JP2977069B2 - Freezer and refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator / refrigerator which produces low-temperature air by a packaged cold air supply unit and uses the low-temperature air of this unit to form a low-temperature environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Freezers and refrigerators for freezing and storing foods have a long history, and various types of refrigerators, from relatively small ones to large scale ones, have become widespread. In common.

That is, low-temperature brine produced by a refrigerator is passed through a heat exchanger, and low-temperature air is produced by the heat exchanger, or the evaporator of a refrigeration cycle (refrigerator) exchanges heat with air. Generally, a method of producing low-temperature air by acting as a vessel. Therefore, a heat exchanger that cools air is installed to create a low-temperature environment for refrigerators and refrigerators.

In the field of refrigeration / refrigeration using a brine produced by such a refrigerator or a refrigerant forming a refrigeration cycle, an improvement in the coefficient of performance of refrigerator operation, energy saving,
Power-saving operation, improvement of air flow in the warehouse, improvement of heat exchanger,
Various improvements have been made from every angle, such as mechanical improvement of the refrigerator itself and improvement of the quality of the refrigerant, and the technology is mature. However, these improvement proposals were all based on the basic principle of obtaining a low temperature (cold heat) by forming a refrigeration cycle using a refrigerant such as chlorofluorocarbon or ammonia.

[0005]

The refrigeration cycle using chlorofluorocarbon as a refrigerant has been required to be reviewed from the viewpoint of global environmental protection. A refrigerant that can be substituted for CFCs has been developed, but there is still a feeling. Even if a new refrigerant is developed, a number of problems are expected to spread in relation to existing refrigeration equipment and machinery.

In the field of freezers and refrigerators, cooling to a temperature below the dew point is often performed. Therefore, when a conventional refrigeration cycle is used, frost is formed on the surface of the heat exchanger. There is a problem that the heat exchange efficiency is reduced. For this reason, a defrosting operation in which the evaporator of the refrigeration cycle is reversely operated to the condenser is appropriately inserted, or a separate heating source is provided for defrosting. I have. This defrosting is an operation opposite to the original purpose of cooling the air, and is a troublesome problem that cannot be avoided in a refrigerator / refrigerator.

On the other hand, the air is compressed into high-pressure high-temperature air,
It is known to produce low-temperature air by cooling and expanding it. However, compared to the refrigeration cycle, the amount of treated air is large, and the equipment is large-scale. I do not see any examples applied to etc.

[0008] The present invention is directed to solving such a problem.

[0009]

According to the present invention, an air compressor, an air cooler, an air-to-air heat exchanger, and an air expander are connected in the order of air flow and are housed in one casing. An air pipe is provided between the cold air supply unit and the freezer or refrigerator indoor space, and an ejector is attached to a discharge end of an air pipe for supplying low-temperature air from the unit to the indoor space. A refrigerator / refrigerator that blows air into a room as a jet.

More specifically , according to the present invention, an air compression / expansion device comprising an electric motor, an air compressor and an air expander integrally combined, a water-to-air heat exchanger, and an air-to-air heat The exchanger is housed in one casing and the air pressure is 5 kg / kg between these devices in the casing.
cm ² or less air pipe is subjected, the cold air extraction connection opening, Retan'ea inlet connection opening, comprising a cooling water outlet connection opening and the cooling water inlet connection opening package
A cold air supply unit that has been converted into a cold air supply unit ; an indoor space to be formed as a freezer or a refrigerator; a cold air outgoing pipe connecting between a cold air outlet of the unit and the indoor space; A refrigeration / refrigerator comprising: a return pipe for in-compartment air connecting between a space and a connection port for taking in the urethane air of the unit; and an ejector attached to a discharge end of an outgoing pipe of the low-temperature air. Retanhe
(A) Empty space taken into the unit through the intake port
Air is the air-to-air heat exchanger, the air compressor, the water-to-air
After passing through the air heat exchanger and the air-to-air heat exchanger in order
The air that enters the air expander and exits the air expander is
From the cold air outlet port
Refrigeration characterized by being sent to the aegeta
Provide refrigerator .

A water-to-air heat exchanger is used as an air cooler of the unit, and cooling water is passed through the heat exchanger. In addition, the cooling water that has passed through the heat exchanger can be passed through a heat exchanger for melting ice installed on the floor near the entrance of the freezer or refrigerator to prevent icing on the entrance / exit floor. .

[0012]

According to the present invention, a low-temperature environment of a refrigerator / refrigerator can be formed without using a refrigerant such as Freon.
Therefore, it does not adversely affect the environment. Further, since a heat exchanger for cooling the air in the refrigerator to a low temperature is not used in the refrigerator as in the conventional refrigeration method, there is no problem of frost on the surface of the heat exchanger in the refrigerator.

In the cold air supply unit according to the present invention, an air compressor, an air cooler, an air-to-air heat exchanger and an air expander are connected in the order of the flow of air, and these are housed in one casing and moved. Packaged as possible. Therefore, regardless of the size and installation position of the refrigerator / refrigerator, the refrigerator / refrigerator can be easily constructed by installing this unit at the site.

The air-to-air heat exchanger installed in the unit has a heat recovery function and a dehumidification function. Due to this dehumidifying function, freezing in the system can be prevented. On the other hand, in the compressor, energy-saving and power-saving operation can be performed by recovering the power of the expander.

The low-temperature air produced by this unit is blown out little by little from the ejector into the indoor space as a jet.
This jet of low-temperature air is
Since it moves while attracting room air around the jet, even a small amount of air can be mixed with room air to lower the temperature of the entire room.

The unit and the indoor space are only provided with air piping (duct piping), and do not require high-pressure refrigerant piping as in a refrigeration cycle. Therefore, construction is extremely easy, and even if leakage occurs, Because it is an air leak, it does not deteriorate the environment.

[0017]

FIG. 1 schematically shows the equipment arrangement of a refrigerator / refrigerator according to the present invention. A cold air supply unit 2 (hereinafter abbreviated as a CAS unit 2) is installed outside a refrigerator / refrigerator 1 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a freezer room 1) for forming a low-temperature environment.
An outgoing air pipe 3 and an air return pipe 4 are provided between the air conditioner and the indoor space of the freezing room 1.

The outgoing air pipe 3 is a pipe for supplying the low-temperature air produced by the CAS unit 2 into the freezing room 1, and an ejector 5 is attached to the air outlet thereof. The air return pipe 4 is a pipe for returning the air in the freezer 1 to the CAS unit 2,
The suction side end of the air return pipe 4 is connected to a suction port 6 in the room. In the illustrated example, the ejector 5 is installed at an upper portion near the ceiling of the freezing room 1, and the suction port 6 is installed at a lower portion of the freezing room 1.

Although the details of the CAS unit 2 will be described later, the casing houses an integral part 7 of an air compression / expansion device, an air cooler (water-to-air heat exchanger) 8 and an air-to-air heat exchanger 9. Package.

Cooling water is passed through the water-to-air heat exchanger 8 of the CAS unit 2. This cooling water is cooled in the cooling tower 10. That is, the cooling water is circulated between the cooling tower 10 and the heat exchanger 8 by the pump 11. After a part of this cooling water has passed through the heat exchanger 8,
The heat is circulated through the control valve 12 to the heat exchanger 14 for melting ice installed under the floor of the front room 13 of the freezing room. The cooling water having passed through the water-to-air heat exchanger 8 is supplied to the heat exchanger 1 for melting ice.
When the water is passed through 4, the frozen water on the floor of the front room can be melted by the water heated in the heat exchanger 8.

With such an equipment configuration, for example, air at −20 ° C. produced by the CAS unit 2 is blown out as a jet through the ejector 5 into the upper space of the freezing room 1 and exists around the jet. It flows into the room while attracting air. By the attraction of the surrounding air, -20
C. and the surrounding air are mixed and released into the room as an air current, and agglomerates of cool air are continuously formed one after another in the upper space of the freezing room 1. The whole becomes a low temperature environment. On the other hand, an amount of air substantially corresponding to the amount of air blown out from the
It returns to the unit 2 through the return pipe 4, and at the same time the cold energy of the returned air is recovered by the air-to-air heat exchanger 9.
In this heat exchanger 9, dehumidification is performed to prevent the inside of the air circulation system from freezing.

In the illustrated example, the drive energy of the compression / expansion device of the CAS unit 2 is used for the energy of the low-temperature air sent through the air outgoing pipe 3 and the energy of the return air sent through the air return pipe 4. However, when the air supply path is long or when the air resistance in the ejector or the like is large, it is possible to freely procure necessary air supply energy by interposing a blower in these pipes.

The type of the ejector 5 attached to the tip of the air outgoing pipe 3 is not particularly limited as long as it is an air nozzle that blows out low-temperature air as a jet. In general, air is jetted from a narrowed air nozzle (jet flow)
When air is blown into a space under atmospheric pressure, the air existing near this jet is attracted to the jet and carried away. In the present invention, by utilizing this principle, even a small amount of low-temperature air is diffused and mixed with the surrounding air to lower the temperature of the room, and this diffusion mixing is caused to occur in the upper part of the refrigerator. As a result, the low-temperature air naturally descends, and the whole inside of the refrigerator is formed in a low-temperature environment by the convection phenomenon.

As the ejector 5, a type in which an induction nozzle is attached to the tip of an air nozzle can be used. In FIG. 1, this attracting nozzle is indicated by 5a. As such an inducing nozzle, a nozzle in which a hollow cylindrical body is coaxially attached to a tip of the nozzle so as to surround a jet stream blown from an air nozzle is known. It is said that if a trumpet-shaped cowling for guiding ambient air is provided on the air inlet side of the cylindrical body, the attracting action is further promoted.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the CAS unit 2 according to the present invention. As shown, this unit is an air compression / expansion device 7 in which an electric motor 17, two compressors 18 and 19, a gear box 20 and an expander 21 are integrally combined in one rectangular parallelepiped casing 16. Is installed on the casing bottom plate 22, and the water-to-air heat exchanger 8 is installed in the upper space in the casing 16.
And an air-to-air heat exchanger 9, and air piping (indicated by broken lines in FIG. 2) is provided between these devices at an air pressure of 5 kg / cm ² or less. Connection port 24 for intake of urethane air, connection port 2 for removal of cooling water
5 and a connection port 26 for taking in cooling water.

A box 17 provided on the side of the unit is for storing a control panel, and is optionally provided according to the capacity and grade of a freezer to which the unit is applied. Although not shown, the control panel is provided with, for example, control devices for controlling the inverter of the air compression / expansion device, a temperature controller, a humidity controller, a pressure controller, an air volume controller, a power supply device, and the like.

The unit shown in the figure has a refrigerating capacity of 10 refrigeration tons, a temperature of cold air taken out from the cold air outlet 23 through a temperature of -20.degree. C. and an air volume of 1.5 kg / sec. The standard dimensions are 2.4m high, 1.5m deep and 3.5m wide, and can be transported by truck.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the unit shown in FIG. 2 and shows a connection state between devices housed in a casing. FIG. 4 is a system diagram of the device arrangement, and the reference numerals in FIGS. 3 and 4 indicate the same components as those described in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
The air taken into the machine from the suction port 6 through the connection port 24 for taking in the urethane air enters the air-to-air heat exchanger 9 through the pipe A, and after leaving the heat exchanger 9, the pipe B After that, the compressors 18 and 19 are entered. From the compressors 18 and 19, it enters the water-to-air heat exchanger 8 via line C, then enters the air-to-air heat exchanger 9 via line D, and is led to the expander 21 via line E, It is led to the cold air take-out connection port 23 through the pipe, and is led to the ejector 5 of the freezer 1 via the outgoing pipe 3.

Among the pipelines A to F, the highest pressure is at the pipelines C, D and E from the compressor to the expander. Nevertheless, in the case of this unit, at most about 2 atm. Therefore, these pipes are also made of resin pipes. The other pipelines (a), (b) and (f) have a pressure of about 1 atm to 1.2 atm and are also made of resin pipes.

As shown in FIG. 3, the integrated air compression / expansion device 7 is assembled on a substrate 27 via a vibration isolator 28, and the inner surface of the casing 16 is provided with a sound absorbing plate 29.
Is spread all over. Although not visible in the figure, the casing 16 is provided with an inspection door and the casing 1
A gutter for releasing the heat generated in 6 is provided.

In the air compression / expansion device 7 which is the heart of the unit of the present invention, a cage type three-phase induction motor is used as the electric motor 17, and the shaft power is supplied to the compressors 18 and 19.
Is transmitted to

As the compressors, two turbo type compressors are used, and power is transmitted to each of the compressors 18 and 19 via a gear box 20. In the illustrated example, the shaft power of the electric motor 17 and the rotational power of the expander 21 are transmitted to the compressors 18 and 19 via the gear box 20. That is, the compressors 18 and 19 function as power recovery machines. A transmission for changing the rotation speed of the expander 21 and transmitting it to the compressors 18 and 19 is installed in the gear box 20.
By selecting the gear ratio, power can be recovered most efficiently. The expander 21 is of a turbine type.

In the illustrated embodiment, the compressors 18 and 19
Are arranged in parallel via the gear box 20, but they need not necessarily be connected in parallel. In the extreme case, one compressor can be 100%
It may be configured to perform a compression function, and in this case, it is preferable that power can be recovered from the expander. It should be noted that the compressor and the expander are not limited to the turbo type and the turbine type shown in the figure, and those conventionally known as air compressors / expanders, for example, screw type can be used. In any case, the unit of the present invention uses an electric motor, a compressor, a gear box, and an expander that are integrally combined as a single device.

As the water-to-air heat exchanger 8, a normal fin tube type heat exchanger is used, and cooling water flows through the tube side.

The air-to-air heat exchanger 9 is of a cross-flow type using a resin material as a heat transfer plate. That is,
As shown in FIG. 5, the corrugated plates 31 and 32 made of resin are alternately laminated so that their wavy lines are orthogonal to each other, and a block having a partition plate 33 interposed between the corrugated plates is formed. Thus, a large number of orthogonal air passages 34 and 35 are formed. By flowing two systems of air through these orthogonal air passages 34 and 35, heat can be efficiently exchanged without mixing with each other. The structure of such a block-type air-to-air heat exchanger itself is well known. In the unit of the present invention, the heat exchange material is not necessarily made of metal, but may be made of resin. it can. Further, the heat exchange is not necessarily a cross-flow type but may be a counter-current type or an inclined flow type.

In the unit of the present invention, the operation of the air-to-air heat exchanger 9 is extremely important. In other words, the return air returning to the unit via the suction port 6 of the freezer compartment 1 has a low temperature lower than the outside air temperature. Therefore, by exchanging heat between the return air and the high-pressure air before entering the expander 21, the cold air can be efficiently produced.

In the case of the unit of the present invention having a cooling capacity of 10 refrigeration tons, when the outside air temperature is 30 ° C., the temperature of the cold air taken out of the unit = −20 ° C. and the air volume = 1.5 kg /
An example of the temperature state processed by each device at the time of sec is as follows. However, the return air temperature returned from the load side is -5 ° C.

Position of air flowing in the machine Air temperature (° C) Pressure (atmospheric pressure) Pipe A-5 1.02 Pipe B +35 1.0 Pipe C +128 2.06 Pipe D +40 2.05 Pipe E 0 2.04 to pipeline -20 1.05

[0040]

As described above, the freezer / refrigerator of the present invention forms a low-temperature environment without using a refrigerant such as chlorofluorocarbon, and thus does not have a risk of environmental destruction due to harmful gases. In addition, it compresses, cools and expands the air itself, so that even if it leaks, it does not pollute the environment. And since there is no need to pay close attention to leakage, piping work becomes very simple, and there is an effect that a refrigerator / refrigerator having a required low-temperature environment can be easily formed.

In addition, there is a problem of frost formation when air is cooled by a fin tube as in a conventional system in which air is circulated and cooled in a heat exchanger or a heat pump evaporator through which a refrigerator brine flows. No extra energy is needed for defrosting.

Then, in the construction of the conventional refrigerator / freezer,
Although specialized special technology was required, if the cold air supply unit of the present invention is used, it can be installed and installed with air piping, and if this is operated, a low-temperature environment can be formed immediately, and it can be removed. . For this reason, a new refrigeration / refrigeration system that changes the concept of the conventional refrigeration / refrigerator technology can be provided to the market.

In particular, since the circulation of the air in the refrigerator is naturally performed by adopting the jet flow of the low-temperature air by the ejector, the air cooling method using the heat exchanger whose installation position is fixed as in the prior art is adopted. In comparison, the air stagnation area in the refrigerator is reduced, and the vertical temperature difference in the refrigerator is reduced, so that the entire refrigerator can be formed in a uniform low-temperature environment. This has the effect of increasing the effective space for storage and freezing in the refrigerator, and the amount of cold heat supplied can be easily increased or decreased according to the increase or decrease in the inventory in the refrigerator.
The efficiency of the refrigerator / refrigerator is significantly improved compared to the conventional method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a configuration example of a refrigerator / refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the cold air supply unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a device arrangement of the cold air supply unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a system diagram for explaining an air flow system of the cold air supply unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the principle of an air-to-air heat exchanger used in the cold air supply unit of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Freezer room 2 Cold air supply unit 3 Outgoing pipe of low-temperature air 4 Return pipe of air in a warehouse 5 Ejector 6 Suction port 7 Air compression / expansion device 8 Air cooler (water-to-air heat exchanger) 9 Air-to-air heat exchanger DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cooling tower 14 Heat exchanger under floor of front room 16 Casing 17 Electric motor 18, 19 Compressor 20 Gabox 21 Expander

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-141481 (JP, A) JP-A-4-366330 (JP, A) JP-A-6-207755 (JP, A) Jpn. , U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F25B 9/00 301 F25D 13/00 F24F 1/01

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air compression / expansion device integrally comprising an electric motor, an air compressor and an air expander, a water-to-air heat exchanger, and an air-to-air heat exchanger housed in one casing. In the casing, an air pipe having an air pressure of 5 kg / cm ² or less is provided between these devices, and a connection port for taking out cold air, a connection port for taking in retann air,
A packaged cold air supply unit provided with a cooling water outlet and a cooling water inlet; an indoor space to be configured as a freezer or a refrigerator; a cold air outlet of the unit; An outgoing pipe for low-temperature air connecting to the indoor space; a return pipe for in-compartment air connecting from the indoor space to a connection port for taking in the urethane air of the unit; a discharge end of the outgoing pipe for the low-temperature air freezers and refrigerators der consisting of: and Ejiekuta attached to the
Therefore , it is taken into the unit through the connection port
The air that has been removed is passed through the air-to-air heat exchanger,
Machine, the water-to-air heat exchanger and the air-to-air heat exchanger
After passing through the air expander, the air
Air is sent from the cold air outlet to the outgoing pipe of the cold air.
Air is sent to the above-mentioned egita through
Freezer and refrigerator . 2. The refrigeration and cooling system according to claim 1, wherein the cooling water having passed through the water-to-air heat exchanger is passed through a heat exchanger for melting ice installed on a floor near an entrance of a freezer or a refrigerator. freezer.