JP2780414B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an air conditioner using water as a heat exchange medium for exchanging heat with a refrigerant of a refrigeration cycle.

[Related Art] Conventionally, an air conditioner using water as a heat exchange medium that exchanges heat with a refrigerant in a refrigeration cycle is known, and heat is exchanged between the refrigerant and water by an outdoor heat exchanger. . And, for example, when an air conditioner is used for a ship,
Seawater is pumped up and supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional air conditioner, the operation is stopped during off-season or during maintenance / inspection. In such a case, inside the pump or upstream of the pump inlet,
Water may not be completely filled. In this state, for example, the pump must first be evacuated before the pump is started and completely filled with water. It takes a long time to completely suck out this air and completely see the water. Also, in a pump without self-sufficiency, there is a case where it is not possible to suck out air and start water supply, and when starting the pump, water is stored from a priming water injection hole to an inlet side of the pump, Water was pouring. Therefore, there was a problem that not only the time required for water injection but also the trouble was troublesome.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that facilitates starting of a pump, with the object of solving the above problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the object, the present invention has the following configuration as means for solving the problems. That is, in an air conditioner having an outdoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat between a refrigerant of a compression refrigeration cycle and water supplied by a pump, the air conditioner is provided between the pump and the outdoor heat exchanger and supplied by the pump. A water supply sensor that detects the flow of water flowing through the pump; a reserve tank connected to the pump to store water therein; and, when the pump is started, supplying water stored in the reserve tank to the pump. A water supply mechanism for stopping water supply from the reserve tank to the pump when a flow of water is detected by a sensor is the configuration of the air conditioner.

[Operation] In the air conditioner having the above configuration, the reserve tank stores water, the water supply mechanism supplies water stored in the reserve tank to the pump when the pump is started, and the water supply sensor detects the flow of water. Then, the water supply mechanism stops water supply from the reserve tank. Next, when the pump is operated,
The pump supplies water to the outdoor heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger performs heat exchange between the refrigerant and the water.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a refrigerant compressor, an internal combustion engine not shown,
It is a well-known device that is rotationally driven by an electric motor or the like and compresses and discharges a refrigerant. The discharge side of the refrigerant compressor 1 is connected to an outdoor heat exchanger 4 via an electromagnetic four-way valve 2 for switching the flow direction of the refrigerant. The outdoor heat exchanger 4 functions as a condenser in the cooling operation and functions as an evaporator in the heating operation, and exchanges heat between the refrigerant from the refrigerant compressor 1 and supplied water described later. Things.

The outdoor heat exchanger 1 is connected to an indoor heat exchanger 10 via a pair of capillaries 6 for adiabatically expanding a refrigerant and a nozzle 8. The indoor heat exchanger 10 has a function opposite to that of the outdoor heat exchanger 4, and functions as an evaporator in a cooling operation and a condenser in a heating operation. It exchanges heat with air. A plurality of these capillaries 6, nozzles 8, and indoor heat exchangers 10 are arranged for each room to be cooled and heated.

An accumulator that separates the refrigerant into a gas and discharges the gas refrigerant through the four-way valve 2 is provided to the indoor heat exchanger 10.
The accumulator 12 is connected to the suction side of the refrigerant compressor 1. By switching the four-way valve 2, a refrigerant circuit for cooling is first formed from the refrigerant compressor 1 to supply the refrigerant to the outdoor heat exchanger 4 in a direction indicated by a solid arrow in FIG. In the direction indicated by the arrow, a refrigerant circuit for heating that supplies refrigerant from the refrigerant compressor 1 to the indoor heat exchanger 10 first is formed.
The refrigeration cycle is configured to be executed.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, seawater can be taken in from a seawater intake port 14 provided at the bottom of the ship (not shown), and a filter 18 for filtering seawater through a manual kingstone valve 16 is provided. The filter 18 is connected to a check valve 20 for preventing backflow of seawater, and is connected via the check valve 20 to an intake side of a pump 22 for sucking and discharging seawater. The discharge port side of the pump 22 is connected to the outdoor heat exchanger 4 via a water supply sensor 24 that detects the flow of seawater, and the seawater that has passed through the outdoor heat exchanger 4 is discharged outboard. Thus, the water supply circuit is configured.

In the indoor heat exchanger 10, for example, during cooling operation,
Water is liquefied in the air to generate drain water. This drain water is guided through a drain hose 26 to a reserve tank 28 for storing water. A bilge pump 30 for pumping water in the reserve tank 28 is provided, and a discharge side of the bilge pump 30 is provided between the king stone valve 16 and the filter 18 by an electromagnetic on-off valve.
A priming circuit is formed by connection through 32.

The bilge pump 30 and the solenoid on-off valve 32 are connected to a relay circuit 33.
Is controlled by the relay circuit 33.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the priming switch 34 is pressed,
The circuit is connected, a current flows from the power supply 36 to the coils of the first relay 38 and the second relay 40, the contacts 38a and 40a of both relays 38 and 40 close, and the coils of the bilge pump 30 and the solenoid on-off valve 32 It is configured such that a current flows through it. And
The bilge pump 30 is operated, and the electromagnetic on-off valve 32 is opened. Further, when the flow of water is detected by the water supply sensor 24, the sub-amplifier 42 cuts off the flow of current to both relays 38, 40 and opens the contacts 38a, 40a by a signal from the water supply sensor 24. Is configured.

At the time when the air conditioning is not performed, such as during the off-season, drainage ports (not shown) of the filter 18 and the pump 22 are opened to discharge all the accumulated seawater. The kingstone valve 16 is opened when air conditioning is performed, and closed when air conditioning is not performed.

Next, the operation of the air conditioner of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when the kingstone valve 16 is opened in advance and the water supply switch 34 is pressed (step 100), both relays 3
8,40 are excited, the operation of the bilge pump 30 is started,
Further, the electromagnetic on-off valve 32 is opened (step 110). Therefore, the water in the reserve tank 28 is pumped up by the bilge pump 30 and sent between the kingstone valve 16 and the filter 18 via the electromagnetic on-off valve 32.

When the water is supplied, the intake side of the pump 22 is filled with water, and the pump 22 is also filled with water. When the flow of water is detected by the water supply sensor 24 (step 12).
0), the excitation of both relays 38, 40 is released by the sub-amplifier 42 by the signal of the water supply sensor 24. Thereby, the operation of the bilge pump 30 is stopped, the electromagnetic on-off valve 32 is closed,
The water supply control process is completed (Step 130).

By the above process, the priming water is automatically supplied to the inlet side of the pump 22, and when the flow of the water is detected by the water supply sensor 24, the upstream side of the water supply sensor 24 is filled with water. . Next, when the pump 22 is operated, even if the pump 22 is not self-sufficient, since the water is filled on the upstream side,
The pump 22 quickly pumps up and sends seawater. Then, the seawater is completely filled on the downstream side, and the pumped seawater is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 4 and discharged from the outdoor heat exchanger 4 to the outside of the ship.

In this way, even if the operator does not inject priming water, the inlet side of the pump 22 is filled with priming water, and when the pump 22 is started, seawater is quickly pumped up, and water is completely downstream of the pump 22. It is filled. Therefore, the troublesome work of injecting the priming water is not required, the time until the upstream and downstream sides of the pump 22 are completely filled with water is shortened, and the water supply performance is improved.

Also, when the refrigerant compressor 1 is operated, during cooling, the compressed refrigerant is supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 4, and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 performs heat exchange between the refrigerant and seawater to convert the refrigerant. Cooling. The cooled refrigerant is adiabatically expanded by the capillary 6 and the nozzle 8, exchanges heat with indoor air by the indoor heat exchanger 10, and is returned to the refrigerant compressor 1 via the four-way valve 2 and the accumulator 12. It is.

In the present embodiment, drain water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 10 is collected in a reserve tank 28 via a drain hose 26 and stored in the reserve tank 28. The stored water is used for priming the pump 22 as described above.
The water stored in the reserve tank 28 is not limited to drain water, but may be other water such as rainwater.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the bilge pump 30 and the solenoid on-off valve 3
2.The water supply mechanism is constituted by the relay circuit 33, but when the reserve tank 28 is installed at a position higher than the pump 22, the electromagnetic on-off valve 32 is used without using the bilge pump 30.
The present invention can be practiced even if a water transmission mechanism is configured by the relay circuit 33 and the water, and in this case, water is transmitted by its own weight.

In the present embodiment, seawater is used as the heat exchange medium of the outdoor heat exchanger 4. However, for ships such as rivers, naturally, freshwater is used as the heat exchange medium. In addition, the heat exchange medium is not limited to those used for ships and the like, but may be one for land use, for example, one used for cooling and heating a building, and using groundwater or the like as a heat exchange medium.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effect of the Invention] As described in detail above, in the air conditioner of the present invention, the water in the reserve tank is automatically supplied to the intake side of the pump, so that the pump is primed when the pump is started. The work does not need to be performed by an operator, the operation of the pump is easily started, the water supply from the pump is improved, and the power of the pump is increased to enable water supply in a short time. Because there is no need, there is no hassle of confirming water supply,
Furthermore, when the water supply sensor detects the flow of water, the supply of water to the pump is stopped, so that the use of water in the reserve tank can be suppressed with a small amount.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner as one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a relay circuit of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an example of control processing performed in the relay circuit of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows. 1 ... refrigerant compressor, 4 ... outdoor heat exchanger 10 ... indoor heat exchanger, 22 ... pump 24 ... water supply sensor, 28 ... reserve tank 30 ... bilge pump, 32 ... electromagnetic on-off valve 33 ... … Relay circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F25B 30/06 F25B 27/00 B63J 2/23 B63J 2/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air conditioner having an outdoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat between a refrigerant of a compression refrigeration cycle and water supplied by a pump, wherein the air conditioner is provided between the pump and the outdoor heat exchanger. A water supply sensor for detecting a flow of water supplied by the pump, a reserve tank connected to the pump and storing water therein, and supplying water stored in the reserve tank to the pump when the pump is started. An air-conditioning system, comprising: a water-supply mechanism for stopping water supply from the reserve tank to the pump when the flow of water is detected by the water-supply sensor.