JP2016509147A - Heat transport equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

A heat transport device that suppresses heat radiation of a heat storage material is provided. An evaporation unit that vaporizes a working medium by heat of exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine, a condensing unit that condenses the vaporized working medium, and the working medium between the evaporation unit and the condensing unit. A circulation path section for circulating the gas, a heat storage material provided in the evaporation section, and the working medium supplied to the evaporation section when the internal combustion engine is started and condensed when the internal combustion engine is stopped. A supply and recovery unit that recovers the working medium so as not to contact the material, and the internal combustion engine is stopped and the working medium is recovered by the supply and recovery unit, whereby the inside of the evaporation unit is in a vacuum state, A heat transport device, wherein a flow pipe through which exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine flows is provided in the evaporation section, and the heat storage material is disposed in the evaporation section in a non-contact manner with the flow pipe. [Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat transport device.

  The liquid phase working medium is vaporized using the heat of the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine, the heat of the vaporized working medium is condensed, and the condensation heat generated at this time is used for, for example, warming up or heating the internal combustion engine. There is technology to use. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that uses a heat storage material capable of storing heat of a vaporized working medium as a heat source for vaporizing the working medium at the next start of the internal combustion engine. Patent Documents 2 to 5 disclose techniques related to such a technique.

JP 2008-255945 A JP 2008-292116 A JP 2012-255577 A JP 2006-183943 A JP 2006-183942 A

  If the heat storage material dissipates heat after the internal combustion engine is stopped and restarted, it may not be effectively used as a heat source at the next start of the internal combustion engine.

  Then, it aims at providing the heat transport apparatus which suppresses heat radiation of a thermal storage material.

  The object is to evaporate the working medium by the heat of the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine, the condensing part to condense the vaporized working medium, and the working medium between the evaporating part and the condensing part. A circulation path section for circulating the gas, a heat storage material provided in the evaporation section, and the working medium supplied to the evaporation section when the internal combustion engine is started and condensed when the internal combustion engine is stopped. A supply and recovery unit that recovers the working medium so as not to contact the material, and the internal combustion engine is stopped and the working medium is recovered by the supply and recovery unit, whereby the inside of the evaporation unit is in a vacuum state, A flow pipe through which the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine flows is provided in the evaporation section, and the heat storage material can be achieved by a heat transport device arranged in the evaporation section in a non-contact manner with the flow pipe.

  The evaporation unit may include a housing that surrounds the flow pipe together with the heat storage material, and a support unit that supports the heat storage material so that the heat storage material does not directly contact the inner surface of the housing.

  The support part may have an area on the inner surface side of the housing smaller than an area on the heat storage material side.

  The support portion may be a heat insulating material.

  The working medium may circulate in the circulation path so as to repeat evaporation in the evaporation unit and condensation in the condensing unit.

  The supply / recovery unit is provided in a tank that is open to the atmosphere and stores the working medium in a liquid phase, a supply / recovery path unit that communicates with the tank and the circulation path unit or the evaporation unit, and a supply / recovery path unit. During the start of the internal combustion engine, the pressure in the circulation path part and the evaporation part exceeds the atmospheric pressure, and the pressure in the circulation path part and the evaporation part exceeds the atmospheric pressure. In this case, the working medium condensed by opening the on-off valve may be sucked into the tank.

  A heat transport device that suppresses heat dissipation of the heat storage material can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heat transport device. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams of the evaporation unit. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of control executed by the ECU. FIG. 4 is a timing chart corresponding to FIG. 5A to 5C are explanatory diagrams of modified examples of the evaporation unit.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heat transport device 1A. FIG. 1 shows the engine 50, the exhaust pipe 51, the starter converter 52, and the underfloor converter 53 together with the heat transport device 1A. Each component shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle (not shown). 1 A of heat transport apparatuses are provided with the circulation path | route part 10, the branch path | route part 20, the reserve tank 30, and ECU40A. The heat transport device 1 </ b> A transports heat by a working medium (hereinafter simply referred to as a working medium) that utilizes the phenomenon of being vaporized by heat reception and condensed by heat dissipation.

The circulation path section 10 includes a supply pipe 13 and a return pipe 14 that communicate between the evaporation section 11 and the condensation section 12. The working medium is sealed in advance in the circulation path unit 10 and the evaporation unit 11 in a state where the working medium is depressurized from the atmospheric pressure (for example, a state depressurized from atmospheric pressure by 100 kPa). Thus, when the heat is transported by the working medium, the boiling point of the working medium is adjusted according to the use environment. In this regard, specifically, H ₂ O is used here as the working medium.

  A heat exchanger, which will be described later in detail, is disposed in the evaporation unit 11, and vaporizes the working medium. Specifically, the heat exchanger recovers heat from the exhaust by exchanging heat between the exhaust gas of the engine 50 and the working medium, and vaporizes the working medium. Further, as will be described in detail later, a heat storage material H is arranged in the evaporation section 11.

  The start of the engine 50 is an operation start condition for the heat transport apparatus 1A, and the stop of the engine 50 is an operation stop condition for the heat transport apparatus 1A. As a result of the cooling proceeding after the operation stop condition is established, the circulation path unit 10 has a vacuum state as the working medium condenses.

  Exhaust gas from the engine 50 is purified by a starter converter 52 and an underfloor converter 53 provided in the exhaust pipe 51 and then exhausted through the exhaust pipe 51. The evaporating unit 11 is specifically provided in a portion of the exhaust pipe 51 on the downstream side of the under floor converter 53.

  The condensing unit 12 condenses the vaporized working medium. The condensing unit 12 is a part that uses heat transported by the vaporized working medium. For example, the condensing unit 12 is a part of the engine 50 that uses the heat transported by the steam to warm up. For this reason, the heat transport device 1 </ b> A includes the condensing unit 12 in common with the engine 50. The condensing unit 12 may be a part of the engine 50 that can reduce the friction torque of the engine 50 when it is cold by heat transported by steam. The condensing part 12 may be a bearing part of a crankshaft of the engine 50, for example. Further, the condensing unit 12 may be provided so as to come into contact with a cylinder head or a cylinder block of the engine 50. Moreover, you may use the condensation part 12 in order to heat the vehicle interior. The usage of the heat of condensation of the working medium in the condensing unit 12 may be other than the above. The heat transport device may be a Rankine cycle system that rotates a turbine using a heat pipe or steam.

  The supply pipe 13 supplies steam from the evaporator 11 to the condenser 12. The return pipe 14 returns the working medium condensed from the condenser 12 to the evaporator 11. Specifically, the return pipe 14 is provided so that the condensed working medium can be returned from the condenser 12 to the evaporator 11 by the action of gravity.

  The supply pipe 13 is provided with a pressure sensor 61 and a temperature sensor 62. The pressure sensor 61 detects the pressure in the circulation path 10 by detecting the pressure in the supply pipe 13. The temperature sensor 62 detects the temperature in the circulation path 10 by detecting the temperature in the supply pipe 13.

  In this regard, the pressure sensor 61 is provided in the highest portion of the circulation path portion 10. Further, the temperature sensor 62 is provided so as to detect the system internal temperature of the portion of the circulation path section 10 where the pressure sensor 61 detects the system internal pressure.

  The branch path unit 20 includes a branch pipe 21 and a valve 22. The branch pipe 21 branches from the circulation path unit 10. The valve 22 controls the flow rate of the working medium flowing through the branch pipe 21 and is, for example, a flow rate adjusting valve, but is not limited thereto, and may be an on-off valve. The branch pipe 21 is connected to the reserve tank 30. The reserve tank 30 stores a working medium for replenishing the circulation path unit 10 and the evaporation unit 11 in a liquid phase state. 21, the valve 22, and the reserve tank 30 are an example of a supply and recovery unit that can supply and recover a working medium.

  In this regard, the branch pipe 21 is specifically connected to the bottom of the reserve tank 30 from below through a valve 22. As a result, the reserve tank 30 is connected to the reserve tank 30 so as to open at a position lower than the level of the liquid level to be secured at least. The branch pipe 21 branches upward from the return pipe 14 in the direction of gravity action, and also branches from a portion of the return pipe 14 near the evaporation unit 11.

  Specifically, the reserve tank 30 is an open-air tank in which atmospheric pressure acts on a working medium stored in a liquid phase state. The capacity of the reserve tank 30 is a capacity capable of storing the working medium circulating in the circulation path unit 10 in the liquid phase state in addition to the working medium stored in the liquid phase state. The reserve tank 30 may be a tank with a breather valve that suppresses an increase in internal pressure by opening the valve at a predetermined pressure, for example.

  The ECU 40A is an electronic control unit. The ECU 40A detects the atmospheric pressure sensor 63 for detecting atmospheric pressure, the atmospheric temperature sensor 64 for detecting atmospheric temperature, and the operating state of the engine 50 in addition to the pressure sensor 61 and the temperature sensor 62. A sensor group 65 is electrically connected as sensor switches. The valve 22 is electrically connected as a control target.

  The sensor group 65 includes a crank sensor that can detect the rotational speed NE of the engine 50, an air flow meter that can measure the intake air amount of the engine 50, and an accelerator that detects the amount of depression of an accelerator pedal that makes an acceleration request to the engine 50. An opening sensor, a water temperature sensor for detecting the coolant temperature of the engine 50, an exhaust temperature sensor for detecting the exhaust temperature of the engine 50, and an ignition switch for starting the engine 50 are included. Various kinds of information based on the output of the sensor group 65 and the output of the sensor group 65 may be acquired via an ECU for controlling the engine 50, for example. Alternatively, the ECU 40A may be an ECU for controlling the engine 50.

  In the ECU 40A, the CPU executes processing based on a program stored in the ROM while using a temporary storage area of the RAM as necessary.

  Next, the evaporation unit 11 will be described in detail. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams of the evaporation unit 11. The evaporator 11 includes a housing 11a, a heat storage material H disposed in the housing 11a, a heat exchanger 60, and the like. Exhaust gas flows through the heat exchanger 60 through the exhaust pipe 51. The heat exchanger 60 is, for example, a multi-tube type, but is not limited to this. The heat exchanger 60 is an example of a distribution pipe. Further, the exhaust pipe 51 may pass through the evaporator 11 as it is without providing such a heat exchanger. In this case, the exhaust pipe 51 corresponds to a flow pipe.

  A heat storage material H is provided in the housing 11a. The heat storage material H may be any of calcium chloride hydrate, sodium sulfate hydrate, sodium acetate hydrate, sodium thiosulfate hydrate, paraffin, and the like.

  FIG. 2A shows a state where the heat storage material H is exposed to the working medium condensed in the evaporation unit 11, and FIG. 2B shows a state where the liquid-phase working medium is recovered in the reserve tank 30. As will be described in detail later, while the engine 50 is being driven, the liquid-phase working medium evaporates in the evaporation section 11 as shown in FIG. 2A. While the engine 50 is stopped, the liquid-phase working medium is collected in the reserve tank 30 as shown in FIG. 2B, and the heat storage material H is not in contact with the liquid-phase working medium. Become.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the heat storage material H receives and stores heat from a working medium that boils by the heat of the exhaust gas. In this case, since the working medium is a liquid, the heat of the working medium is efficiently stored in the heat storage material H. As will be described in detail later, the heat storage material H is used as a heat source when the engine 50 is restarted, and heat dissipation of the heat storage material H is suppressed as follows while the engine 50 is stopped.

  While the engine 50 is stopped, the liquid-phase working medium is collected by the reserve tank 30 so as not to contact the heat storage material H. Thus, the heat storage material H is prevented from radiating heat through the liquid-phase working medium while the engine 50 is stopped.

  Further, when the engine 50 is stopped, the inside of the evaporation unit 11 is in a vacuum state, that is, the pressure in the evaporation unit 11 is equal to or lower than atmospheric pressure. In this state, since there is little gas to which the heat of the heat storage material H is transmitted around the heat storage material H, the heat dissipation of the heat storage material H is suppressed.

  Further, the heat storage material H is supported away from the heat exchanger 60 by a predetermined clearance C. This is due to the following reason. While the engine 50 is stopped, the exhaust gas is not discharged and the heat exchanger 60 becomes low temperature. When the heat storage material H is in contact with the heat exchanger 60, the temperature of the heat exchanger 60 is lowered after the engine 50 is stopped, and the heat exchange of the heat storage material H is promoted by the heat exchanger 60. In the present embodiment, since the heat storage material H is not in contact with the heat exchanger 60, the heat dissipation of the heat storage material H while the engine 50 is stopped is suppressed.

  The heat storage material H is supported by the pillar portion B without contacting the inner surface of the housing 11a. Specifically, the pillar part B is arrange | positioned between the thermal storage material H and the inner bottom face and inner side surface of the housing | casing 11a. The column part B is fixed to the heat storage material H. Since the heat storage material H does not contact the housing 11a, the heat dissipation of the heat storage material H through the housing 11a is suppressed while the engine 50 is stopped. The column part B may be made of metal or a heat insulating material, for example. The column part B is an example of a support part.

  The shape of the column part B is a tapered shape in which the cross-sectional area decreases from the heat storage material H side toward the inner surface of the housing 11a. Since the cross-sectional area of the pillar portion B on the housing 11a side is small, the heat of the heat storage material H is suppressed from being transmitted to the housing 11a via the pillar portion B while the engine 50 is stopped. In addition, the column part B does not need to be such a taper shape. The pillar portion B may be in point contact or line contact with the housing 11a side. Moreover, the pillar part B should just have the area of the housing | casing 11a side smaller than the area of the thermal storage material H side.

  The column part B supports the heat storage material H at a predetermined height from the inner bottom surface of the housing 11a. For this reason, for example, even if a small amount of liquid-phase working medium remains in the evaporation unit 11 without sufficiently collecting the liquid-phase working medium by the reserve tank 30 while the engine 50 is stopped, the heat storage material H is Soaking in a liquid phase working medium is prevented. Thereby, heat dissipation of the heat storage material H is suppressed.

  A thin heat insulating material 11b is pasted around the heat storage material H on the inner surface of the housing 11a. Thereby, the fall of temperature inside the housing | casing 11a is suppressed, and the thermal radiation of the thermal storage material H in the stop of the engine 50 is suppressed.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of control executed by the ECU 40A. This control is executed while the engine 50 is stopped. FIG. 4 is a timing chart corresponding to FIG. In FIG. 4, the heat storage state of the heat storage material H, the heat release state, the open / close state of the valve 22, and the state of the pressure in the path such as the circulation path unit 10 and the evaporation unit 11 are shown. FIG. 4 shows a simplified state of the working medium in the evaporation unit 11 in accordance with the timing chart.

  The ECU 40A determines whether or not the engine 50 has been stopped from the output of a sensor or the like that detects whether the ignition switch is on or off (step S1). If the determination is negative, the engine 50 executes the process of step S1 again. While the engine 50 is being driven, the liquid-phase working medium evaporates in the evaporation unit 11.

  When engine 50 stops, ECU 40A determines whether or not the pressure in the system exceeds atmospheric pressure (step 2). In the case of a negative determination, the ECU 40A ends this control. If the determination is affirmative, the ECU 40A opens the valve 22 for a predetermined period (step S3) and then closes it (step S4). As a result, the liquid-phase working medium in the path is collected by the reserve tank 30. This is because the pressure in the path exceeds the atmospheric pressure due to the evaporated working medium, and the reserve tank 30 is open to the atmosphere. Therefore, by opening the valve 22, the liquid-phase working medium in the path is This is because the suction is performed by the low pressure side valve 22. The ECU 40A opens the valve 22 only for a period necessary for collecting the liquid-phase working medium and then closes the valve 22.

  After the liquid-phase working medium is collected by the reserve tank 30, the temperature of the heat exchanger 60 is lowered because the engine 50 is stopped, that is, the temperature in the path is lowered. Thereby, the pressure in a path | route falls and it becomes a vacuum state, ie, the pressure below atmospheric pressure.

  Next, the ECU 40A detects whether or not the engine 50 has been restarted (step S5). The start of the engine 50 is determined based on the output from a sensor that detects whether the ignition switch is on or off. If the determination is negative, the ECU 40A repeats the process of step S5.

  If the determination is affirmative, the ECU 40A opens the valve 22 for a predetermined period (step S6) and then closes it (step S7). As a result, the liquid-phase working medium is supplied into the circulation path unit 10 and the evaporation unit 11. This is because the pressure in the path is in a vacuum state lower than atmospheric pressure while the engine 50 is stopped, so that the liquid-phase working medium circulates from the reserve tank 30 opened to the atmosphere by opening the valve 22. It flows to the path part 10 and the evaporation part 11. Thereby, the heat storage material H is exposed to the liquid phase working medium.

  As described above, the heat storage material H is suppressed from releasing heat while the engine 50 is stopped. For this reason, the heat storage material H has heat even at the time of restart. When the heat storage material H is immersed in the liquid-phase working medium when the engine 50 is restarted, the liquid-phase working medium becomes hot due to the heat of the heat storage material H. For this reason, when the engine 50 is restarted, the heat storage material H can be used as a heat source. Thereby, the working medium can be evaporated in a short period of time even when the engine 50 is restarted. Thereby, the warming-up property etc. at the time of restart of the engine 50 improve.

  As described above, in this embodiment, in order to suppress the heat radiation of the heat storage material H while the engine 50 is stopped, the liquid phase working medium is recovered so as not to contact the heat storage material H while the engine 50 is stopped. Thus, the inside of the evaporation unit 11 is formed in a vacuum state, and the heat storage material H is supported on the heat exchanger 60 in a non-contact manner.

  In step S5, the ECU 40A detects whether the door on the driver's side of the vehicle is opened prior to restarting the engine 50, and if the door is opened, the engine is restarted. The valve 22 may be opened in anticipation. In this case, the ECU 40A detects the open / closed state of the door based on the output of the sensor that detects the opening / closing of the door.

  5A to 5C illustrate a modified example of the evaporation unit. 5A to 5C show the evaporation section in a state in which the heat exchanger 60 and the like are omitted and the liquid-phase working medium is collected for easy understanding. As shown in FIG. 5A, the heat insulating material 11b ′ is fixed inside the housing 11a ′ of the evaporation section 11 ′, and the heat storage material H is fixed to the heat insulating material 11b ′ so as not to contact the housing 11a ′. Yes. Thereby, it is suppressed that the heat of the heat storage material H is transmitted to the housing 11a ′.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the casing 11a ″ of the evaporation section 11 ″ is partially opened, and a heat insulating material 11b ″ is fixed so as to close the open portion. The heat storage material H is supported by the heat insulating material 11b ″. This also prevents the heat of the heat storage material H from being transmitted to the housing 11a ″.

  Moreover, as shown to FIG. 5C, in the evaporation part 11 '' ', it is supported apart from the inner surface of case 11a with a plurality of heat insulating materials 11b' '. This also suppresses the heat of the heat storage material H from being transmitted to the housing 11a. The heat insulating materials 11b ′, 11b ″, 11b ″ ′ are an example of a support portion.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. It can be changed.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the working medium is H ₂ O has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and a suitable working medium such as alcohol may be used. Further, the working medium does not necessarily have to be enclosed in advance in the circulation path portion in a decompressed state. Even in this case, for example, as the cooling proceeds when the operation is stopped, the circulation of the working medium only needs to be in a vacuum state by the condensation of the working medium. For example, the heat transport device may be a heat transport device that performs a Rankine cycle. Further, the liquid-phase working medium may be supplied and recovered by a pump or the like.

Heat transport device 1A
Circulation path section 10
Evaporator 11
Enclosure 11a
Insulation material 11b, 11b ', 11b ", 11b""
Condensing part 12
Branch route part 20
Valve 22
Reserve tank 30
ECU 40A
Thermal storage material H
Column B

Claims (6)

An evaporation section that vaporizes the working medium by the heat of the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine;
A condensing part for condensing the vaporized working medium;
A circulation path section for circulating the working medium between the evaporation section and the condensation section;
A heat storage material provided in the evaporation section;
A supply / recovery unit that supplies the working medium into the evaporation unit when the internal combustion engine is started and collects the working medium so that the condensed working medium does not contact the heat storage material when the internal combustion engine is stopped. ,
When the internal combustion engine is stopped and the working medium is collected in the supply and collection unit, the inside of the evaporation unit is in a vacuum state,
A flow pipe through which the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine flows is provided in the evaporation section,
The said heat storage material is a heat transport apparatus arrange | positioned in the said evaporation part in non-contact with the said distribution pipe.   2. The heat according to claim 1, wherein the evaporation section includes a housing that surrounds the flow pipe together with the heat storage material, and a support portion that supports the heat storage material so that the heat storage material does not directly contact an inner surface of the housing. Transport equipment.   The heat transport device according to claim 2, wherein the support portion has a smaller area on the inner surface side of the housing than an area on the heat storage material side.   The heat transport device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the support portion is a heat insulating material.   The heat transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the working medium circulates in the circulation path so as to repeatedly evaporate in the evaporator and condense in the condenser. The supply / recovery unit is provided in a tank that is open to the atmosphere and stores the working medium in a liquid phase, a supply / recovery path unit that communicates with the tank and the circulation path unit or the evaporation unit, and a supply / recovery path unit. An open / close valve,
During startup of the internal combustion engine, the pressure in the circulation path section and the evaporation section exceeds atmospheric pressure,
6. The heat transport device according to claim 1, wherein the working medium condensed by opening the on-off valve is sucked into the tank when the pressure in the circulation path section and the evaporation section exceeds atmospheric pressure.

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