JPH10292185A - Refrigerating machine oil for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a refrigerating machine oil for air conditioner capable of making the leakage of refrigerant visually and readily recognizable. SOLUTION: A HC-based refrigerant and a refrigerating machine oil are sealed in a refrigerating cycle and are circulated through a compressor 21 and heat exchangers 11 and 23 in the state in which the refrigerant and the oil are mixed. HC-based refrigerant is colorless and transparent and the refrigerating machine oil is originally transparent, but a prescribed coloring matter is added to the refrigerating machine oil in the case of this embodiment. The coloring matter is used for imparting bright color such as bright red or bright yellow to the refrigerant and when the refrigerating machine oil is released into the air with the refrigerant, the periphery of leaked part is vividly colored. Furthermore, a coloring matter which is harmless to human bodies and inert to refrigerants and does not corrode a member constituting a freezing cycle is used as the coloring matter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerating machine oil for an air conditioner which makes it easy to visually recognize the leakage of a refrigerant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, HCFC-based refrigerants such as R22 having a small ozone layer depletion coefficient have been used as refrigerants for refrigeration systems. There is a demand for the use of no alternative refrigerants. As the alternative refrigerant, H407 such as R407C or R410A is used.
Although FC-based mixed refrigerants are promising, global warming cannot be suppressed by using them. Therefore, research and development of HC-based refrigerants such as R290 having a zero global warming potential and air conditioners using the refrigerants have been promoted.

[0003]

Incidentally, HC-based refrigerants such as R290, which is propane gas, are generally highly flammable, and therefore, there is a problem in disaster prevention when leakage occurs. In addition, when a large amount of refrigerant leaks in a closed room, the oxygen concentration in the room rapidly decreases, and the resident may be in a state of lack of oxygen. Therefore, in the air conditioner described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-38858 or the like, the leakage of the refrigerant is determined by a refrigerant leakage sensor, and an alarm is generated by an alarm device. However, this type of air conditioner relies solely on hearing to recognize the leak, and in addition to cases where the occupants have hearing impairment, when the refrigerant leak sensor or alarm is out of order, etc. No effect to prevent.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above situation,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerating machine oil for an air conditioner that makes it easy to visually recognize leakage of a refrigerant.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerating machine oil filled with a refrigerant in a refrigerating cycle of an air conditioner, wherein a predetermined pigment is added. Suggest something.

According to the present invention, when the refrigerant leaks from the indoor heat exchanger, the pipe connection, or the like, the colored refrigerating machine oil is ejected from the leak along with the refrigerant, so that the resident can easily leak the refrigerant. Can be recognized.

According to the invention of claim 2, according to claim 1,
In the refrigerating machine oil for an air conditioner of the present invention, it is proposed that the coloring matter gives the refrigerating machine oil a bright color.

According to the present invention, when the refrigerant leaks from the indoor heat exchanger, the pipe connection, or the like, a brightly colored gas is ejected from the leaked portion, so that the resident can easily and quickly recognize the leak. .

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, according to claim 1
Alternatively, in the refrigerating machine oil for an air conditioner, the dye is inactive with respect to the refrigerant and does not affect the components of the refrigeration cycle.

According to the present invention, the addition of the dye does not change the physical properties of the refrigerant, and does not cause corrosion of the heat exchangers and pipes, swelling of rubbers, and the like.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a refrigerant circuit and a control system of an air conditioner according to the present invention, in which a solid line indicates a refrigerant circuit (refrigeration cycle), and a dashed line indicates a flow of a control signal. 2 and 3 show the internal structure of the air conditioner by a perspective view and a longitudinal section. The air conditioner of the present embodiment is a so-called integrated type in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are integrated, and an HC-based flammable refrigerant (R29) is used as a refrigerant circulating in a refrigerant circuit.
0) is used.

The air conditioner 1 is installed so as to penetrate a wall 3 of a building, and the inside thereof is divided into an indoor part 7 and an outdoor part 9 by a partition plate 5. The indoor part 7 includes an indoor heat exchanger 11, an indoor fan 13, a capillary tube 15
Etc. are arranged. The outdoor part 9 includes the compressor 2
1, an outdoor heat exchanger 23, an outdoor fan 25, an accumulator 27, a strainer 29, and the like. In the figure, 3
Reference numeral 1 denotes a double-supported fan motor arranged in the outdoor portion 9 for driving the indoor fan 13 and the outdoor fan 25 coaxially. Respective devices constituting the refrigerant circuit are connected by refrigerant pipes 33 to 40 provided for circulation of a gas refrigerant or a liquid refrigerant.

An electronic control unit (hereinafter, referred to as an ECU) 51 including a CPU, an input / output interface, a ROM, a RAM, and the like is installed in the indoor section 7. The input interface of the ECU 51 is connected to a room temperature sensor 53 for detecting a room temperature, an outside temperature sensor 55 for detecting an outside temperature, a refrigerant leak sensor 57 for judging a refrigerant leak based on a change in the oxygen concentration of the indoor part 7, and the like. And
The output interface includes the compressor 21 and the fan motor 3
1 and so on are connected.

In the case of this embodiment, the capillary tube 1
Electromagnetic shut-off valves 61 and 63 which are provided for shutting off the refrigerant circuit and are operated by control signals from the ECU 51 are provided on the upstream side of the air conditioner 5 and on the downstream side of the indoor heat exchanger 11. Also, the partition plate 5
Is connected to the indoor part 7 and the outdoor part 9 so that the indoor part 7
Communication port 65 that allows air to flow from outside to outdoor section 9
Are formed, and a damper 67 for opening and closing the communication port 65 and an electromagnetic actuator 69 for driving the damper are provided. Further, an alarm buzzer 71 is provided in the indoor part 7, and emits an alarm sound when refrigerant leaks. The electromagnetic actuator 69 and the alarm buzzer 71 are respectively
It is connected to the output interface of U51 and operates by a control signal from the ECU 51 similarly to the electromagnetic shutoff valves 61 and 63.

The refrigeration cycle is filled with HC-based refrigerant and refrigerating machine oil, and circulates in the compressor 21 and the heat exchangers 11 and 23 in a mixed state. The HC-based refrigerant is colorless and transparent, and the refrigerating machine oil is originally light-colored and transparent. However, in the case of the present embodiment, a predetermined pigment is added to the refrigerating machine oil. The pigment imparts a bright color, such as bright red or bright yellow, to the refrigerant. When the refrigerant oil is released into the air together with the refrigerant, the periphery of the leakage site is dyed vividly. In addition, in the pigment,
In addition to being harmless to the human body, those that are inert to the refrigerant and do not attack the components of the refrigeration cycle, for example, pigments are used.

Next, the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling operation will be described.

The gas refrigerant drawn into the compressor 21 from the accumulator 27 via the refrigerant pipe 40 is adiabatic-compressed to become a high-temperature high-pressure gas refrigerant, which becomes a high-pressure gas refrigerant.
Is discharged from. The discharged high-pressure gas refrigerant flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 via the refrigerant pipe 33. The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant is cooled by the outside air while passing through the inside of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 and becomes a liquid refrigerant by being condensed. Then, the refrigerant pipe 34, the strainer 29, the refrigerant pipe 35, the electromagnetic shutoff valve 61, The refrigerant flows into the capillary tube 15 via the refrigerant pipe 36.

The liquid refrigerant is decompressed by the capillary tube 15, flows into the indoor heat exchanger 11 via the refrigerant pipe 37, and is vaporized while passing through the indoor heat exchanger 11, to become a gas refrigerant. The indoor air sucked by the indoor fan 13 is cooled by the latent heat of vaporization. The gas refrigerant vaporized in the indoor heat exchanger 11 flows into the accumulator 27 via the refrigerant pipe 38, the electromagnetic shut-off valve 63, and the refrigerant pipe 39, and is sucked into the compressor 21 again from the refrigerant pipe 40.

In the case where the refrigerant leaks in the indoor part 7 for some reason, in the present embodiment, the refrigerant leak sensor 57 determines the leak from the decrease in the oxygen concentration.
Processing such as suppression of leakage by the ECU 51 is performed. That is, when the detection signal indicating the leakage of the refrigerant is input from the refrigerant leakage sensor 57, the ECU 51 stops the compressor 17 and the fan motor 31, and at the same time, simultaneously stops the electromagnetic shutoff valves 61 and 63.
To shut off the refrigerant circuit, and the electromagnetic actuator 6
9 drives the damper 67 in the opening direction.

Then, when the compressor 17 is stopped, the flow of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit is stopped, the pressure of the refrigerant is reduced, and the leakage speed of the refrigerant is rapidly reduced. At the same time, even if leakage occurs in the main body of the indoor heat exchanger 11 or the capillary tube 15 or their pipe connection due to the refrigerant circuit being shut off, the inside of the compressor 17 and the outdoor heat exchanger 23
The refrigerant inside will not leak. That is, the refrigerant leakage part in the refrigeration cycle is separated from the other parts in the refrigeration cycle, and the leakage of the refrigerant is prevented from reaching other parts. Further, when the damper 67 is opened, the leaked refrigerant is discharged outside through the communication port 65, and
Fresh air is also introduced. In addition, when the fan motor 31 and the like are stopped, sparks as an ignition source do not occur, and the combustion of the refrigerant and the like hardly occur.

On the other hand, the ECU 51 causes the alarm buzzer 71 to emit an alarm sound in parallel with the above processing, thereby causing the occupant to recognize the leakage of the refrigerant by hearing, but at the same time, the occupant can easily recognize the leakage of the refrigerant visually. Can be recognized. That is,
When the refrigerant leaks, the periphery of the leak site is dyed red or yellow by the dye added to the refrigerant even if the amount of leakage is small. As a result, even if the resident has a hearing or visual impairment, the resident can recognize the leakage of the refrigerant and take measures such as opening windows and doors and evacuating from the living room. Can be.

As described above, in the air conditioner of the present embodiment, when the refrigerant leaks, the amount of the leak is minimized, ventilation and ignition are prevented, and the refrigerant is leaked to the occupants by hearing and vision. Because of the recognition, high safety could be ensured while using a flammable refrigerant.

The description of the specific embodiment has been completed.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above.
For example, the above embodiment adopts the present invention in a wall-mounted air conditioner, but may be applied to a separate type air conditioner in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are separated, or a heat pump type. May be applied to the air conditioner of the present invention.
Further, the fan motor may be an explosion-proof type, and when the damper of the communication port is opened at the time of leakage of the refrigerant, the indoor fan and the outdoor fan may be driven to positively discharge the refrigerant and take in the outside air. The dye to be added to the refrigerating machine oil can be appropriately selected depending on compatibility with the refrigerant, ease of wiping when adhered to furniture, cost, and the like.

[0024]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since a predetermined pigment is added to the refrigerating machine oil filled together with the refrigerant in the refrigerating cycle of the air conditioner, the refrigerant leaks from the indoor heat exchanger, a pipe connection part or the like. In this case, the colored refrigerating machine oil will squirt out of the leaked portion together with the refrigerant, so that the resident can easily recognize the leak.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the refrigerating machine oil for an air conditioner of the first aspect, the pigment imparts a vivid color to the refrigerating machine oil. When the refrigerant leaks, a brightly-colored gas is ejected from the leaking part, so that the resident can easily and quickly recognize the leak.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the refrigeration oil for an air conditioner according to the first or second aspect, the pigment is inert to the refrigerant and does not affect components of the refrigeration cycle. Because of the addition of the dye,
The physical properties of the refrigerant do not change, and corrosion of the heat exchanger and piping, swelling of rubber, and the like do not occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a refrigerant circuit and a control system of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air conditioner 3 Wall 5 Partition plate 7 Indoor side 9 Outdoor side 11 Indoor heat exchanger 21 Compressor 23 Outdoor heat exchanger 31 Fan motor 51 ECU 61, 63 Electromagnetic cutoff valve 65 Communication port 67 Damper 69 Actuator

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Shigeya Ishigaki 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masanori Akutsu 2-chome, Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. 5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerating machine oil filled with a refrigerant in a refrigerating cycle of an air conditioner, wherein a predetermined coloring matter is added to the refrigerating machine oil. 2. The refrigerating machine oil for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the pigment imparts a bright color to the refrigerating machine oil. 3. The refrigeration system for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the pigment is inert to the refrigerant and does not affect components of the refrigeration cycle. Machine oil.