JP2015140973A - oil separator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To capture a refrigerating machine oil included in a refrigerant efficiently and to reduce roll-up of an oil reservoir.SOLUTION: An oil separator 100 includes a container 11, an inlet pipe 12, an outlet pipe 13, an oil return pipe 14, a separation plate 15 and a cylindrical member 16. The separation plate 15 divides an internal space in the container 11 into an upper space 17 and a lower space 18, and it has a circular opening in the center. The cylindrical member 16 has a cylindrical shape in which its central axis coincides with a central axis of the container 11, an upper end is mounted on a surface on the lower space 18 side of the separation plate 15 and a lower end opens in the lower space 18. An inner diameter D1 of the container 11 is larger than an inner diameter D2 of the cylindrical member 16.

Description

  The present invention relates to an oil separator that separates refrigerating machine oil from a gas-phase refrigerant mixed with refrigerating machine oil.

  Generally, refrigeration oil is used for lubrication of a compressor used in an air conditioner or the like. This refrigerating machine oil circulates in a refrigerant circulation system together with a gas phase refrigerant (hereinafter referred to as a refrigerant). The refrigerating machine oil sucked from the suction side of the compressor is supplied to each sliding portion inside the compressor and used for lubrication of each sliding portion. In addition, the refrigerating machine oil is supplied to the working chamber of the compressor and is used to prevent the leakage of the vaporized refrigerant by sealing the gap in the working chamber.

  In the above circulation system, when the refrigerant discharged from the compressor contains a large amount of refrigerating machine oil, the refrigerating machine oil tends to adhere to the inner wall surface of the heat transfer tube of the heat exchanger. And the refrigeration oil adhering to the inner wall face of a heat exchanger tube inhibits the heat transfer of a heat exchanger tube, and deteriorates the heat transfer efficiency of a heat exchanger. In order to avoid such a situation, an oil separator is provided in the circulation system.

  The oil separator has a cylindrical container, an inlet pipe for introducing a refrigerant containing refrigerating machine oil into the container, and an outlet pipe for sending out the refrigerant separated from the refrigerating machine oil to the outside of the container. The refrigerant introduced into the container from the inlet pipe is discharged into the upper space in the container and descends while swirling. At this time, the refrigerating machine oil adheres to the inner wall of the container and is separated from the refrigerant by the centrifugal force that acts during turning. The refrigerating machine oil adhering to the inner wall of the container moves downward due to its own weight and is collected at the lower part of the container to form an oil sump. On the other hand, when the refrigerant reaches the bottom of the container, it rises while turning and is sent out from the outlet pipe.

  Conventionally, in order to prevent the refrigerating machine oil in the oil reservoir from being rolled up by the refrigerant that changes from descending to rising in the container, an oil separator that makes the inner diameter of the lower part of the container larger than the inner diameter of the upper part of the container (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). In this conventional oil separator, the swirling speed of the refrigerant descending from the upper part of the container to the lower part of the container can be reduced, so that the refrigerant that turns upward at the lower part of the container can be prevented from winding up the refrigerating machine oil in the oil reservoir.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-63958 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-180808 JP 2006-90673 A

  However, the conventional oil separator has a problem in that the refrigerating machine oil adhering to the inner wall of the container is reduced by centrifugal force because the swirling speed of the refrigerant is reduced at the lower part of the container.

  An object of the present invention is to improve the separation characteristics of refrigerating machine oil by efficiently capturing the refrigerating machine oil contained in the refrigerant and reducing the rolling up of the oil sump.

  An oil separator according to an aspect of the present invention is a cylindrical container, a separation plate that is disposed so as to separate an inner space of the container into an upper space and a lower space, and has an opening, and refrigerator oil is mixed The lower space is formed so that a space is formed between an inlet pipe for causing the refrigerant to flow into the upper space and generating a swirling flow of the refrigerant in the upper space and the inner wall surface of the container. And a cylindrical member having upper and lower ends opened, and an outlet pipe connected to the container at a position facing the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member.

  The present invention can improve the separation characteristics of refrigerating machine oil by efficiently capturing the refrigerating machine oil contained in the refrigerant and reducing the rolling up of the oil sump.

The figure which shows an example of a structure of the oil separator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the oil separator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the conventional oil separator The graph which shows the comparative example of the oil separation rate of the conventional oil separator and the oil separator which concerns on Embodiment 1, 2 of this invention

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an example, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the configuration of the oil separator 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an oil separator 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a view of the oil separator 100 as viewed from the front. FIG. 1B is a view of the oil separator 100 as viewed obliquely from above. FIG. 1C is a view of the oil separator 100 as viewed obliquely from below. Moreover, in FIG. 1A-C, the structure inside the container 11 is shown with the dotted line.

  In FIG. 1, the oil separator 100 includes a container 11, an inlet pipe 12, an outlet pipe 13, an oil return pipe 14, a separation plate 15, and a cylindrical member 16.

  The container 11 is a cylindrical container. The container 11 has an inlet pipe 12 connected to an upper part thereof, an oil return pipe 14 connected to a lower part thereof, and an outlet pipe 13 connected to a side surface thereof.

  The inlet pipe 12 is connected to the upper part of the container 11 as described above. The opening 12 a of the inlet pipe 12 opens into the upper space 17 of the container 11. The inlet pipe 12 allows a refrigerant containing refrigeration oil to flow into the upper space 17 of the container 11 from the opening 12a. Further, the opening 12 a is opened in a substantially horizontal direction so that the refrigerant flowing into the upper space 17 forms a smooth swirling flow along the inner wall of the container 11.

  The outlet pipe 13 is connected to the side surface of the container 11 as described above. The opening 13 a of the outlet pipe 13 is opened facing the outer wall of the cylindrical member 16. The outlet pipe 13 causes the refrigerant that has turned upward after descending the lower space 18 to flow out of the container 11.

  The oil return pipe 14 is connected to the lower part of the container 11 as described above. The oil return pipe 14 causes the refrigerating machine oil separated from the refrigerant and accumulated in the lower portion of the container 11 to flow out of the container 11. This refrigerating machine oil is returned to the suction side of a compressor (not shown), for example. In addition, since the refrigerant | coolant discharged from a compressor is high temperature, when the refrigerating machine oil isolate | separated from the refrigerant | coolant is high temperature, it is good also as returning directly to the high temperature oil sump in the airtight container of a compressor. In this way, the compressor can be operated more efficiently.

  The separation plate 15 is a donut-shaped plate member provided inside the container 11. That is, the separation plate 15 has a circular opening at the center thereof. The center of the opening is on the central axis of the container 11. By the separation plate 15, the internal space of the container 11 is divided into an upper space 17 and a lower space 18. The outer diameter of the separation plate 15 substantially matches the inner diameter D1 of the container 11, and the inner diameter of the separation plate 15 (the diameter of the opening of the separation plate 15) substantially matches the inner diameter D2 of the cylindrical member 16. The inner diameter D1 of the container 11 is larger than the inner diameter D2 of the cylindrical member 16.

  The cylindrical member 16 is a cylindrical member whose upper and lower ends are open. The central axis of the cylindrical member 16 coincides with the central axis of the container 11. The upper end of the cylindrical member 16 is vertically attached to the surface of the separation plate 15 on the lower space 18 side so that the circular opening at the upper end coincides with the circular opening at the separation plate 15. Therefore, the upper end of the cylindrical member 16 communicates with the opening of the separation plate 15 and opens into the upper space 17. Further, the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 is open to the lower space 18 so as to face the bottom surface of the container 11. Further, a space in which the refrigerant rises toward the outlet pipe 13 is formed between the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member 16 and the inner wall surface of the container 11. Although the internal space 19 of the cylindrical member 16 is included in the lower space 18, for convenience of explanation, the internal space 19 and the lower space 18 are treated as separate spaces below. Therefore, the lower space 18 referred to below means a space excluding the internal space 19.

  Next, the flow of refrigeration oil and refrigerant in the oil separator 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The refrigerant containing the refrigeration oil flows into the upper space 17 from the inlet pipe 12. The refrigerant flowing into the upper space 17 becomes a swirling flow along the inner wall of the container 11 in the upper space 17 and descends while swirling. At this time, the refrigerant collides with the inner wall of the container 11, and the refrigerating machine oil contained in the refrigerant adheres to the inner wall of the container 11. Thereby, refrigeration oil is isolate | separated from a refrigerant | coolant. This refrigerating machine oil moves downward along the inner wall of the container 11 due to its own weight, dripped from the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 through the surface of the separation plate 15 (the surface on the upper space 17 side) and the inner wall of the cylindrical member 16, It collects in the lower part of the container 11. Thereby, an oil sump (not shown) is formed in the lower part of the container 11.

  The refrigerant descending the upper space 17 flows into the internal space 19 of the cylindrical member 16 from the opening of the separation plate 15. At this time, the refrigerant collides with the surface of the separation plate 15 (the surface on the upper space 17 side), and the refrigeration oil contained in the refrigerant adheres to the surface of the separation plate 15. Thereby, refrigeration oil is isolate | separated from a refrigerant | coolant. The refrigerating machine oil moves downward along the inner wall of the cylindrical member 16, drops from the lower end of the cylindrical member 16, and accumulates in the lower portion of the container 11.

  As the refrigerant passes through the opening of the separation plate 15, the radius of the swirling flow of the refrigerant flowing into the internal space 19 is reduced. As a result, the pressure in the central portion increases and the downward velocity component of the refrigerant is suppressed, so that the turning time in the upper space 17 can be extended. The swirl speed of the refrigerant decreases as it goes downward due to the influence of the viscosity, but the swirl speed in the upper space 17 is maintained at a sufficient speed because the influence of the viscosity is not so large. Therefore, oil separation in the upper space 17 can be performed efficiently.

  The refrigerant flowing into the internal space 19 becomes a swirl flow along the inner wall of the cylindrical member 16 in the internal space 19 and descends while swirling. At this time, the refrigerant collides with the inner wall of the cylindrical member 16, and the refrigerating machine oil contained in the refrigerant adheres to the inner wall of the cylindrical member 16. Thereby, refrigeration oil is isolate | separated from a refrigerant | coolant. The refrigerating machine oil moves downward along the inner wall of the cylindrical member 16 due to its own weight, drops from the lower end of the cylindrical member 16, and accumulates in the lower portion of the container 11.

  Further, since the inner diameter D <b> 2 of the cylindrical member 16 is smaller than the inner diameter D <b> 1 of the container 11, the swirling speed of the refrigerant flowing into the internal space 19 is higher than that of the refrigerant below the upper space 17. Therefore, oil separation by centrifugal force can be performed efficiently in the internal space 19.

  The refrigerant that descends the internal space 19 and reaches its lower end flows into the lower space 18. As a result, the radius of the swirling flow of the refrigerant increases and the swirling speed decreases. In the lower space 18, the refrigerant descends while decreasing the turning speed, and then reverses and rises toward the outlet pipe 13. At this time, the vertical speed of the refrigerating machine oil contained in the refrigerant that has reversed and increased changes from the downward direction to the upward direction. The refrigerating machine oil falls to the lower part of the container 11 due to the influence of gravity.

  Thereafter, the refrigerant rises in the lower space 18 (the space between the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member 16 and the inner wall surface of the container 11) and is sent out of the container 11 from the opening 13 a of the outlet pipe 13. The refrigerating machine oil accumulated in the lower part of the container 11 flows out of the container 11 from the oil return pipe 14.

  As described above, the oil separator 100 according to the present embodiment is refrigerated from the refrigerant at three locations: the inner wall of the container 11 in the upper space 17, the surface on the upper space 17 side of the separation plate 15, and the inner wall of the cylindrical member 16. It is the structure which machine oil isolate | separates. Thereby, the particles of the refrigeration oil contained in the refrigerant can be efficiently captured, and the separation characteristics of the refrigeration oil can be improved.

  The oil separator 100 according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the swirling speed of the refrigerant from the inside space 19 to the outlet pipe 13 is reduced. Thereby, the rolling-up of the oil sump by the refrigerant | coolant which reversely raises in the lower part of the container 11 can be reduced, and the separation characteristic of refrigerating machine oil can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, a mesh member may be provided between the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 and the bottom of the container 11. Thereby, the refrigeration oil contained in the refrigerant descending the lower space 18 can be captured. Therefore, the separation characteristics of the refrigeration oil can be further improved.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the container 11 is good also as a structure which joins two members. For example, the first member is a member having an upper portion of the container 11 (a portion above the separation plate 15 in FIG. 1), an inlet pipe 12, a separation plate 15, and a cylindrical member 16. For example, the second member is a member having a lower portion of the container 11 (a portion below the separation plate 15 in FIG. 1), an outlet pipe 13, and an oil return pipe 14. By joining such a first member and a second member, an oil separator 100 similar to that in FIG. 1 can be configured.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, the configuration of the oil separator 101 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the oil separator 101 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a view of the oil separator 101 as viewed from the front. FIG. 2B is a view of the oil separator 101 as viewed from obliquely above. FIG. 2C is a view of the oil separator 101 as viewed obliquely from below. 2A to C, the configuration inside the container 11 is indicated by a dotted line. 2A to 2C, the same components as those in FIGS. 1A to 1C are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the oil separator 101 shown in FIG. 2, a rib 21 is formed by notching the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 closer to the bottom surface of the container 11 (that is, the cylindrical member 16 is longer) and the lower side of the cylindrical member 16. It differs from the oil separator 100 of Embodiment 1 by the point.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the rib 21 is formed by cutting a part of the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 into a semi-elliptical shape. The rib 21 protrudes from below the cylindrical member 16 toward the bottom surface of the container 11. Hereinafter, a portion of the cylindrical member cut out below is referred to as a “cutout portion 20”. In addition, although it was set as the structure provided with two or more notch parts 20 and the ribs 21 in FIG. 2, they should just be provided at least 1 each. In addition, it is desirable that the lower end of the rib 21 is immersed in an oil sump formed at the lower portion of the container 11.

  Next, the flow of refrigeration oil and refrigerant in the oil separator 101 will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, only differences from the flow of the refrigeration oil and the refrigerant in the oil separator 100 of the first embodiment will be described.

  The refrigerant descending the internal space 19 is sent from the notches 20 to the lower space 18 without moving down to the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 and moves to the outlet pipe 13. On the other hand, the refrigerating machine oil adhering to the inner wall above the cylindrical member 16 (the portion where the notch 20 and the rib 21 are not provided) moves downward along the inner wall of the rib 21 and drops from the lower end of the rib 21. , Accumulated in the lower part of the container 11.

  As described above, the oil separator 101 according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the cutout portion 20 is provided below the cylindrical member 16. Thereby, it is possible to avoid the refrigerating machine oil dripping from the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 (rib 21) being exposed to the flow of the refrigerant and being sent out of the container 11 from the outlet pipe 13. Therefore, the oil separator 101 can further improve the separation characteristics of the refrigeration oil than the oil separator 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2, at least one of the plurality of ribs 21 is preferably provided in the vertical direction of the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member 16 that faces the opening of the outlet pipe 13. As a result, the refrigerant that has flowed out of the notch 20 into the lower space 18 collides with the surface of the rib 21 (the surface facing the inner wall of the container 11) when rising toward the outlet pipe 13. Therefore, the refrigerating machine oil that could not be separated in the internal space 19 can be attached to the surface of the rib 21 and separated from the refrigerant. If the notch 20 is provided in the vertical direction of the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member 16 facing the opening of the outlet pipe 13 instead of the rib 21, the refrigerant flowing out from the notch 20 into the lower space 18 is As described above, it moves toward the outlet pipe 13 without colliding with the surface of the rib 21. Therefore, there is a possibility that the refrigerant containing the refrigerating machine oil that could not be separated in the internal space 19 is sent out of the container 11 from the outlet pipe 13.

  In the above embodiment, a mesh member may be provided between the lower end of the cylindrical member 16 (rib 21) and the bottom of the container 11. Thereby, the refrigeration oil contained in the refrigerant descending the lower space 18 can be captured. Therefore, the separation characteristics of the refrigeration oil can be further improved.

  The oil separator 100 according to the first embodiment and the oil separator 101 according to the second embodiment have been described above. Below, the comparison with the oil separator 100 and the oil separator 101 which were mentioned above, and the conventional oil separator is demonstrated.

  First, the configuration of the conventional oil separator 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the conventional oil separator 10. FIG. 3A is a front view of the oil separator 10. FIG. 3B is a view of the oil separator 10 as viewed obliquely from above. FIG. 3C is a view of the oil separator 10 as viewed obliquely from below. Moreover, in FIG.3A-C, the structure inside the container 11 is shown with the dotted line. 3A to 3C, the same components as those in FIGS. 1A to 1C are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The oil separator 10 shown in FIG. 3 is different from the oil separators 100 and 101 in that the separation plate 15 and the cylindrical member 16 are not provided, and the outlet pipe 13 is connected to the upper part of the container 11.

  Next, the flow of refrigerating machine oil and refrigerant in the conventional oil separator 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The refrigerant containing the refrigeration oil flows into the container 11 from the inlet pipe 12. The refrigerant flowing into the container 11 becomes a swirling flow along the inner wall of the container 11 and descends while swirling. At this time, the refrigerant collides with the inner wall of the container 11, and the refrigerating machine oil contained in the refrigerant adheres to the inner wall of the container 11. Thereby, refrigeration oil is isolate | separated from a refrigerant | coolant. This refrigerating machine oil moves downward along the inner wall of the container 11 by its own weight, and accumulates in the lower part of the container 11. Thereby, an oil sump (not shown) is formed in the lower part of the container 11. The refrigerating machine oil in the oil reservoir flows out of the container 11 from the oil return pipe 14. On the other hand, the refrigerant descending in the container 11 reversely rises when it reaches the bottom surface of the container 11 and moves toward the outlet pipe 13. Then, the refrigerant is sent out of the container 11 from the opening 13 a of the outlet pipe 13.

  FIG. 4 shows the oil separation improvement rates of the oil separators 100 and 101 with respect to such an oil separator 10. According to FIG. 4, it can be seen that both the oil separators 100 and 101 have better separation characteristics than the oil separator 10. Further, according to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the oil separator 101 has better separation characteristics than the oil separator 100.

  The oil separator according to the present invention is suitable for use in an oil separator that separates refrigerating machine oil from refrigerant mixed with refrigerating machine oil for lubricating a compressor used in an air conditioner or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 100, 101 Oil separator 11 Container 12 Inlet pipe 12a Opening part 13 Outlet pipe 13a Opening part 14 Oil return pipe 15 Separation plate 16 Cylindrical member 17 Upper space 18 Lower space 19 Internal space 20 Notch part 21 Rib

Claims (4)

A cylindrical container;
A separation plate arranged to separate the internal space of the container into an upper space and a lower space, and having an opening;
An inlet pipe for causing a refrigerant mixed with refrigerating machine oil to flow into the upper space and generating a swirling flow of the refrigerant in the upper space;
A cylindrical member connected to the separation plate and disposed in the lower space so as to form a space between the inner wall surface of the container and having upper and lower ends opened;
An outlet pipe connected to the container at a position facing the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member;
Comprising
Oil separator. A rib projecting downward from the cylindrical member is formed on a part of the lower end of the cylindrical member.
The oil separator according to claim 1. The rib is
Formed below the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member facing the opening of the outlet pipe,
The oil separator according to claim 2. A mesh member is further provided between the lower end of the cylindrical member and the bottom surface of the container;
The oil separator according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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