JP5018696B2 - Oil separator and refrigerant compressor provided with oil separator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an oil separator that separates oil from a refrigerant used in a refrigerant compressor and a refrigerant compressor that is integrally provided with such an oil separator.

  In the refrigerant or oil of the refrigerant compressor, foreign matters such as metal wear powder generated from the sliding portion of the refrigerant compressor are mixed. The refrigerant compressor often includes a filter for removing foreign substances in the refrigerant or oil, but may further include a magnet for removing fine iron-based metal foreign substances such as the above-mentioned wear powder. Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe a refrigerant compressor including such a magnet for removing foreign matter.

  In patent document 1, a magnet is attached to the recessed part provided in the oil reservoir part of the bottom part of the airtight container of a vertical compressor. While this magnet is effective in capturing foreign matter that has settled in the recess when the compressor is stopped, the ability to remove foreign matter contained in the oil circulation path during compressor operation is not sufficient. Patent Document 1 also proposes a structure in which a magnet is arranged in a capture unit in a space communicating with a discharge pipe extending from an airtight container through a branch path or a bypass path. Therefore, the structure is complicated, and only a part of the refrigerant that passes through the discharge pipe is introduced into the capturing unit.

  Patent Document 2 describes a structure that is disposed in an oil reservoir at the bottom of a closed container of a vertical compressor and blows the discharge gas of the compressor toward a magnet. In this case, there is a concern that the foreign matter adsorbed on the magnet is removed from the magnet by the blown discharge gas.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-2222083 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-146581

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said problem, Comprising: It aims at removing the foreign material contained in the refrigerant | coolant of a refrigerating cycle efficiently.

  The present invention provides an oil separator and a refrigerant compressor according to each of the claims as technical means for achieving the above object.

  The oil separator (1) according to claim 1 is an oil separator (1) used in a refrigerant compressor, wherein a separation part (2) for separating oil from the refrigerant, and an oil storage chamber for storing the separated oil. (14) and a magnet (9) that adsorbs foreign matter contained in the oil, and the separation part (2) has an oil outlet (8) for discharging the separated oil into the oil storage chamber (14). And the magnet (9) is arranged in the vicinity of the oil outlet (8) of the separating portion (2). As a result, the separated oil touches the magnet (9), so that the iron metal foreign matter contained in the oil is attracted to the magnet (9) before diffusing into the oil stored in the oil storage chamber (14). Thus, efficient foreign matter removal is realized. Also, since the oil flow rate at the oil outlet (8) of the separation section (2) is low, if the magnet (9) is placed near the oil outlet (8), foreign matter in the oil is reliably adsorbed to the magnet (9). Moreover, the adsorbed foreign matter is not peeled off from the magnet (9) by the oil flow.

  The oil separator (1) according to claim 2 is characterized in that the magnet (9) is arranged downstream of the oil outlet (8) and facing the oil outlet (8). This is because the oil outlet is in the extending direction of the oil flowing out from the oil outlet, so that the oil can be surely touched to the magnet.

  The oil separator (1) according to claim 3 is characterized in that the magnet (9) is arranged on the downstream side of the oil outlet (8) and on the side of the oil outlet (8). This is because when the oil outlet is on the peripheral wall of the oil separator and is oriented in the lateral direction, the oil that has flowed out of the oil outlet (8) will fall down due to gravity, so that the oil is surely touched to the magnet. be able to.

  The oil separator (1) according to claim 4 is characterized in that the magnet (9) is arranged in the oil separation part (2) and in the vicinity of the oil outlet (8). Thereby, when oil flows out from an oil exit (8), oil can be made to touch a magnet reliably.

  The oil separator (1) according to claim 5 is characterized in that the separation part (2) is a centrifugal separation part (2). Since the centrifugal separation unit (2) separates not only oil but also metal wear powder having a specific gravity larger than that of oil from the refrigerant with high efficiency, the above-described effects of the present invention can be further enhanced.

  The oil separator according to claim 6 is a collision type oil separator (101) for a refrigerant compressor (120), and the collision type oil separator (101) includes a refrigerant inlet (107), a refrigerant collision surface, and the like. (111), an oil storage chamber (114), and a magnet (109), and the oil flowing in from the refrigerant inlet (107) is caused to collide with the refrigerant collision surface (111) so that the oil contained in the refrigerant is reduced. The magnet (109) is separated, and the separated oil is disposed so as to fall on the magnet (109). As a result, the oil separated from the refrigerant colliding with the refrigerant collision surface (111) falls and touches the magnet (109), so that the iron metal foreign matter contained in the oil is stored in the oil storage chamber (114). Before being diffused into the oil, it is adsorbed by the magnet (109), and efficient foreign matter removal is realized.

  The oil separator (1, 101) according to claim 7 is characterized in that the refrigerant is carbon dioxide. Since carbon dioxide refrigerant has a higher compression pressure than chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants and the lubrication conditions of the compressor to which it is connected are severe, the allowable amount of metal wear powder in the oil must be limited. Therefore, the present invention is effectively applied to an oil separator that separates oil from a carbon dioxide refrigerant.

  A refrigerant compressor (20, 120) according to an eighth aspect is characterized by integrally including the oil separator (1, 101) according to any one of the first to seventh aspects. By integrating, space saving and cost reduction can be achieved.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the parenthesis attached | subjected to each said means is an example which shows a corresponding relationship with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, an oil separator 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The oil separator 1 in FIG. 1 is used by being connected to a refrigerant compressor (not shown) in order to separate the oil mixed in the refrigerant. The oil separator 1 separates the oil and stores the separated oil. For this purpose, an oil storage chamber 14 formed in the oil storage portion 13 and a magnet 9 disposed in the oil storage chamber 14 are provided as main components, and the separation portion 2 and the oil storage portion 13 act on the inside thereof. It has a sealed structure that can withstand high pressure. The refrigerant flowing into the oil separator 1 is carbon dioxide in this embodiment, but it may be a chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant.

  The separation unit 2 is of a centrifugal separation type, and includes a separation cylinder 4 that forms a cylindrical inner space 3 and a refrigerant delivery pipe 6 that has a refrigerant delivery port 5, and the refrigerant delivery pipe 6 is large. It is formed in a stepped cylindrical shape having a diameter part and a small diameter part, and a large diameter part is concentrically coupled to an upper end part of the separation cylinder 4. A refrigerant inlet 7 is provided in the upper part of the peripheral wall 4a of the separation cylinder 4, and the refrigerant inlet 7 has a peripheral wall 4a of the separation cylinder 4 in a direction and position so as to form a swirling flow when the refrigerant flows in. Has been opened. Further, an oil outlet 8 communicating with the oil storage chamber 14 is provided at the center of the bottom wall portion 4 b of the separation cylinder 4.

  The other end of a compressor discharge pipe 12 having one end connected to a refrigerant discharge chamber of a refrigerant compressor (not shown) is connected to the refrigerant inlet 7, and refrigerant from the compressor is passed from the refrigerant inlet 7 to the separation unit 2. Supplied. Moreover, although not shown in figure, the refrigerant | coolant pipeline which guides a refrigerant | coolant to the condenser which comprises a refrigerating cycle is connected to the refrigerant | coolant delivery port 5 of the refrigerant | coolant delivery pipe | tube 6. FIG.

  The oil storage section 13 includes an oil storage container 15 that forms an oil storage chamber 14 that is a space for storing oil. The oil storage container 15 has a bottomed cylindrical container main body 15a and a closing plate 15b that closes the upper end. is doing. Further, the lower end portion of the separation cylinder 4 passes through the closing plate 15b and is fixed thereto. An oil feed port 17 is provided at the bottom of the container body 15 a, and one end of an oil feed pipe 18 is connected to the oil feed port 17. The other end of the oil feeding pipe 18 is connected to an oil return passage of a refrigerant compressor (not shown). Further, FIG. 1 also shows oil stored in the oil storage chamber, and the oil liquid level OL in the drawing is shown at a substantially upper limit position.

  In the space in the oil storage chamber 14, that is, in the space above the oil level OL, a magnet 9 fixed to the magnet mounting bracket 10 is disposed directly below the oil outlet 8 of the separating portion. The magnet 9 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and its upper surface has an area larger than the area of the oil outlet 8. The magnet mounting bracket 10 is formed as a disk, and the outer peripheral end of the disk is fixed to the inner wall of the container body 15 a of the oil storage container 15 by welding. The magnet mounting bracket 10 has eight oil circulation holes 10a, two of which are shown in FIG. The magnet 9 is bonded and fixed to the upper surface of the magnet mounting bracket 10.

Next, how the oil separator 1 of the first embodiment operates will be described.
The refrigerant compressed in the compression mechanism part of the refrigerant compressor flows into the separation cylinder 4 from the refrigerant inlet 7 provided in the separation part 2 of the oil separator 1 through the discharge pipe 12. The refrigerant flowing in forms a swirling flow, and oil and foreign matters mixed in the refrigerant are separated by the centrifugal force of the swirling flow and adhere to the inner wall of the separation cylinder 4. The refrigerant from which the oil has been separated is sent out from the refrigerant delivery port 5 to the refrigerant pipe and led to a condenser (not shown), while the separated oil and foreign matter flow down along the inner wall of the separation cylinder 4 and reach the bottom wall 4b. From there, it passes through the oil outlet 8 and falls to the oil storage chamber 14 side. Oil that has fallen into the oil storage chamber 14 and foreign matter contained in the oil fall on the upper surface of the magnet 9 disposed directly below the oil outlet 8 and come into contact with the magnet 9 before the oil opened in the magnet mounting bracket 10 is opened. It flows down further through the circulation hole 10a and is stored. Accordingly, iron-based metallic foreign matter contained in the oil is attracted to the magnet 9. The oil stored in the oil storage chamber 14 is returned to the refrigerant compressor from the bottom oil supply port 17 through the oil supply pipe 18. In the present embodiment, the flow of oil to the refrigerant compressor is caused based on the pressure difference between the oil storage chamber 14 and the inside of the refrigerant compressor.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the refrigerant compressor by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 2 which is the longitudinal cross-sectional view. The refrigerant compressor 20 of FIG. 2 is a scroll type compressor. The electric motor part 22 and the compression mechanism part 23 are accommodated in the hermetic container 21 to compress the refrigerant from the external refrigerant circuit, and at one end thereof. The oil is separated from the refrigerant compressed by the integrally attached oil separator 1, and the refrigerant is sent to an external refrigerant circuit, while the separated oil is returned to the movable part such as the compression mechanism part 23. Yes. Since the oil separator included in the refrigerant compressor 20 has substantially the same configuration as the oil separator of the first embodiment, the reference numerals are basically the same as those of the oil separator of the first embodiment. Are the same.

  The sealed container 21 of the compressor 20 is coupled to a cylindrical first housing 24, a bottomed cylindrical second housing 25 coupled to the left end portion of the first housing 24, and a right end portion of the first housing 24. It is formed from a bottomed cylindrical third housing 26. The sealed container 21 forms a so-called internal low-pressure container whose pressure is lower than the discharge pressure of the refrigerant.

  The compression mechanism unit 23 includes a movable scroll 29 that revolves by a crank mechanism 28 supported by a main bearing 27, and a fixed scroll 30 that is disposed to face the movable scroll 29. The crank mechanism 28 and the movable scroll 29 are Rotated by the shaft 32 of the motor section 22 supported horizontally by the main bearing 27 and the sub-bearing 31.

  The fixed scroll 30 and the movable scroll 29 each have a spiral groove, and the outermost periphery of the spiral groove of the fixed scroll 30 is reduced by reducing the volume of the plurality of working chambers 33 formed by the engagement of the grooves. The refrigerant supplied to a suction chamber (not shown) communicating with the side is compressed. One end of the discharge pipe 12 is connected to the discharge chamber 35 communicating with the working chamber 33 of the compression mechanism section 23 through the discharge port 34, and the other end of the discharge pipe 12 is provided in the separation section 2 of the oil separator 1. Connected to the inlet 7.

  An oil return passage 36 is formed on the lower side of the fixed scroll 30 in the figure, and the oil return passage 36 is connected to the oil feeding pipe 18 at one end thereof, and the other end forms a narrowed throttle portion 36a. It leads to the sliding interface between the fixed scroll 30 and the movable scroll 29. The sliding boundary surface is intermittently supplied with oil from the throttle portion 36a. Further, the oil is supplied from the throttle portion 36a through the oil supply passage 39 provided in the movable scroll through the oil supply passage 41 in the shaft 32 to other movable parts requiring lubrication such as the main bearing 27 and the sub bearing 31. Then, it flows into the low-pressure side oil reservoir 42 formed at the bottom of the sealed container 21. Incidentally, one end of the oil feeding pipe 18 is connected to an oil feeding port 17 provided at the bottom of the oil storage part 13.

  The oil separator 1 in the refrigerant compressor 20 of the second embodiment has the same basic configuration as the oil separator of the first embodiment, but the oil storage container 15 of the oil storage unit 13 is sealed in the compressor 20. A third housing 26 that is also a member that closes the right end portion of the container 21, and a substantially disk-shaped fourth housing 37 joined to the inner peripheral surface of the end portion of the third housing 26, and The shape of the magnet mounting bracket 10 is different. The magnet mounting bracket 10 according to the second embodiment includes a horizontal portion that extends horizontally for mounting and fixing the magnet 9, a right side portion that extends vertically upward from the right end of the horizontal portion, and a horizontal portion. A left side surface portion extending vertically downward from the left end, and the left side surface portion of the magnet mounting bracket 10 is fixed to the side surface of the fourth housing 37 by welding. Further, the separation cylinder 4 of the separation portion 2 penetrates through the upper portion of the third housing 26 and is coupled thereto.

  The oil separator according to the second embodiment operates in the same manner as the oil separator according to the first embodiment, and the refrigerant supplied through the discharge pipe 12 from the discharge chamber 35 adjacent to the compression mechanism 23 is supplied to the separator 2. It is swirled in the cylindrical internal space 3 to separate oil and foreign matter, and the refrigerant is sent out from the refrigerant delivery port 5 to the refrigerant circuit, while the oil and foreign matter flow down from the oil outlet 8 into the oil storage chamber 14. The oil that has fallen into the oil storage chamber 14 and the foreign substances contained in the oil fall on the upper surface of the magnet 9 disposed just below the oil outlet 8 and come into contact with the magnet 9 before passing through the gap around the magnet mounting bracket 10. Furthermore, it flows downward and is stored. Accordingly, iron-based metallic foreign matter contained in the oil is attracted to the magnet 9. The oil stored in the oil storage chamber 14 is returned from the oil supply port 17 through the oil supply pipe 18 to the oil return passage 36 and supplied to movable parts such as a sliding interface of the fixed and rotary scrolls.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a refrigerant compressor 20 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3 which is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. The refrigerant compressor of FIG. 3 has an oil separator 1 as described below with respect to the oil separator in the second embodiment, that is, the oil outlet 8 is not a bottom wall portion 4b of the separation cylinder 4 of the separation portion 2, but a peripheral wall. It is formed in the portion 4a, and the magnet 9 is not arranged opposite to the oil outlet 8, but the oil outlet 8 is obliquely forward and lower so that the oil flowing down from the oil outlet 8 falls on the upper surface of the magnet 9. It differs in that it is arranged on the side. In this connection, the magnet mounting bracket 10 is fixed to the inner surface of the third housing 26.

  The oil separator 1 in the refrigerant compressor 20 of the third embodiment operates in the same manner as the oil separator in the second embodiment. Since the magnet 9 is disposed diagonally forward and downward of the oil outlet 8, the oil that has fallen into the oil storage chamber from the oil outlet 8 and foreign matter contained therein fall on the upper surface of the magnet 9 and come into contact with the magnet 9. To flow further downward through a gap around the magnet mounting bracket 10 and stored. Accordingly, iron-based metallic foreign matter contained in the oil is attracted to the magnet 9.

  As in the oil separator 1 in the refrigerant compressor 20 of the third embodiment, the oil outlet 8 is formed in the peripheral wall portion 4a of the separation cylinder 4 of the separation portion 2, and the magnet 9 is disposed on the side of the oil outlet 8. Of course, the separator can be configured independently of the refrigerant compressor as in the oil separator of the first embodiment.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a refrigerant compressor 120 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4 which is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. The refrigerant compressor 120 of FIG. 4 is different from the refrigerant compressor 20 of the second and third embodiments described above in that the oil separator 101 is not a centrifugal type but a collision type oil separator 101. Further, in the refrigerant compressor 120 of the fourth embodiment, an oil storage container 115 is formed by the third housing 126 and the right end surface of the fixed scroll 130, and the refrigerant delivery pipe 106 including the refrigerant delivery port 105 is provided in the third housing. The refrigerant compressor 20 of the second and third embodiments is different from the refrigerant compressor 20 of the second and third embodiments described above in that the discharge pipe 112 and the fourth housing 37 are not provided.

  The oil separator 101 according to the fourth embodiment includes a refrigerant inlet 107, a refrigerant collision surface 111, an oil storage chamber 114, and a magnet 109. The refrigerant inlet 107 opens at one end on the oil storage chamber 114 side of the discharge passage 112 provided in the discharge chamber cover 138 that covers the discharge chamber 135 formed in the fixed scroll 130. The refrigerant collision surface 111 is provided in a vertical portion that extends vertically facing the refrigerant inlet 107 of the magnet mounting bracket 110. The magnet mounting bracket 110 includes a magnet mounting portion that extends horizontally from the lower end of the vertical portion, a magnet positioning portion that extends vertically upward from the left end of the magnet mounting portion and is bent toward the upper surface side of the magnet 109 at the upper end, and A fixing portion extending horizontally upward from the upper end and extending vertically upward is provided, and the fixing portion is fixed to the third housing 126 by welding. The magnet 109 has an oil storage chamber 114 below the space between the refrigerant inlet 107 and the refrigerant collision surface 111 so that oil separated from the refrigerant colliding with the refrigerant collision surface 111 falls and contacts the magnet 109. It is arranged in the inner space.

Next, how the oil separator 101 in the refrigerant compressor 120 of the fourth embodiment operates will be described.
The refrigerant compressed in the compression mechanism portion of the refrigerant compressor 120 flows into the space in the oil storage chamber 114 from the refrigerant inlet 107 through the discharge passage 112. When the inflowing refrigerant collides with the refrigerant collision surface 111, oil and foreign matters mixed in the refrigerant are separated. The refrigerant from which the oil and foreign matter are separated is sent out from the refrigerant delivery port 105 to a refrigerant pipe (not shown) and guided to a condenser (not shown), while the separated oil and foreign matter contained in the oil flow downward. However, since the magnet 109 is disposed in the path through which the oil flows down, the separated oil contacts the magnet 109 on the way and then flows down and stored. Accordingly, iron-based metallic foreign matter contained in the oil is attracted to the magnet 109. The oil stored in the oil storage chamber 114 is returned to the refrigerant compressor 120 through the oil feed pipe 118 from the oil feed port 117 at the bottom.

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, a refrigerant compressor 20 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the refrigerant compressor of FIG. 5, a ring-shaped magnet 9 is arranged so as to surround the oil outlet 8 inside the oil separator 1. With this configuration, the oil flowing out from the oil outlet 8 always passes through the inner periphery of the magnet 9. Thereby, iron-based metallic foreign matter contained in the oil can be effectively adsorbed.

(Other embodiments)
Although the refrigerant compressors of the second to fifth embodiments are scroll type compressors, the refrigerant compressor in the present invention can be of various types, for example, a swash plate type refrigerant compressor. Also good.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an oil separator according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerant compressor by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerant compressor by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerant compressor by the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerant compressor by the 5th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Separation part 4 Separation cylinder 5 Refrigerant delivery port 6 Refrigerant delivery pipe 7 Refrigerant delivery port 8 Oil exit 9 Magnet 10 Magnet mounting bracket 13 Oil storage part 14 Oil storage chamber 15 Oil storage container 17 Oil delivery port

Claims (8)

An oil separator (1) used in a refrigerant compressor,
A separation part (2) for separating oil from the refrigerant;
An oil storage chamber (14) for storing the separated oil;
A magnet (9) for adsorbing foreign matter contained in oil,
The separation part (2) has an oil outlet (8) for discharging the separated oil into the oil storage chamber (14),
The oil separator (1), wherein the magnet (9) is disposed in the vicinity of the oil outlet (8).   The oil separator (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet (9) is arranged downstream of the oil outlet (8) and facing the oil outlet (8). .   Oil separator (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet (9) is arranged downstream of the oil outlet (8) and laterally of the oil outlet (8). .   The oil separator (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet (9) is arranged in the separation part (2) and in the vicinity of the oil outlet (8).   Oil separator (1) according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the separation part (2) is a centrifugal separation part (2). A collision type oil separator (101) used in a refrigerant compressor,
The collision type oil separator (101) includes a refrigerant inlet (107), a refrigerant collision surface (111), an oil storage chamber (114), and a magnet (109), from the refrigerant inlet (107). Separating the oil contained in the refrigerant by colliding the refrigerant flowing into the refrigerant collision surface (111);
The oil separator (101), wherein the magnet (109) is arranged so that the separated oil falls onto the magnet (109).   The oil separator (1, 101) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the refrigerant is carbon dioxide.   A refrigerant compressor (20, 120) comprising the oil separator (1, 101) according to any one of claims 1 to 7 integrally.

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