14a are simultaneously closed. And the compressor 5 is stopped on condition that the variation in the temperature of the hot water of the secondary side flow path becomes a certain value or less.
Here, as described above, since the portion other than the condenser 6 in which the heat medium is stored is in a negative pressure state during the sealing operation, the heat medium is moved to the compressor 5 side (upstream side) by stopping the compressor 5. Try to backflow).
However, the check valve provided on the inlet side of the condenser 6 prevents the back flow of the heat medium. Therefore, even when the electromagnetic valve and the check valve are employed, the heat medium can be stored in the sealed area 9 as in the above embodiment, and thus the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. I can do it.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heat pump type hot water supply apparatus 2 Heat pump part 5 Compressor 6 Condenser 7 Expansion valve (expansion means)
8 Evaporator 10 Coiled heat medium passage (heat medium passage conduit)
13 Storage space 14a Outlet side closing valve (closing valve)
14b Inlet side closing valve (closing valve)
45 Coiled hot water passage (hot water passage pipe)

Claims (9)

The compressor, the condenser, the expansion means, and the evaporator are connected by a series of pipes to form an annular circuit, and a phase change heat medium is enclosed in the annular circuit to constitute a heat pump circuit. In a heat pump type hot water supply device that exchanges heat generated by the condenser and supplies it to hot water,
At least two closing valves are provided in the condenser or at the end of the condenser,
The heat medium liquefied in the path of the heat medium sandwiched between the shutoff valves can be sealed,
The condenser and the shut-off valve are both housed in a housing. The housing includes a storage space for storing a condenser and a shut-off valve, and a plurality of partition walls for partitioning the storage space and the outside.
The heat pump hot water supply device according to claim 1, wherein all of the partition walls are permanently fastened to other adjacent partition walls.   The heat pump according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the condenser has a heat medium passage pipe formed by a pipe, and stores the liquefied heat medium in the heat medium passage pipe. Water heater.   The heat pump hot water supply apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the heat medium passage pipe forms a coil. The condenser has a hot and cold water passage formed by a pipe,
5. The heat pump hot water supply apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the hot water passage pipe is arranged adjacent to and parallel to the heat medium passage pipe. 6.   The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the stop valve is provided so as to be positioned inside a coil formed by the heat medium passage pipe.   The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the stop valves are arranged on an inlet side and an outlet side of a condenser.   The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the heat medium passage pipe is kept warm by a heat insulating material.   The heat pump type hot water supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising discharge means capable of discharging the heat medium sealed between the shutoff valves to the outside.

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