JP5783558B2 - Automotive air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automobile air conditioner that prevents condensation (fogging) of a front window and the like and heats the interior of a vehicle in an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, a plug-in hybrid vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle, and the like.

In recent years, electric vehicles that do not use fossil fuels at the time of driving, hybrid vehicles that have greatly improved fuel efficiency, or plug-in hybrid vehicles to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas associated with the use of fossil fuels Etc. are making progress.
However, in these automobiles, when the outside air temperature is low, there is a problem that the travelable distance is shortened when electric power from the in-vehicle battery is used for heating the inside of the car or preventing condensation on the window glass.

In addition, a compression refrigeration system is used for cooling the interior of the vehicle.If the dew point temperature of the processing target air is higher than the target room temperature, condensation from the processing target air may occur when the processing target air is cooled below the dew point temperature. Occur. For this reason, while the load of a compression-type refrigeration apparatus increases, the refrigerating efficiency falls by cooling to low temperature, and electric power consumption increases. As a result, there is a problem that the power consumption from the in-vehicle battery increases and the travelable distance is shortened.

In order to solve these problems, measures are taken to increase the capacity of the in-vehicle battery and ensure the travelable distance per charge, but this leads to an increase in vehicle weight, an increase in battery cost, and the like.

In order to solve such problems, in-vehicle heating and window anti-fogging means that do not depend much on the power supplied from the vehicle-mounted battery, or means for reducing the steam condensation latent heat load during cooling of the inside of the car are effective.

For example, if three occupants get into a space where the air weight in the vehicle is 4.8 kg under conditions of 5 ° C. outside air and 60% relative humidity (2.6 g / kg absolute humidity), human insensitive normal excretion (water vapor) Since the amount of divergence is about 30 g per person per hour, the absolute humidity of the air inside the vehicle rises at a rate of 18.8 g per hour per kg of air. For this reason, when the air temperature approaches 5 ° C. in the vicinity of the window glass, condensation occurs on the window glass. Since the saturated water vapor amount of 5 ° C. air is 5.4 g per kg of air, the relative humidity becomes 100% at the latest about 9 minutes from the start of operation, and the window glass starts to become cloudy.

In recent years, a desiccant air-conditioning technology that uses a dehumidifying material for an air-conditioner for automobiles has been proposed as a measure for preventing condensation (clouding) of automobile windows and the like. The desiccant air-conditioning technology uses the moisture-absorbing action of the dehumidifying material, but the dehumidifying material that absorbs a certain amount of moisture needs to be regenerated with high-temperature air having a low relative humidity.
For example, Patent Document 1 below describes an air conditioning system for an electric vehicle that uses hot air from an in-vehicle heat pump to regenerate a ventilation rotor carrying a dehumidifying material.

Further, Patent Document 2 below describes an air conditioning system in which a moisture absorption container containing a dehumidifying material is installed in an air conditioning system of an automobile for the purpose of reducing a dehumidifying load of processing target air, thereby reducing a cooling and dehumidifying load by a compression refrigeration apparatus. Has been.

Further, Patent Document 3 below describes an air conditioning system that uses heat storage means that performs hot water production when charging an on-vehicle battery in order to reduce the power load during heating of the electric vehicle.

JP2009-154862 JP-A-8-67136 JP-A-5-270252

In the electric vehicle air conditioning system described in Patent Document 1, the air flow path passing through the ventilation rotor carrying the dehumidifying material is divided into two, and then the air to be treated is dehumidified in one flow path, and the other flow path is formed. A configuration in which the dehumidifying material is regenerated by heating the air passing through the vehicle with an in-vehicle heat pump and then passing through the ventilation type rotor is used. For this reason, the entire apparatus is complicated and large in size, such as a device that rotates a ventilation rotor that straddles the flow path of processing target air and regeneration air, and a seal that prevents mixing of air flowing through the two flow paths. Have a problem. Further, when the outside air temperature is lowered, the hot air production capability by the heat pump is lowered, so that there is a problem that regeneration of the dehumidifying material is not sufficient and additional heating of the air by power feeding from the in-vehicle battery is required.

In the air conditioning system for automobiles described in Patent Document 2, since power from an in-vehicle battery or electric power from an in-vehicle power generation device is used for regeneration of the dehumidifying material, it is useless for measures for reducing the travelable distance in an electric vehicle or the like.

In the electric vehicle air-conditioning system described in Patent Document 3, a system for installing a heat storage device in an electric vehicle for heating, receiving a supply of warm heat from this, and reducing power consumption for producing warm air is introduced. Yes. However, since the heat storage amount of the heat storage device is limited, it is possible to produce hot air at the initial stage of operation, but there is a problem that continuous hot air production for a long time cannot be performed.

Further, as a measure for preventing condensation (clouding) of automobile windows, etc., in using a desiccant air conditioning technology that utilizes a dehumidifying material, the moisture absorption characteristics of the dehumidifying material are basically the conditions of the regenerated air when the dehumidifying material is regenerated, and the It is necessary to recognize that the dehumidifying material is determined by the conditions of the processing target air when moisture is absorbed from the processing target air.
That is, when the dehumidifying material is regenerated with regenerated air having as low a relative humidity as possible and moisture is absorbed from the processing target air using the dehumidifying material, it is important to increase the relative humidity of the processing target air. In general desiccant air conditioners that are widely used, a precooling process is performed in which cold heat is produced by a compression-type refrigerator, the air to be treated is cooled using the cold heat, and then a dehumidifying material is passed through.
However, in an electric vehicle or the like, the precool process using the electric power from the on-board battery has no meaning as a countermeasure for reducing the travelable distance in the electric vehicle or the like.

The present invention solves such conventional technical problems and suppresses electric power from an in-vehicle battery used for anti-fogging of a window glass and heating of a vehicle interior during traveling of an electric vehicle or the like, The objective is to provide an automotive air conditioner that is lightweight, easy to use and economical.

According to the present invention, an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, a plug-in hybrid vehicle, or the like that travels using stored electric power as a power source of an electric motor, and includes a dehumidifying material having a moisture-absorbing action inside the vehicle body. One or a plurality of units are arranged, and when the automobile is running, when the dehumidifying material in the dehumidifying unit absorbs water vapor (insensitive normal excretion) generated by a passenger or the like, the air to be treated and the outside air It was set as the structure which can implement heat exchange with.
Further, the dehumidifying material has a characteristic of generating heat of moisture absorption when moisture (water vapor) is absorbed from the air to be treated. For example, when 1 g of moisture is absorbed from 1 kg of the processing target air, the temperature of the processing target air rises by about 2.5 ° C.
In the present invention, by utilizing this hygroscopic heat as a temperature recovery mechanism of the air to be treated that has been lowered by heat exchange with the outside air, the absolute humidity can be effectively reduced and the temperature of the air to be treated can be recovered. .

That is, in the present invention, when the outside air temperature is lower than the vehicle interior temperature, the interior air to be treated is reduced in temperature by exchanging heat with the outside air, and the relative humidity of the treatment object air is increased and then guided to the dehumidifying material. . This ensures a high moisture absorption rate (weight ratio of moisture absorption to the weight of the dehumidification material in the dry state) that the dehumidification material exhibits in the high relative humidity region, so that the moisture absorption amount of the dehumidification material increases and a larger amount of moisture absorption is achieved. It is possible.

Further, in the present invention, the dehumidifying material or the dehumidifying unit containing the dehumidifying material is removable from the vehicle air conditioner when the moisture absorbing performance of the dehumidifying material is lowered. When regenerating outside, it is possible to use regenerated air having a low relative humidity. As a result, the dehumidifying material can absorb a larger amount of moisture.

Furthermore, since the dehumidifying material or the dehumidifying unit containing the dehumidifying material is configured to be detachable from the automobile air conditioner, the recycled dehumidifying material or dehumidifying unit can be set in the automobile air conditioner at any timing. By preparing multiple dehumidifying materials or dehumidifying units, continuous anti-fogging of the front window and heating of the vehicle interior became possible.

In addition, when the dehumidifying material or the dehumidifying unit is regenerated, high-temperature air having a low relative humidity is produced using unused heat from a garbage incinerator, etc., and this is used for regenerating the dehumidifying material, thereby reducing the environmental load. Can be used. By utilizing this regeneration means, it became possible to further promote global warming countermeasures.

As described above, if the air conditioner for automobiles according to the present invention is used, the dehumidifying material effectively absorbs insensitive normal excretion (water vapor) emitted from the occupant when the automobile is running. It becomes possible to manufacture only by means (fan) power.

Further, since the absolute humidity of the air inside the vehicle can be lowered by the moisture absorption action of the dehumidifying material in summer, the amount of condensation (moisture condensation) in the compression refrigeration apparatus can be reduced, and the operation efficiency of the compression refrigeration apparatus can be increased. As a result, the power consumption of the compression refrigeration apparatus can be reduced, and the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight.

Usually, the dehumidifying material has a characteristic of absorbing a large amount of water vapor as the relative humidity of the surrounding air is higher. The moisture absorption rate of moisture increases as the relative humidity increases in the range of 0% relative humidity to 100% relative humidity. Therefore, when the dehumidifying material absorbs moisture from the processing target air, increasing the relative humidity of the processing target air is an effective means for increasing the moisture absorption by the same dehumidifying material.

In short, it is effective to increase the relative humidity of the air to be treated that passes through the dehumidifying material in order to increase the moisture absorption capacity of the regenerated dehumidifying material. Therefore, in the present invention, the outside air temperature is lower than the air temperature in the passenger compartment. Under the conditions, the heat treatment means is used to lower the temperature of the air to be treated by the outside air, and after increasing the relative humidity of the air to be treated, the structure is guided to the dehumidifying material.

By reducing the temperature of the air to be treated with heat exchange means with the outside air, the dehumidifying material can absorb a large amount of water vapor (insensitive normal excretion) generated by the occupant. An automotive air conditioner that prevents condensation (condensation) of the generated water vapor for a long time has become possible.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automotive air conditioner according to a first invention. It is a structure schematic diagram of the air conditioner for motor vehicles based on 2nd invention. It is the improved structure schematic of the air conditioner for motor vehicles based on 2nd invention. It is an improved configuration schematic diagram of the automotive air conditioner according to the first invention. It is the improved structure schematic of the air conditioner for motor vehicles based on 2nd invention. It is an example of an adsorption isotherm showing the moisture adsorption characteristics of a typical dehumidifying material. It is a characteristic change figure of the interior air of a vehicle in the process in which the automobile air conditioner by the present invention absorbs moisture from the interior air.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 and 4 are schematic configuration diagrams of an automotive air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle interior air flows from the flow path 5a by the air blowing means (fan) 4, passes through the flow path 5b, passes through the heat exchange means (heat exchanger) 9 with the vehicle exterior air, and then flows. It is guided into the dehumidifying unit 1 via the path 5c. A dehumidifying material 2 is installed in the dehumidifying unit 1. The vehicle interior air that has passed through the dehumidifying material 2 is jetted from the jetting means (antifogging nozzle) 6b toward the inner surface 10 on the vehicle cabin side such as a front window via the flow channel 5d and the flow channel 6a. .

FIG. 4 shows a modification of the first embodiment according to the present invention. The flow path switching means 8 is installed downstream of the air blowing means 4, and the control device 12 receives the temperature measurement results from the vehicle interior air temperature detection means 41 and the outside air temperature detection means 42 (not shown), and the vehicle interior air temperature. When the air temperature is higher than the outside air temperature, the flow path switching means 8 is operated to form a flow path configuration in which the vehicle interior air flows into the dehumidifying unit 1 after passing through the heat exchange means 9 installed outside the vehicle interior. When the vehicle interior air temperature is not higher than the outside air temperature, the vehicle interior air is guided to the dehumidifying unit 1 via the bypass ventilation means 5e installed so as to flow through the heat exchange means 9 by bypass.

In the present invention, the dehumidifying material 2 is configured to be removable from the dehumidifying unit 1, or alternatively, the dehumidifying unit 1 containing the dehumidifying material 2 may be configured to be separated from the flow path 5c and the flow path 5d.

In FIGS. 1 and 4, the air blowing unit 4 is installed on the upstream side of the heat exchanging unit 9, but the air blowing unit 4 is installed immediately before the dehumidifying material 2, so that the air blowing unit 4 is placed inside the dehumidifying unit 1. 4 and the dehumidifying material 2 may be included.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a process in which the passenger compartment air passes through the dehumidifying material 2 after being cooled by the heat exchange means 9 with the outside air, and the absolute humidity decreases and the temperature increases.

Next, the moisture absorption characteristics of the dehumidifying material will be described.
FIG. 6 is an example of an adsorption isotherm of a typical dehumidifying material. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the relative humidity of the air to be treated, and the vertical axis represents the moisture absorption rate.
The moisture absorption is a value indicating the ratio of the weight of moisture that can be absorbed by the dehumidifying material to the weight of the dehumidifying material in a dry state. It can be seen that the moisture absorption rate increases as the relative humidity shown on the horizontal axis increases.
In short, after regenerating (drying) the dehumidifying material with air with a low relative humidity, when the dehumidifying material is brought into contact with air with a high relative humidity, the dehumidifying material absorbs moisture from the air. (Weight) is calculated by multiplying the difference between the moisture absorption rates during regeneration and moisture absorption by the weight of the dehumidifying material during drying.

Next, an example of the state change of the air to be processed according to the present invention will be described with reference to the wet air diagram of FIG.
Car interior air (20 ° C., relative humidity 45%, absolute humidity about 6.5 g / kg) is sent by the air blowing means 4 and after passing through the heat exchanging means 9, it is about 12 ° C. and relative humidity 75% (absolute humidity). No change). When the vehicle interior air passes through the dehumidifying material 2, the vehicle interior air is substantially subjected to a hygroscopic effect of an isoenthalpy change. In the example of FIG. 7, after passing through the dehumidifying material, the relative humidity is about 20 ° C., the relative humidity is 20%, and the absolute humidity is about 3.0 g / kg.
That is, by passing through the dehumidifying material 2, the absolute humidity of the passenger compartment air is reduced by about 3.5 g / kg, and the air temperature is increased by about 8 ° C.

The low relative humidity air that has passed through the dehumidifying material is jetted from the jetting means (anti-fogging nozzle) 6b toward the front window 10 through the ventilation ducts 5d and 6a, and is formed on the passenger compartment surface of the front window 10. It can be seen that it contributes to the prevention and removal of fogging and also to heating the interior of the car.

As the dehumidifying material 2 absorbs moisture from the passing air, its hygroscopic capacity decreases. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the dehumidifying material 2 with the regenerated dehumidifying material 2 according to the timing.

For example, let us consider a state in which the polymer sorbent shown in FIG. 6 is used as the dehumidifying material 2, and this is regenerated with air having a relative humidity of 10% in an external drying factory and then installed in an automobile air conditioner. Assume that three people are in the car.
Since the insensitive normal excretion amount from three passengers is about 90 g per hour, the dehumidifying material 2 may process about 270 g of water when using an electric vehicle for about 3 hours. Assuming that the passenger compartment air is cooled by the heat exchanging means 9 and has a relative humidity of 70%, the moisture absorption rate at a relative humidity of 70% is 68% and the moisture absorption rate at a relative humidity of 10% is shown in FIG. Since it is 13%, the moisture absorption difference is 55%. Since the amount of water to be treated is 270 g, it can be seen that about 490 g (270 ÷ 0.55) of the polymer sorbent may be used as the dehumidifying material 2.
Further, since the passing air absorbs an average of 3.5 g of moisture per kg of passing air by the dehumidifying material 2, the passing air amount may be designed to be 26 kg (= 90 ÷ 3.5) per hour. This passing air amount is about 22 cubic meters per hour.
Since the volume of the dehumidifying material 2 having 490 g of the polymer sorbent is about 1.6 liters, if the cross section of the dehumidifying material is 10 cm × 15 cm (area 0.015 square meters), the depth of the dehumidifying material Is about 11 centimeters, and the average surface flow velocity of the passing air is about 0.4 m / sec.
Since it is known that the performance of the dehumidifying material is not significantly affected by the shape of the dehumidifying material, the size of the dehumidifying material may be selected based on the shape of the space in which it is installed. A larger volume of dehumidifying material may be selected.

2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 are schematic configuration diagrams of an automotive air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the heating unit 3 is installed inside the dehumidifying unit 1 and upstream of the dehumidifying material 2, and the flow path switching unit 8 is installed downstream of the dehumidifying unit 1. The vehicle interior air after passing through the vehicle is guided to either one of the ejection means (anti-fogging nozzle) 6b through the flow path 7 for exhausting outside the vehicle or the flow path 6a.
A switching valve 8 a that operates based on a command from the control device 12 is installed in the flow path switching means 8.
The embodiment of FIG. 2 is an example in which an electric heater by power feeding from the outside of the vehicle is adopted as the heating means 3, but the heating means 3 may be a heat exchanger by hot water supply from outside the vehicle. In short, it is only necessary that the heating means 3 and the air blowing means 4 are operated to produce hot air, which is guided to the dehumidifying material 2 and a flow path for regenerating the dehumidifying material 2 can be configured.

In the second embodiment, the dehumidifying material 2 is contained in the dehumidifying unit 1, and the regeneration of the dehumidifying material 2 is performed by supplying external electric power, hot water, hot air, or the like under the condition that the electric vehicle or the like is stopped. The
The control device 12 detects a state in which an electric vehicle or the like is set to supply power from outside, hot water supply, or hot air supply, etc., and operates / stops the blowing unit 4, operates / stops the heating unit 3, and switches the flow path. A command such as air flow path selection to the means 8 is transmitted to confirm that the automotive air conditioner is operating correctly, and when a temperature abnormality is detected, the energy supply to the heating means 3 is cut off. Safety control is performed.

FIG. 5 shows an improvement of the second embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, a bypass ventilation means 5e for bypassing the flow path switching means 8 and the heat exchange means 9 installed outside the vehicle is installed downstream of the blowing means 4, and a vehicle interior air temperature measuring means 41 (not shown) The control device 12 receives the temperature measurement result from the outside air temperature measuring means 42 and activates the flow path switching means 8 when the passenger compartment air temperature is higher than the outside air temperature, so that the passenger compartment air passes through the heat exchanging means 9. When the vehicle interior air temperature is not higher than the outside air temperature, the vehicle interior air is guided to the bypass ventilation means 5e and then the flow channel configuration for guiding the dehumidification unit 1 is selected.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the ventilation means 4 may be installed immediately before the heating means 3. By adopting such a configuration, the ventilation means 4 and the dehumidifying unit 1 can be integrated, the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the entire automobile air conditioner can be improved, and the whole can be installed compactly.
The configuration intended to integrate the ventilation means 4 and the dehumidifying unit 1 can also be adopted when the heat exchange means 9 is installed outside the vehicle as shown in FIG.

As described above, in the present invention, in an automotive air conditioner mounted on an electric vehicle or the like, the vehicle interior air is cooled by outside air and then guided to the dehumidifying material. The humidity increases, and the effect of increasing the moisture absorption rate of the dehumidifying material is obtained. As a result, a large amount of moisture can be absorbed even with the same dehumidifying material. In other words, when driving an electric vehicle, the insensitive excretion (approximately 30 g / h / person) generated by the occupant and the moisture (water vapor) that the outside air brings into the passenger compartment can be subjected to moisture absorption treatment, so the absolute humidity of the air inside the vehicle over a long period of time Ascending can be prevented, and anti-fogging of a front window of an electric vehicle or the like, and heating of a vehicle interior can be performed.

In addition, since the amount of moisture condensation in the compression refrigeration system during cooling can be reduced, the cooling load of the compression refrigeration system is reduced and the refrigeration efficiency is improved, so the power consumption of the compression refrigeration system is also reduced. It is valid.

As described above, when the electric vehicle is running, the air to be treated is cooled by the outside air, so that the moisture absorption capacity of the dehumidifying material when the dew condensation of the front window and the like is prevented by the moisture absorbing action of the dehumidifying material is improved. . Further, since the absolute humidity of the air to be cooled can be reduced during cooling, the efficiency of the compression refrigeration system has been improved.
These effects can reduce the amount of power used for anti-fogging and cooling compared to conventional electric vehicles, and increase the mileage of electric vehicles and contribute to reducing the capacity of in-vehicle batteries. Is now available.

1 ... dehumidifying unit,
2 ... Dehumidifying material 3 ... Heating means 4 ... Air blowing means (fan)
5a, 5b, 5c, 5d ... ventilation duct 5e ... bypass ventilation means (bypass duct)
6a: Antifogging nozzle duct 6b: Ejecting means (antifogging nozzle)
7 ... exhaust duct 8 ... flow path switching means 8a ... switching valve 9 ... heat exchange means 10 ... front window 12 ... control device,
30 ... Air-conditioner for automobile 41 ... Temperature detection means 42 ... Temperature detection means 60 ... In-vehicle battery (power storage device)

Claims (5)

In an automotive air conditioner used for an automobile such as an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, a plug-in hybrid vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle that runs using the stored electric power as a power source of an electric motor,
A blowing means for taking in the air in the passenger compartment and ventilating it as ventilation air ;
Heat exchange means for outside air and the heat exchanging the ventilation air,
And Moisture means for moisture absorption of moisture of the air in the air,
Comprising a jetting means for jetting the passed air from the cabin side to the front window,
These means are connected by a ventilation line , and
Means for measuring the air temperature in the passenger compartment;
Means for measuring the temperature outside the passenger compartment,
Bypass ventilation means for bypassing the heat exchange means;
A first flow path switching means provided upstream or downstream of the blower means for switching the flow path of the ventilation air;
Control means,
The control means includes
Sensing the temperature detected by the vehicle interior air temperature measurement means and the temperature detected by the vehicle exterior air temperature measurement means, and comparing the vehicle interior air temperature and the vehicle exterior air temperature;
When the vehicle interior air temperature is higher than the vehicle exterior air temperature, the vehicle interior air forms a flow path configuration through the heat exchange means, and the vehicle interior air temperature is not higher than the vehicle interior air temperature. In this case, the first flow path switching means is controlled so that the vehicle interior air forms a flow path configuration via the bypass ventilation means,
The first flow path switching means operates so as to form a flow path configuration in which the ventilation air passes through the heat exchange means or the bypass ventilation means based on the control of the control means . Air conditioner. Heating means for the ventilation air provided on the upstream side of the moisture absorption means;
Said moisture is provided downstream of the moisture absorbing means, second channel switching means for distributing the ventilation air to the jet means or cabin exhaust passage,
The automobile is parked, and a detection means for detecting that said heating means to an external energy source is electrically or thermally connected,
Receiving a signal from said detecting means, while said heating means and said external energy source is electrically or thermally connected to the flow of the ventilation air exhausted into the passenger compartment by the second flow path switching unit Providing control means for transmitting a control command for forming a path configuration to the second flow path switching means;
Based on the control command from said control means, said flow channel configured to exhaust the air air to the outside of the vehicle, or the ventilating air is the second flow path switching unit so as to form a flow path structure that leads to the ejection means operating The automotive air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein The air conditioner for an automobile according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat exchanging means is installed in a front part, a rear part , a lower part of a passenger compartment floor , or an exterior of a passenger compartment ceiling of the automobile. The automobile air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3 , wherein the moisture absorption means and the heating means are installed in one container. The automobile air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the moisture absorption means is removable .