JP3118127B2 - Air conditioner using absorption refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner using an absorption refrigerator for general houses and small buildings, and more particularly to an air conditioner in which cool air is sent out immediately after the start of operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Air conditioners using absorption chillers are currently mainly used for industrial and commercial facilities such as buildings and large stores.

In a cooling system of an air conditioner using an absorption refrigerator, a refrigerant vapor evaporated in a regenerator is condensed in a water-cooled condenser, and the condensed refrigerant is guided to an evaporator to evaporate. The cooling medium (usually water) circulating between the fan coil unit provided in the room to be cooled by the latent heat of evaporation and the refrigerator is cooled. On the other hand, the operation is performed in a cycle in which the evaporated refrigerant vapor is absorbed into a concentrated solution (absorbing liquid) by a water-cooled absorber and returned to the regenerator again.

In an air conditioner using an absorption type refrigerator of this type, the temperature of a cooling medium circulated in an indoor fan coil unit is cooled to about 7 ° C. in an evaporator, and the cooling medium is cooled in a fan coil in the room. To cool the room air and return it to the evaporator at around 12 ° C. When an aqueous solution of lithium bromide is used as the absorbing solution, it is necessary to maintain the temperature of the absorbing solution in the absorber at around 40 ° C. In order to maintain this temperature, a cooling tower is installed on a rooftop or the like to provide a water cooling circuit. The method of cooling with is taken.

[0005] However, the conventional air-conditioning apparatus using a water-cooled absorption chiller has the following problems.

(1) Since the temperature of the absorber is controlled by a water-cooling method, the equipment becomes large and piping is required, which requires a lot of construction cost, and is necessary for general houses and small-scale buildings. Not suitable for cooling.

(2) Since it is necessary to connect the fan coil unit in the room to be cooled and the refrigerator with a pipe for circulating cooling medium, construction costs and equipment costs are high. This is the same for an ammonia absorption refrigerator using ammonia water as the absorbing liquid and the refrigerant.

Therefore, during cooling operation, the present inventors cooled the condenser and the absorber using an air-cooling system instead of a water-cooling system, and sent the refrigerant from the condenser to the evaporator without using a pump. A patent application has already been filed for an air conditioner that has a cooling mode in which the evaporator is located in a passage through which room air to be air-conditioned passes, and the indoor air is cooled by directly touching the outside of the evaporator, while performing pressure difference. (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-2351 / 1993).

FIG. 4 shows a main part of a modification of the air conditioner using the single-effect absorption refrigerator proposed in the above-mentioned application, and FIG.
Indicates the installation state of the air conditioner.

[0010] As shown in FIG.
The outdoor unit 1 is disposed outside the room 5 of the house to be air-conditioned by a configuration as shown in FIG. 4, and the indoor unit 2 has only the cool air outlet and the indoor air inlet. And is disposed inside the chamber 5. The outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 are connected by a cooling air blow duct 3 and a room air intake duct 4. A blower fan 11 is provided at a predetermined position in the blower duct 3 or the intake duct 4. Reference numeral 6 denotes a remote controller for starting or stopping the operation of the air conditioner, setting or canceling automatic operation, setting the room temperature, setting the amount of cool air to be blown, and the like.

The interior of the outdoor unit 1 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 4, in which an aqueous solution of lithium bromide is used as an absorbing solution, and water is used as a refrigerant.

The evaporator 10 is installed at a position where the blow duct 3 and the intake duct 4 are connected to each other. The evaporator 10 evaporates the refrigerant by a depressurizing action inside the evaporator 10 and cools it from the inside by the action of latent heat of vaporization (heat of vaporization). I am going to receive it.

The regenerator 12 has a function of heating the absorbing liquid (dilute solution) having a reduced concentration by absorbing the refrigerant with the burner 13 to generate refrigerant vapor and concentrating the concentration of the absorbing liquid. Fuel supply pipe 1 to burner 13
The fuel gas is supplied from the fuel supply 4, and the degree of combustion is adjusted by the fuel supply control valve 15.

The condenser 16 has a function of cooling and liquefying the refrigerant vapor sent from the regenerator 12 by the air cooling fan 17 and sending out the liquefied refrigerant to the evaporator 10.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a refrigerant tank for adjusting the total amount of the refrigerant circulating in the air conditioner and for storing a part of the refrigerant in order to adjust the concentration of the dilute solution supplied to the regenerator 12. And is connected to the condenser 16 via the valve 5.

The absorber 20 stores the absorbing liquid, has a function of absorbing the refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator 10 into the absorbing liquid, and is air-cooled by the same air-cooling fan 17 as the condenser 16. The absorbent whose concentration has been lowered by absorbing the refrigerant is temporarily stored in the dilute solution tank 21.

Reference numeral 22 denotes heat for exchanging heat between the low-concentration low-temperature absorbent flowing from the dilute solution tank 21 to the regenerator 12 and the high-concentration high-temperature absorbent flowing from the regenerator 12 to the absorber 20. An exchanger 23 is a pump that absorbs the refrigerant and sends out the absorbent having a reduced concentration from the dilute solution tank 21 to the regenerator 12. A pump 24 is provided between the upstream side of the evaporator 10 and the downstream side of the condenser 16. It is a capillary or a pressure loss means corresponding to the capillary provided between them.

Each of V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5 is a regulating valve such as a solenoid valve. In particular, V4 is a regulating valve having a check valve function.

The above air conditioner basically creates a temperature difference and thus a pressure difference between the containers, except that a pump 23 is used to send the absorbent from the absorber 20 to the regenerator 12. The refrigerant is sent out and circulated by the pressure difference.

[0020]

However, in such an air-cooled air conditioner, when the operation is stopped, in addition to preventing the corrosion of the device, the air-conditioning system is also used to prevent the precipitation of crystals due to a decrease in the outside air temperature. Since the liquid and the refrigerant are all returned to the dilute solution tank 21 and stored in a state where the solution concentration is low, the absorption liquid immediately after the start of use has a low concentration and the device does not operate efficiently. Then, after confirming by a sensor that the refrigerant has been separated from the absorbing liquid and has accumulated in the refrigerant tank 18 by a predetermined amount, the refrigerant is sent to the evaporator 10 to cool the blown air and cool the air.

Therefore, it takes time until a predetermined amount of the refrigerant is separated from the absorbing liquid and the concentration of the absorbing liquid increases, and it takes time from when the user turns on the switch for starting the cooling operation to when the cool air is actually blown. Has occurred.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant, and an absorbent for storing an absorbing liquid for absorbing the refrigerant and for absorbing the vapor of the refrigerant vaporized by the evaporator to the absorbing liquid. An evaporator is disposed in a passage for introducing room air to be cooled, and the room air is directly cooled, and then the cooled air is directly blown into the room through a duct to perform cooling. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner using a refrigerator so that cool air can be obtained immediately after a start-up switch is turned on.

[0023]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant, an absorbent for absorbing the refrigerant, and a refrigerant vapor vaporized by the evaporator for absorbing the refrigerant. The evaporator is disposed in a passage for introducing indoor air to be cooled, and the indoor air is directly cooled, and then the cooled air is directly blown into the room through a duct to perform cooling. An air conditioner using an absorption refrigerator that performs: Second detecting means provided in the duct for detecting the temperature of air sent out from the duct, a regenerator for heating the absorbent and generating refrigerant vapor from the absorbent, and a burner for heating the regenerator And the said A condenser for condensing and liquefying the medium vapor to send a liquefied refrigerant to the evaporator, a refrigerant tank connected to the condenser via a valve for storing the generated liquefied refrigerant, and a condenser immediately after the operation is started. The resulting liquefied refrigerant is sent to the evaporator to start cooling the blast air, and when the solution needs to be concentrated, the temperature difference between the temperatures detected by the first detecting means and the second detecting means is equal to or more than a predetermined temperature difference. Thus, an air conditioner using an absorption refrigerator is provided with a control means for opening the valve and allowing the refrigerant generated in the condenser to flow into the refrigerant tank.

[0024]

When the operation switch is turned on to start cooling, the pump is operated and the dilute solution is sent to the regenerator, where it is heated and the refrigerant is separated. The separated refrigerant vapor is sent to the condenser to be liquefied, and is immediately sent to the evaporator because the valve between the condenser and the refrigerant tank is closed, evaporates and cools the blown air. Therefore, the room can be immediately cooled without requiring time after the operation switch is turned on.

When it is determined from the outside air temperature that concentration of the solution is necessary (when the outside air temperature is high and the solution concentration is low), the valve is opened while the air is sufficiently cooled while monitoring the temperature of the blast air. Then, the liquefied refrigerant gradually flows into the refrigerant tank to store the refrigerant so that the cooling temperature of the evaporator does not drop significantly. As a result, the concentration of the absorbing solution is increased without interrupting the cold air, and the operation is immediately shifted to the normal operation when the predetermined concentration is reached.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows a main part of an embodiment of an air conditioner using a single-effect absorption refrigerator embodying the present invention, and FIG.
The installation state of the air conditioner according to the present invention is shown as in the conventional example.

FIG. 4 shows the mechanical structure of the air conditioner according to the present invention.
Therefore, the description thereof is omitted, and the electric circuit necessary for controlling the air conditioner will be described.

In FIG. 3, T1 is a sensor for detecting the room temperature provided on the upstream side of the evaporator 10, T2 is a sensor for detecting the blast temperature, T3 is a sensor for detecting the liquid level of the regenerator, T4. Is a sensor for detecting the condenser temperature, and T5 is a sensor for detecting the amount of refrigerant in the refrigerant tank 18.

A setting signal from the controller 30 including a CPU, a memory, and a driving circuit, and a setting signal from the remote controller 6 (see FIG. 5) are received by the receiving section 2a of the indoor unit 2, and
And a communication controller 31 that receives signals from the communication controller 31. The controller 30 receives signals from the sensors T1 and T2 and the like and a signal from the communication controller 31 and sends a blower fan 11, an air cooling fan 17, and a pump. 23 is controlled.

Further, the controller 30 controls the refrigerant tank 18
Is controlled by the sensor T5 to detect the amount of refrigerant and maintain the absorption liquid concentration of the entire apparatus at a predetermined value. Immediately after the operation is started, control is performed as follows. It has become.

When the operation starts and refrigerant vapor is generated in the regenerator 12 and sent to the condenser 16 for liquefaction, the valve V5
Does not open. Then, when the difference between the temperatures detected by the sensors T1 and T2 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the valve V5 is opened and the refrigerant flows into the refrigerant tank 18. In the meantime, if the cooling capacity of the evaporator 10 decreases and the temperature detected by the sensor 2 increases,
The valve V5 is closed, and the refrigerant is sent to the evaporator 10 to perform cooling and suppress the temperature rise of the evaporator 10.

Next, the operation of the cooling cycle will be described with reference to FIGS.

Before the start of operation, the valves V1, V3 and V5 are closed and the valve V2 is open. The regenerator 12 is empty, and the absorbing liquid and the refrigerant are stored in the dilute solution tank 21.

When the operation button of the remote controller 6 is turned on,
Desired temperature, or by setting the desired air volume, the valve opens V3 (F-1), the absorption liquid from the dilute solution tank 21 by the motor M ₁ is driven pump 23 is sent to the regenerator 12 (F-2) . Other valves remain as they are. At this time, the CPU of the controller 30 checks the signal from the sensor T3 to determine whether the liquid level of the regenerator 12 has reached a prescribed level (F-3). When the liquid level has reached the prescribed level, the fuel supply control valve 15 is opened to supply fuel gas from the fuel supply pipe 14 and ignite the burner 13 (F-4).

When the regenerator 12 is heated, refrigerant vapor is generated and flows to the condenser 16. Next, the CPU of the controller 30
Opens the valve V1 and closes the valve 2 (F-5), and rotates the blower fan 11 and the air-cooling fan 17 (F-6). As a result, in the condenser 16, the refrigerant vapor sent from the regenerator 12 is liquefied, and the liquefied refrigerant evaporates due to the pressure difference between the condenser 16 and the evaporator 10 because the valve V5 is kept closed. It flows into the vessel 10. The refrigerant evaporates (vaporizes) inside the evaporator 10, and a cooling action by heat of vaporization occurs. As a result, the air sent from the room through the intake duct 4 by the blower fan 11 is cooled by directly contacting the outside of the evaporator 10. The cooled air is sent to the indoor unit 2 through the air duct 3 and blown out as cold air into the room 5 to start cooling the room 5 (F-
7).

Next, the amount of refrigerant in the refrigerant tank 18 is detected by the sensor T5.
It is determined whether or not the predetermined amount has been reached based on the detection value from (F-8), and if not (empty immediately after the start of operation), the room temperature t1 from the sensor T1 and the air temperature t2 from the sensor T2 are determined. Input (F-9), t1 and t2
(F-1)
0). If the temperature difference is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the valve V5 is opened, the refrigerant is sent out from the condenser 16 to the refrigerant tank 18, and the flow returns to F-8. If the temperature difference is less than the predetermined value, the valve V5 is closed and the valve V5 is closed. 8 is continued until the refrigerant amount in the refrigerant tank 18 reaches the predetermined amount, and when the refrigerant amount reaches the predetermined amount, the operation shifts to the steady operation (F-13). Here, the steady operation means that a predetermined amount of refrigerant is stored in the refrigerant tank 18 and the average concentration of the absorbent in the entire air conditioner has reached a specified value.

In a steady cooling operation, the refrigerant evaporated and vaporized in the evaporator 10 flows into the absorber 20, where it is absorbed by the absorbing liquid. The absorbent whose concentration has decreased by absorbing the refrigerant once enters the dilute solution tank 21 and then exchanges heat with the high-concentration high-temperature absorbent which is sent from the regenerator 12 by the heat exchanger 22 through the valve V3 by the pump 23. And sent to the regenerator 12.

When the operation button of the remote controller 6 is turned off (F-14), the blower fan 11 and the air cooling fan 17 are stopped (F-15), during which the refrigerant in the refrigerant tank 18 and the refrigerant in the regenerator 12 are turned off. All the absorbing liquid flows into the dilute solution tank 21. This is to prevent the refrigerant tank 18 and the regenerator 12 from being corroded by the absorbing liquid while the apparatus is stopped, or to dilute the concentrated solution to prevent crystallization.
After a short time delay, the pump 23 stops (F-16),
All liquid flows in the entire system stop.

Next, the temperature and pressure of the container, the absorbing liquid, and the refrigerant in each part of the system during the cooling operation will be described.

Temperature (° C.) Pressure (Torr) Evaporator 10: 10-20 10-20 Regenerator 12: 60-90 90-110 Condenser 16: 50-80 90-110 Absorber 20: 45-50 11 Refrigerant tank 18: 30 to 50 40 to 50 Dilute solution tank 21: 40 to 60 11 Heat exchanger 22: 30 to 90-Intake duct 4: 26 (room temperature)-Blast duct 3: 13 to 20-Dilute solution: 35 -40 concentration: 61% concentrated solution: 90 concentration: 64.8% As described above, according to the air conditioner of this embodiment, the valve V5 is closed immediately after the operation is started, and the condenser 16
Is sent to the evaporator 10, so that the cool air is sent into the room immediately after the operation starts, and the time until the start of cooling can be shortened. Further, when the blowing air temperature is detected and sufficient cold air is obtained, the valve V5 is opened while the cooling air temperature is monitored, and the refrigerant is gradually discharged to the refrigerant tank 2.
Since it is sent to 1, it is possible to increase the concentration of the absorbing solution without interrupting the cold air and shift to the steady operation.

In the above-described embodiment, water is used as the refrigerant and lithium bromide is used as the absorbing liquid as in the conventional example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other similar functional substances may be used.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an air conditioner using an absorption refrigerator, the valve between the condenser and the refrigerant tank was closed immediately after the operation was started, and the refrigerant from the condenser was sent to the evaporator. Immediately after the start, the evaporator can be operated to cool the blown air and blow cool air into the room, thereby shortening the time until the start of cooling.

Furthermore, the temperature of the air blown into the room is detected, and when the air is sufficiently cooled, the valve between the condenser and the refrigerant tank is opened and the refrigerant is gradually fed into the refrigerant tank while monitoring the air temperature. Therefore, the concentration of the absorbing solution can be increased without interrupting the cold air, and the air conditioner can be shifted to the steady operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional air conditioner.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an installation state of an air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 outdoor unit 2 indoor unit 3 air duct 4 air intake duct 5 room 6 remote controller 10 evaporator 11 air fan 12 regenerator 13 burner 16 condenser 17 air cooling fan 18 refrigerant tank 20 absorber 21 dilute solution tank 30 controller 31 communication control Instrument T1, T2, T3, T4 T5 Sensor V1, V2, V3, V4, V5 Valve

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-269880 (JP, A) JP-A-56-155352 (JP, A) JP-A-5-60413 (JP, A) JP-A-6-155 235559 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25B 15/00 306

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An evaporator for vaporizing a refrigerant, and an absorber for storing an absorbing liquid for absorbing the refrigerant and absorbing the refrigerant vapor vaporized by the evaporator to the absorbing liquid, and introducing indoor air to be cooled. After the evaporator is disposed in the passage and directly cools the room air, the air-conditioning system using the absorption refrigerator that cools the room by directly blowing the cooled air into the room through a duct starts operation. Immediately after the control, a valve between a condenser for condensing the refrigerant and a refrigerant tank for storing the refrigerant is closed, and control means for directly sending the refrigerant from the condenser to the evaporator is provided. Air conditioner using absorption chiller. 2. An evaporator for vaporizing a refrigerant, and an absorber for storing an absorbing liquid for absorbing the refrigerant and absorbing the refrigerant vapor vaporized by the evaporator to the absorbing liquid, and introducing indoor air to be cooled. In the air conditioner using an absorption refrigerator that cools the room air by directly arranging the evaporator in the passage to cool the room air and then blowing the cooled air directly into the room through the duct, the passage or A blower installed in a duct, first detection means provided in the passage for detecting the temperature of room air passing through the passage, and a temperature of air sent from the duct provided in the duct and Second detecting means for detecting, a regenerator for heating the absorbent and generating refrigerant vapor from the absorbent, a burner for heating the regenerator, and condensing and liquefying the refrigerant vapor to liquefy the evaporator Send refrigerant A condenser, a refrigerant tank connected to the condenser via a valve for storing the liquefied refrigerant generated in the condenser, and a liquefied refrigerant generated in the condenser immediately after the operation is started; When the cooling of the blast air is started and the concentration of the solution is necessary, when the temperature difference between the temperatures detected by the first detecting means and the second detecting means is equal to or larger than a predetermined temperature difference, the valve is opened to open the condenser. Control means for causing the refrigerant generated in the above to flow into the refrigerant tank. An air conditioner using an absorption refrigerator.