JPH0510577B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a heat pump with a heating tower that uses antifreeze and collects heat from the air.

``Conventional technology'' A heat pump with a heating tower that uses antifreeze to collect heat from the air relies on the air as a heat source for heating during the winter. Comparing this with a general-purpose air-source heat pump that also uses air as its heat source, (1) In the air-heat exchanger of a general-purpose air-source heat pump, frost and ice build up on the heat exchange surface, resulting in a decrease in capacity and
Although there are inconveniences such as an increase in the required power, a heat pump with a heating tower does not have these inconveniences.

(2) General-purpose air source heat pumps generally have no choice but to use high-pressure gas refrigerants due to the amount of refrigerant circulating gas, but low-pressure refrigerant Freon R11 may also be used in heat pump refrigerators with heating towers. It has the advantages of equipment safety, ease of handling, and energy saving.

(3) When using an air source heat pump to route refrigerant piping into a building, there are drawbacks such as loss of refrigerant due to leakage and unsafe conditions due to leakage, but heat pumps with heating towers do not have these concerns.

There are advantages such as

Conventional heat pumps with heating towers that use antifreeze to collect heat from the air have a closed antifreeze circulation system, and when the summer heating tower is used as a cooling tower, there is an antifreeze circulation circuit that stores and stores antifreeze. Some devices have an external antifreeze tank and replace the antifreeze outside the antifreeze circulation circuit with the antifreeze circulation circuit when operating the winter heat pump cycle.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" However, the concentration of antifreeze circulating in the antifreeze circulation system fluctuates, resulting in freezing of antifreeze, overflow of antifreeze to the outside due to an increase in the amount of antifreeze, and the need to replenish antifreeze due to decrease in antifreeze. There are concerns that problems such as pump cavitation may occur due to the progress of concentration.

In the conventional system equipped with the above-mentioned summer antifreeze storage tank, antifreeze is transferred from the summer antifreeze storage tank to the antifreeze circulation circuit of the heat pump during winter heating, and the antifreeze liquid in the antifreeze circulation circuit is diluted. Concentrated antifreeze is prepared separately in a tank and injected into the tank, and water is supplied to concentrate the antifreeze, which is done manually, making maintenance and management time-consuming.

However, the theoretical and demonstration test results of this heat pump with heating tower show that (1) antifreeze changes its state of concentration, balance, and dilution depending on the outside temperature, humidity, and load conditions;

(2) Changes in antifreeze concentration appear as changes in antifreeze level.

It is clear that

The present invention aims to solve the above problems based on the above considerations regarding a heat pump with a heating tower that collects heat from the air using antifreeze, and to provide a heat pump that can control the amount of antifreeze and its concentration. It is something.

[Structure of the invention]

"Means for Solving the Problems" The present invention is a heat pump with a heating tower that uses antifreeze and collects heat from the air, and the antifreeze is stored in the summer outside of the antifreeze circulation circuit that performs the heat pump cycle. An antifreeze tank is provided, and an antifreeze sending/receiving pipe is arranged between the antifreeze tank and the antifreeze circulation circuit, and the antifreeze circulation circuit is provided with means for detecting the amount of antifreeze in the antifreeze circulation circuit, This heat pump with a heating tower is characterized in that it is equipped with a control device that controls the amount of antifreeze passing through the antifreeze fluid transmission and reception piping based on the signal detected by the detection means to keep the amount of antifreeze fluid in the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit substantially constant.

"Operation" Upon receiving a signal indicating that the amount of antifreeze has been detected by the antifreeze amount detection means in the antifreeze circulation circuit, the control device sends and receives antifreeze to an antifreeze tank outside the circuit in case of an excess amount of antifreeze in the antifreeze circulation circuit. The control device causes the antifreeze to flow out through the piping, and in response to the signal of lack of antifreeze in the antifreeze circulation circuit, the control device flows the antifreeze from the antifreeze tank outside the circuit through the antifreeze sending and receiving piping to the antifreeze circulation circuit. Let it flow.

"Embodiments" Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 and 2 are flow sheets of a heat pump with a heating tower that uses antifreeze and collects heat from the air via the antifreeze.

The heat pump cycle is the same as that of a heat pump with a heating tower that collects heat through normal antifreeze. During the summer, the heating tower acts as a cooling tower. That is, during summer cooling, the water supply pipe 3 is connected to the lower water tank 6 of the cooling tower.
7 through a valve 26, and cooling water is stored therein. During summer cooling, valve 2 is closed as shown in Figure 1.
1, 22, 25, 26, 31, 32 are closed,
The valves 23, 24, 27, and 28 are open (symbol C indicates the closed state, symbol O indicates the open state), and the refrigerant is compressed by the main compressor 1 and sent to the cooling water condenser 2, where the refrigerant is pumped into the cooling water condenser 2. It is cooled and condensed by the heat exchanger through which the cooling water flows, and the pressure is reduced by the expansion valve 3.
Cooling water is fed into the cooler 4 and flows through a heat exchanger inside the cooler 4, where it is cooled and evaporated, and then sucked into the main compressor 1.

Cooling water is sent out from the lower water tank 6 by the pump 5 and sent to the cooling water condenser 2 through the valve 27, where it removes heat from the refrigerant and is dispersed in the air stream by the fan above the lower water tank 6 through the valve 28. Vessel 7
The water is dispersed, air-cooled, and falls into the lower water tank 6.

Water for cooling is pumped up from the hot/cold water tank 8 by a pump 9, enters the cooler 4 via a valve 23, is cooled by a refrigerant, and returns to the hot/cold water tank 8 via a valve 24.

Here, we will talk about replacing the cooling water and antifreeze in the lower water tank 6. A valve 3 that allows water to be discharged from the lower water tank 6 first when the heat pump is used from the summer cooling state to the winter season.
3 and drain the cooling water, and also drain the drain (not shown) in the middle of the piping to drain the cooling water.

Next, valves 27, 28, 32, and 3 are used to control the concentration and amount of antifreeze and to charge antifreeze from the antifreeze tank 11 provided for summer storage of antifreeze into the lower water tank 6.
3 is closed, a valve 31 with a check valve is opened, the pump 12 is operated to pump up the antifreeze from the antifreeze tank 11, and the antifreeze is poured into the lower water tank 6 from the sprayer 7 via the valve 31. Liquid level detector 4 provided in the lower water tank 6
1 detects the lower limit liquid level, in response to the signal, the liquid level controller 42 operates the pump 12 for a limited time and then stops it.

In addition, when switching from the winter state to summer cooling, when removing the antifreeze from the lower water tank 6, the winter state (Figure 2)
The antifreeze in the lower water tank 6 can be transferred to the antifreeze tank 11 by closing the valve 31 in the valves 21 to 28, 31, and 32, opening the power control valve 34, and operating the pump 5.

During winter heating, add antifreeze to the lower water tank 6 as described above.
, close valves 23, 24, 27, and 28, and close valve 2.
Leave numbers 1, 22, 25, 26, 31, and 32 open. During winter heating, as shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant is compressed by the main compressor 1, passes through an inactive cooling water condenser, and is sucked into the booster compressor. The refrigerant compressed by the booster compressor is sent to the hot water condenser 14, heats the water flowing through the heat exchanger in the hot water condenser 14, is depressurized by the expansion valve 15, and returns to the cooling water condenser 2. The refrigerant liquid in the cooling water condenser is further depressurized by the expansion valve 3 and flows back to the cooler 4, cools the antifreeze flowing through the cooler 4, evaporates itself, and is sucked into the main compressor 1 again.

Water sent from the cold/hot water tank 8 by the pump 9 enters the hot water condenser 14 via the valve 22, is heated, and returns to the cold/hot water tank 8 via the valve 21.

During heating, the antifreeze in the lower water tank 6 is sucked into the pump 5 and sent out, enters the cooler 4 via the valve 25, is cooled by removing heat from the refrigerant by the heat exchanger in the cooler 4, and then passes through the valve 26. The water is sprayed from the sprayer 7, heated by air, and stored in the lower water tank 6. In this way, the antifreeze circulation circuit that performs the heat pump cycle is configured.

The above-mentioned heat pump is a heat pump equipped with a heating tower that collects heat using antifreeze.

As described above, the heat pump with a heating tower includes the lower water tank 6, the pump 5, the valve 25, the cooler 4 as an outside air side heat exchanger using antifreeze as a medium, the valve 26, the diffuser 7, and the piping connecting these.

As is clear from the above description, in addition to the lower water tank 6 used as an antifreeze tank during the heat pump cycle, an antifreeze tank 11 is arranged outside the antifreeze circulation circuit that performs the heat pump cycle. Although the antifreeze tank 11 and the antifreeze circulation circuit share some piping, the piping for transmitting and receiving antifreeze between the antifreeze tank 11 and the lower water tank 6 may be independent of the antifreeze circulation circuit of the heat pump cycle.

A liquid level detector 4 is installed in the lower water tank 6 as a detection means to detect the amount of antifreeze in the antifreeze circulation circuit of the heat pump cycle.
1, this liquid level detector 41 is equipped with a sensor for detecting the upper limit liquid level and a sensor for detecting the lower limit liquid level in the lower water tank 6, respectively.
It is designed to emit a signal indicating the lower limit liquid level.

A control device that controls the amount of antifreeze passing through the antifreeze sending/receiving pipe based on the signal detected by the antifreeze amount detection means to keep the amount of antifreeze in the antifreeze circulation circuit constant includes the liquid level detector 41 and the liquid level detector 41. The liquid level controller 42 controls the pumps 5, 12 and the power control valve 34 in response to the signal.

The antifreeze in the antifreeze circulation circuit of a heat pump cycle has a light load, and when the outside temperature is high and the humidity is low, water evaporates and concentrates and the amount of antifreeze decreases; when the load is large, the outside temperature is low, and the humidity is high, the amount of antifreeze is The amount of antifreeze increases as it absorbs moisture and its concentration decreases. This increase or decrease in the amount of antifreeze appears as a change in the liquid level in the lower water tank 6.

During operation of the heat pump cycle, pump 12 is normally stopped and power control valve 34 is closed. Now, when the liquid level of the antifreeze in the lower water tank 6 decreases due to concentration and reaches the lower limit liquid level, the liquid level detector 41 sends a signal detecting the lower limit liquid level to the liquid level controller 42. The liquid level controller 42 operates the pump 12 to pump up the antifreeze from the antifreeze tank 11 and introduces the antifreeze from the sprayer 7 into the lower water tank 6 via the valve 31. When the liquid level in the lower water tank 6 rises, the signal indicating the lower limit liquid level is no longer output from the liquid level detector 41 when the liquid level is slightly higher than the lower limit water level by the offset amount of the liquid level detector 41. In response to the disappearance of the signal, the liquid level controller 42 operates the pump 12 for a limited time so that the liquid level in the lower water tank 6 becomes an intermediate liquid level between the upper and lower limit liquid levels.
stop.

During operation of the heat pump cycle, when the liquid level of the antifreeze in the lower water tank 6 rises due to water absorption and dilution and reaches the upper limit liquid level, the liquid level detector sends a signal detecting the upper limit liquid level to the liquid level controller 42. The liquid level controller 42 opens the power control valve 34 and releases antifreeze from the piping between the discharge side of the pump 5 and the valve 25 in the antifreeze circulation circuit to the antifreeze tank 11 through the valve 32 and the power control valve 34. Thus, when the liquid level in the lower water tank 6 decreases and the signal from the liquid level detector 41 disappears at a position where the liquid level falls below the upper limit liquid level by the offset amount of the liquid level detector 41, the liquid level is controlled in response to the disappearance of the signal. The device 42 is the power control valve 34
The power control valve 34 is closed at an intermediate liquid level between the upper and lower limit liquid levels of the lower water tank 6 by opening the valve for a limited time.

The antifreeze tank 11 serves as an antifreeze storage tank during the summer, but has a capacity that is larger than the antifreeze capacity of the antifreeze circulation circuit of the heat pump cycle to control the liquid level in the lower water tank 6 during the winter.

As a result of such liquid level control in the lower water tank 6, when the liquid level in the lower water tank 6 reaches the lower limit level, in the concentrated state, it is diluted by the antifreeze in the antifreeze tank 11, which has a lower concentration, and the liquid level in the lower water tank 6 reaches the upper limit. The antifreeze tank 11 has a higher concentration when the liquid level reaches a diluted state.
By mixing the antifreeze solutions, the concentration increases, and these steps are performed alternately to adjust the concentration.

For example, the antifreeze tank 11 may be provided with a known means for heating and concentrating antifreeze or a tank for adding concentrated antifreeze as an auxiliary means.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention is a heat pump with a heating tower that uses antifreeze and collects heat from the air, and includes an antifreeze tank for storing antifreeze in summer outside the antifreeze circulation circuit that performs the heat pump cycle. and the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit, wherein the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit is provided with means for detecting the amount of antifreeze fluid in the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit, and the antifreeze fluid is detected by the signal detected by the antifreeze fluid amount detection means in the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit. The heat pump with a heating tower is characterized by being equipped with a control device that controls the amount of antifreeze that passes through the transmission and reception piping to keep the amount of antifreeze in the antifreeze circulation circuit almost constant. The amount of liquid flowing can be kept almost constant, and the concentration of antifreeze can be kept almost constant. The amount of antifreeze increases due to water absorption and is prevented from overflowing from the antifreeze circulation circuit to the outside, the amount of antifreeze decreases and the amount of antifreeze circulating becomes insufficient, and the concentration progresses and the viscosity increases, making it impossible to circulate the antifreeze sufficiently. is avoided. These will automate antifreeze management, which previously required manual labor.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are flow sheets of an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Main compressor, 2... Cooling water condenser, 3
...Expansion valve, 4...Cooler, 5...Pump, 6...
... Lower water tank, 7 ... Spreader, 8 ... Cold and hot water tank, 9
... Pump, 11 ... Antifreeze tank, 12 ... Pump, 13 ... Booster compressor, 14 ... Hot water condenser, 15 ... Expansion valve, 21-29, 31-3
3...Valve, 34...Power control valve, 41...Liquid level detector, 42...Liquid level controller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A heat pump with a heating tower that uses antifreeze and collects heat from the air, with an antifreeze tank for storing antifreeze in the summer outside the antifreeze circulation circuit that performs the heat pump cycle, and the antifreeze tank and the above In a device in which an antifreeze fluid transmission/reception pipe is arranged between the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit and the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit, the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit is provided with means for detecting the amount of antifreeze fluid in the antifreeze fluid circulation circuit, and the sending and receiving of the antifreeze fluid is performed based on a signal detected by the antifreeze fluid amount detection means. A heat pump with a heating tower, characterized in that it is equipped with a control device that controls the amount of antifreeze passing through piping to keep the amount of antifreeze in an antifreeze circulation circuit almost constant.