JPH0297863A - Refrigerant flow divider - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a uniform mixed condition of gaseous and liquid phases of refrigerant and enable a uniform dividing flow to be attained by a method wherein a flowing-in pipe comprised of a bundle of small-diameter pipes collected in a helical form is applied at a flowing-in port of a flow divider. CONSTITUTION:As refrigerant B flowing under a freezing cycle is divided into a gaseous phase B1 and a liquid phase B2 and flow into a flowing-in pipe 17, section surface of a plurality of small diameter pipes 16 constituting this flowing-in pipe may act as flow-regulating grids so as to divide the liquid phase B2 having non-uniform size into small drips. The divided liquid phase and gaseous phase may get a circulating momentum through flow passages of the small diameter pipes 16 bundled in a helical form and then flows out from the flowing-out port 15 into the interior portions 18 and 19 of the flow divider. Since a flowing-out port of each of the small diameter pipes 16 is directed in a different direction with respect to an axis of a flowing-in pipe 17, the flowed-out liquid phase B2 and the gaseous phase B1 flow out in a different direction, circulated and agitated within the barrel and then the gaseous phase and liquid phase are mixed to each other and made uniform. Therefore, it is possible to make a uniform divided flow of the refrigerant B for each of the flowing-out pipe 22 and a refrigerant pipe 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a refrigerant flow divider for uniformly dividing refrigerant in a refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner, a refrigeration equipment, or the like.

Conventional technology In recent years, refrigerant flow dividers have been diversified to cope with the multiplication of refrigeration systems and the creation of multiple circuits as heat exchanger tubes become smaller in diameter, and their importance is increasing. .

Among the refrigerant flow dividers, copper molded products are often used because they are compact, low cost, and easy to manufacture and install.

Hereinafter, the above-mentioned conventional copper diverter and vessel will be explained with reference to the drawings.

Figures 4 to 5 show the shape of a conventional copper flow divider, Figure 6 shows how the copper flow divider is attached to a heat exchanger, and Figure 7 shows the heat exchanger being operated in a refrigeration cycle. This figure shows the state of the refrigerant inside the copper flow divider. In Figures 4 to 7, 1 is a copper flow divider, with an inlet 2 and an outlet 3 at the other end.
an inflow pipe 4 with a conical side 5 and a cylindrical body 6
, further comprising an inflow lower and a plurality of outflow pipes 9 each having an outflow port 8 at the other end. 10 is a refrigerant branch.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a heat exchanger that constitutes a refrigerant circuit using refrigerant pipes 12, and a flow divider 1 is attached to the side of the heat exchanger 11 to form a plurality of refrigerant circuits.

Regarding the copper shunt configured as above, the following is the sixth section.
The operation will be explained with reference to FIGS.

When the refrigerant A flowing through the closed circuit of the refrigeration cycle flows into the heat exchanger 11 , it flows into the flow divider 1 located upstream of the refrigerant A, where it is divided and sent to a plurality of refrigerant circuits formed by refrigerant pipes 12 .

In the flow divider 1, the refrigerant A becomes a two-phase flow of a gas phase A1 and a liquid phase A2, and flows in from the inlet 2. After passing through the inlet pipe 4, the refrigerant A passes through the cylindrical side 5 and the cylindrical body 6, and enters the branch part 10. Multiple outflow pipes 9
The flow is divided into a and 9b, and the flow is divided into outlet ports 8a and 9b, respectively.
The refrigerant flows out to the refrigerant pipes 12a and 12b through the refrigerant pipes 12a and 12b.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above configuration, the refrigerant A flows through the flow divider 1.
When flowing through the inflow pipe 4, the gas-liquid ratio is non-uniform in its cross section and the gas-liquid is separated, and this state continues even while passing through the conical side 59 and the cylindrical body 6. Therefore, the isthmus 10
, the outflow pipes 9a, 9b and the refrigerant pipe 12 following them.
There was a problem in that the weight of refrigerant A could not be evenly distributed to a and 12b.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a flow divider that can evenly divide the flow of refrigerant.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the flow divider of the present invention has a configuration in which an inflow pipe consisting of a bundle of small-diameter tubes bundled in a spiral shape is used at the inflow port of the flow divider.

According to the above-described configuration, the present invention divides the non-uniformly gas-liquid refrigerant flow in the conduit before flowing into the flow divider into small droplets by the rectification effect at the inlet of the small-diameter tube bundle constituting the inflow tube. In addition, the swirling and mixing effect caused by the blowing in different directions to the body of the small-diameter pipes bundled in a spiral at the outlet end of the inflow pipe promotes homogenization of the gas-liquid two-phase flow in the body of the flow divider, and each refrigerant is It divides the flow evenly into the pipes.

EMBODIMENTS Below, flow dividers according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 2 show the shape of a flow divider in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows the state of refrigerant inside the flow divider when the heat exchanger is operated in a refrigeration cycle. Figures 1 to 3
In the figure, reference numeral 13 denotes a flow divider, which has an inlet 14 and an outlet 15 at the other end, an inlet pipe 17 which is a spiral bundle of small diameter pipes 16, a conical side 18 and a cylindrical body 19, and an inlet 20 and other parts. It is composed of a plurality of outflow pipes 22 each having an outflow port 21 at the end. Reference numeral 23 denotes a refrigerant pipe, which is the same as in the conventional example, and is connected to the outlet 21.

The operation of the flow divider configured as described above will be explained below using FIG. 3.

Refrigerant B flowing through the closed circuit of the refrigeration cycle becomes a two-phase flow of gas phase B1 and liquid phase B2, and flows into the inflow pipe 17 from the inlet port 14. At this time, in the cross section of the inlet 14, the inlet pipe 1
The cross-sections of the plurality of small diameter tubes 16 constituting the tube 7 serve as a rectifying grid and break up the non-uniformly sized liquid phase B2 into droplets. The liquid phase and gas phase decomposed into droplets are transferred to the inlet pipe 17
While passing through the flow path of the small diameter pipes 16 bundled in a spiral shape, swirling momentum is obtained from the flow outlet 15 to the interior 1 of the flow divider body.
It will be leaked on 8.19. Since the small-diameter pipes 16 are bundled in a spiral, the respective small-diameter pipe outlets in the inflow pipe outlet 15 are formed facing in different directions with respect to the central axis of the inflow pipe 17. The liquid phase B2 and the gas phase B1 of the outflowing droplets are swirled, stirred, and mixed by the body meat due to the momentum obtained in the inflow pipe and flowing out in different directions with respect to the central axis, and the gas and liquid phases of the refrigerant B are The mixing state of the two-phase flow is homogenized. At this time, since the gas-liquid mixture state of the refrigerant B is uniform, the refrigerant B is evenly divided. The evenly divided refrigerant B flows out from the outlet 21 of each outflow pipe 22 to the refrigerant pipe 23.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by using the inflow pipe 17 consisting of a large number of small-diameter pipes 16 that are spirally bundled, the mixed state of the gas-liquid two-phase flow of the refrigerant B that has flowed into the flow divider 13 is made uniform. This allows the refrigerant to be equally divided into each outflow pipe 21 and the refrigerant pipe 23 that follows it.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention makes it possible to uniformly mix the gas-liquid two-phase flow of refrigerant and to equally divide the refrigerant by providing an inflow pipe in which a large number of small-diameter pipes are bundled in a spiral shape. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the general shape of a flow divider in the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the general shape of a conventional flow divider, Figure 5 is a sectional view of Figure 4, and Figure 6 shows how the flow divider shown in Figure 4 is installed in a heat exchanger. The attached figure is a perspective view showing the state, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the flow of refrigerant when the flow divider of FIG. 4 is in use. 13... Flow divider, 16... Small diameter pipe, 17... Inflow pipe, 22... Outflow pipe. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano (1 person)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A refrigerant flow divider characterized by comprising an inflow pipe made of a small diameter pipe bundle arranged in a spiral shape.