JPH11223357A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance an evaporation treatment capacity for drain water at a condenser, in an evaporation treatment of drain water produced by an evaporator with radiation from the condenser. SOLUTION: In a spot type air conditioner 1 provided with an evaporator 7 and a condenser 8 in a casing, drain water generated by the evaporator 7 is recovered by a drain pan 10 and thereafter is pumped up by a drain pump 25 and then is supplied to the condenser 8 by way of a water supply tube 27. Such water is evaporated by the radiation from the condenser 8. The midst portion of the water supply tube 27 is adhered to a blow-off gas tube 33a of a refrigerating circuit 30 for heating drain water with a blow-off gas refrigerant.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an improvement in an apparatus in which drain water generated in an evaporator is subjected to an evaporative treatment by heat radiation from a condenser.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-29649
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0, there is known an apparatus in which an evaporator and a condenser are provided in a casing and drain water generated in the evaporator is subjected to an evaporating process by heat radiation from the condenser.
As a specific configuration, a use side air passage and a heat source side air passage are formed in a casing, and an evaporator of a refrigerant circuit is installed in the use side air passage, and a condenser is installed in the heat source side air passage. That is, the gas refrigerant introduced into the condenser is condensed by the air flowing through the heat source side air passage, and the air flowing through the use side air passage is cooled by the refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator. Thereby, cold air of a predetermined temperature is generated in the use side air passage and supplied to the room. In addition, a drain pan is arranged at a lower portion of the evaporator and a lower portion of the condenser, respectively, and a drain pump is provided at the drain pan below the evaporator. A drain hose is connected to the discharge side of the drain pump, and the downstream end of the drain hose is opened at the upper part of the condenser. As a result, the drain water generated in the evaporator and collected in the drain pan below the evaporator is supplied to the condenser via the drain pump and the drain hose, and is evaporated by heat radiation from the condenser. A drain tank is connected to a drain pan below the condenser, and drain water that cannot be evaporated by the condenser and has fallen into the drain pan is collected in the drain tank.

[0003]

However, in the above configuration, the drain water collected in the drain pan is directly supplied to the condenser through the drain hose. That is, relatively low temperature drain water is supplied to the condenser. For this reason,
It was difficult to quickly evaporate the drain water. Because, by radiating heat from the condenser, once the relatively low-temperature drain water is heated to raise the temperature, it must be further heated,
This drain water cannot be evaporated. Therefore, the actual situation is that most of the drain water supplied to the condenser is recovered in the drain tank without evaporating only by increasing the temperature.

[0004] As a result, the amount of drain water collected in the drain tank per unit time increases, and before the drain tank is filled with drain water, drainage work for draining water from the tank must be performed frequently. Will not be. In order to avoid such a situation, it is conceivable to provide a large drain tank in advance, but this leads to an increase in the size of the entire apparatus and is not practical.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method in which drain water generated in an evaporator is subjected to an evaporative treatment by heat radiation from a condenser. The purpose of the present invention is to improve the drainage water evaporation performance in a vessel.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention raises the temperature of drain water on a path for supplying the drain water to the condenser, and supplies the drain water having the increased temperature to the condenser. It was made to supply.

Specifically, a first solution is to provide an evaporator (7) and a condenser (8) of a refrigeration circuit (30) in a casing (2) as shown in FIGS. Drain water generated along with the evaporation of the refrigerant in the evaporator (7) is supplied to the condenser (8) by the drain water supply means (29), and the drain water is discharged by the radiation of the refrigerant condensed in the condenser (8). An air conditioner that evaporates water is assumed. For this air conditioner, drain water supply means (29) is configured to heat the drain water with a heat source having a higher temperature than the drain water, and then supply the water to the condenser (8).

According to this specific matter, the drain water generated in the evaporator (7) with the operation of the air conditioner is supplied to the condenser (8) by the drain water supply means (29), and the condenser (8) ) Is evaporated by the heat radiation from). At this time, the drain water is heated by a heat source having a higher temperature than the drain water before being supplied to the condenser (8). Thus, the condenser (8)
Is supplied with drain water having a relatively high temperature, and the drain water can be evaporated with a small amount of heating.
A rapid evaporation process is performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the refrigerating circuit (30) includes a compressor (31), a condenser (8), a pressure reducing mechanism (32), and an evaporator (7). The connection is made by a pipe (33). The heat source is a refrigerant flowing through the gas pipe (33a) on the discharge side of the compressor (31).

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the refrigeration circuit (30) is configured in the same manner as that of the second aspect, and the heat source is the condenser (8) and the pressure reducing mechanism. The refrigerant flows through the high-pressure liquid pipe (33b) connecting the refrigerant pipe (32).

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the refrigeration circuit (30) is configured in the same manner as that of the second aspect, and a heat source is provided by radiating heat from the compressor (31). And

According to a fifth aspect, in the second or third aspect, the drain water supply means (29) is provided with a water supply pipe (27) for supplying drain water to the condenser (8). The water supply pipe (27) is joined to the outer surfaces of the pipes (33a) and (33b) of the refrigeration circuit (30) so that the drain water in the water supply pipe (27) receives the heat of the refrigerant.

According to these specific items, the drain water can be heated by effectively utilizing the heat of the refrigeration circuit (30). In particular, according to the second and third solutions, the cooling heat of the drain water can be contributed to the cooling of the refrigerant, and the refrigeration capacity can be improved. Further, according to the fourth solution, a special means for cooling the compressor (31) can be omitted.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a spot type air conditioner will be described.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the spot type air conditioner (1), and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part in the air conditioner (1). FIG. As shown in these figures, the air conditioner (1)
In the casing (2), two compartments (4,
5), each of which is provided with an air inlet (4a, 5a) and an air outlet (4b, 5b). The room on the left side in FIG. 1 is configured as a use side room (4) for generating conditioned air, while the room on the right side is configured as a heat source side room (5) for flowing heat source side air. An evaporator (7) and an evaporator fan (7a) are arranged in the use side chamber (4), and a condenser (8) and a condenser fan (8a) are arranged in the heat source side chamber (5).

The evaporator (7) and the condenser (8) constitute a refrigeration circuit (30) shown in FIG. This refrigeration circuit (30)
A compressor (31), a condenser (8), a capillary tube (32) as a pressure reducing mechanism, and an evaporator (7) are connected in order by a refrigerant pipe (33). The compressor (31) and the condenser (8) are connected by a discharge gas pipe (33a). The condenser (8) and the capillary tube (32) are connected by a high-pressure liquid pipe (33b). The capillary tube (32) and the evaporator (7) are connected by a low-pressure liquid pipe (33c). The evaporator (7) and the compressor (31) are connected by a suction gas pipe (33d). The intake gas pipe (33d) is provided with an accumulator (34). This constitutes a refrigeration circuit (30) for performing a vapor compression refrigeration cycle. In addition, (35) in FIG. 3 is a hot gas bypass passage, and an on-off valve (36) is provided. This open / close valve (3
6) Open during overload (when the discharge gas pressure of the compressor (31) rises above a predetermined value), and release part of the discharge gas to the evaporator.
Bypass to the upstream side of (7).

Each of the fans (7a, 8a) is connected to a partition (3).
Is directly connected to the drive shaft (9a) of the fan motor (9) supported by the fan motor (9), and the air suction ports (4a, 5
An airflow is generated from a) toward the air outlets (4b, 5b) (see arrows in FIG. 2). In other words, the heat source side room
A configuration in which the refrigerant flowing through the condenser (8) is cooled and condensed by the air flowing through the (5), and the air flowing through the utilization side chamber (4) is cooled by the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator (7) to generate conditioned air. Has become. An air outlet (not shown) is connected to the air outlet (4b) of the use side chamber (4), and the outlet air guides the cool air to a predetermined area.

A drain pan (10) is provided below the casing (2) of the air conditioner (1). This drain pan (1
0) is arranged from the lower part of the evaporator (7) to the lower part of the condenser (8). That is, the lower part of the evaporator (7) and the lower part of the condenser (8) are covered by one drain pan (10). Hereinafter, the drain pan (10) will be described.

The drain pan (10) comprises a bottom plate (11) and the bottom plate (11).
And a peripheral wall (12) erected on the outer periphery of (11).
The bottom plate (11) is disposed at a position spaced from the lower end of the partition wall (3) by a predetermined distance.
The mutual flow between the use side chamber (4) and the heat source side chamber (5) stored in the drain water stored in (0) is enabled.

A weir (13) is provided upright at the center of the bottom plate (11). This weir (13) is provided at a position adjacent to the partition wall (3) in the use side chamber (4) and extends in the direction of extension of the evaporator (7) (FIG. 1).
Of the drain pan (10). Each end of the drain pan (10) is connected to each peripheral wall (12). This allows
The interior of the drain pan (10) has an evaporator area (A) located closer to the evaporator (7) than the weir (13), and a condenser area (B) located closer to the condenser (8) than the weir (13). ).

The height of the weir (13) is determined by the surrounding wall (1).
The height is set lower than 2). For this reason, when the water level of the drain water that has fallen from the evaporator (7) to the evaporator area (A) of the drain pan (10) rises, the drain water rises above the upper end of the weir (13). It flows over the weir (13) into the condenser area (B) of the drain pan (10).

A drain hole is provided in the condenser area (B) of the drain pan (10).
(14) is formed. The drain hole (14) is provided with a drain socket (15). As a result, the drain water flowing over the weir (13) and flowing into the condenser area (B) is discharged to the drain hole (14).
It is to be discharged from.

A drain tank (20) is provided below the drain pan (10), and a drain recovery hole is provided on the upper surface of the drain tank (20) at a position facing the drain socket (15). (21) is formed. The lower end of the drain socket (15) is connected to the drain recovery hole (21), and the drain water discharged from the drain hole (14) is guided to the drain tank (20) to be recovered. ing.

In the air conditioner (1) of the present embodiment, the drain water is evaporated by heat radiation from the condenser (8). Hereinafter, a configuration for the drain water evaporation processing will be described.

A drain pump (25) is disposed in the use side chamber (4). The drain pump (25) is attached to the partition wall (3), and a suction pipe (26) is connected to a suction port provided at a lower end, and an upstream end of the suction pipe (26) is connected to a drain pan.
It is open at the bottom of the evaporator area (A) in (10). On the other hand, a discharge port is formed on a side surface of the drain pump (25), and a water supply pipe (27) is connected to the discharge port. The downstream end of the water supply pipe (27) is branched and opened at the upper end of the condenser (8). For this reason, drain water stored in the drain pan (10) is pumped up by the drain pump (25), and the water supply pipe (2
It is configured to be supplied to the condenser (8) via 7).

The feature of this embodiment is that the water supply pipe (27)
In the form of piping. As shown in FIG. 3, this water supply pipe (27)
Is connected to the discharge gas pipe (33a) of the refrigeration circuit (30). Thus, heat exchange is performed between the drain water flowing through the water supply pipe (27) and the discharge gas refrigerant flowing through the discharge gas pipe (33a). As a connection structure of the two pipes (27, 33a), as shown in FIG. 4, a part of the water supply pipe (27) is bent in a U-shape to form a heat exchange part (27a). (27a) is joined to the outer peripheral surface of the discharge gas pipe (33a) by means such as brazing. The drain pan (10), the drain pump (25) and the water supply pipe (27) as described above constitute a drain water supply means (29) according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the condenser (8)
The radiating fins extend in the horizontal direction, so that the drain water supplied from the water supply pipe (27) stays as long as possible. On the other hand, the evaporator (7) has a configuration in which the radiation fins extend in the vertical direction, and the generated drain water quickly drops.

-Description of Operation- Next, the operation of the air conditioner configured as described above will be described. During this operation, the compressor (31) of the refrigeration circuit (30) is driven, and the fans (7a, 8a) are rotated with the driving of the fan motor (9). Refrigeration circuit (30) compressor
The gas refrigerant discharged from (31) reaches the condenser (8) and is cooled and condensed by the air flowing through the heat source side chamber (5). After the condensed liquid refrigerant expands in the capillary tube (32), it reaches the evaporator (7) and evaporates by performing heat exchange with the air flowing through the use side chamber (4). Thus, the air is cooled to generate conditioned air. Thereafter, the evaporated refrigerant is recovered by the compressor (31). Such a refrigerant circulation operation is performed. The conditioned air generated in the use side room (4) is
Air is blown out from the air outlet (4b) of (4) and guided to a predetermined area by a blowing nozzle to air-condition (cool) the predetermined area.
I do.

-Drain water treatment operation-Next, the drain water treatment operation generated in the evaporator (7) will be described. The drain water generated in the evaporator (7) is
It falls from (7) and is stored in the evaporator area (A) of the drain pan (10).

The stored drain water is supplied to a drain pump (25)
Is sucked into a drain pump (25) from a suction pipe (26) connected to the condenser (8), and supplied (dropped) to the condenser (8) from a top end thereof through a water supply pipe (27) (arrow II in FIG. 1). reference). The drain water supplied to the condenser (8) evaporates due to heat radiation from the condenser (8), turns into steam, and is discharged from the air outlet (5b) together with the air flowing through the heat source side chamber (5). . That is, the drain water is evaporated by the condenser (8). The drain pan (1) is not evaporated by the condenser (8).
The drain water that has fallen into the condenser area (B) in (0) is discharged from the drain hole (14) and collected in the drain tank (20) (arrow II in FIG. 1).
I).

As a feature of this embodiment, a water supply pipe (27)
Drain water flowing therethrough is performing heat exchange with the gas refrigerant in the discharge gas pipe (33a). As a result, the temperature of the drain water rises by receiving heat from the gas refrigerant. The drain water whose temperature has increased in this way is supplied to the condenser (8). Therefore, only a small amount of heat is required to evaporate the drain water, and most of the drain water supplied to the condenser (8) can be evaporated by heat radiation from the condenser (8).

-Effects of Embodiment- As described above, in this embodiment, the drain water generated in the evaporator (7) and supplied to the condenser (8) is heated by the refrigerant in the refrigeration circuit (30), The drain water treatment capacity of the condenser (8) is improved. For this reason, the amount of drain water collected in the drain tank (20) can be reduced, and it is not necessary to frequently perform the operation of draining the drain water in the drain tank (20), so that maintenance can be saved. . Further, the cooling heat of the drain water can be made to contribute to the cooling of the discharged gas refrigerant, and the refrigerating capacity can be improved.

(Modification) In the above-described embodiment, the drain water is heated by the refrigerant in the discharge gas pipe (33a). However, other configurations include the following.

First, the water supply pipe (27) is joined to the outer surface of the high-pressure liquid pipe (33b). That is, heat is exchanged between the liquid refrigerant flowing through the high-pressure liquid pipe (33b) and the drain water flowing through the water supply pipe (27). With this configuration,
The drain water treatment capacity of the condenser (8) can be improved. Further, the refrigerant flowing through the high-pressure liquid pipe (33b) can be cooled by the drain water to be in a supercooled state, so that the refrigerating capacity can be improved.

As another configuration, the water supply pipe (27) is brought into contact with the outer surface of the compressor (31). Specifically, the water supply pipe (27) is wound around the casing of the compressor (31) a plurality of times. That is, the drain water flowing through the water supply pipe (27) is
Heating is performed by heat radiation from 1).
With this configuration also, the drain water treatment capacity of the condenser (8) can be improved. In particular, according to this configuration,
Special means for cooling the compressor (31) can be dispensed with, and the configuration of the entire apparatus can be simplified.

In this embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a spot type air conditioner has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a wind fan type air conditioner and the like. It is.

The heat source for heating the drain water is not limited to the above. For example, fan motor
The heat radiation from (9) may be used.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the drain water is supplied to the condenser (8) for the air conditioner in which the drain water generated in the evaporator (7) is subjected to the evaporative treatment by the heat radiation from the condenser (8). The temperature of the drain water rises on the path where the drain water rises.
To be supplied. For this reason, in the condenser (8), the drain water can be evaporated with a small amount of heating,
The drain water treatment capacity of the condenser (8) can be improved.

According to the present invention, the refrigeration circuit (3
The drain water can be heated by effectively utilizing the heat of 0). In particular, according to the invention described in claims 2 and 3,
Since the cooling heat of the drain water can contribute to the cooling of the refrigerant, it is possible to improve both the drain water treatment capacity and the refrigeration capacity. Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 4, since the compressor (31) can be cooled by the drain water, a special means for this cooling can be omitted, and the configuration of the entire apparatus is simplified. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an internal structure of a spot type air conditioner in an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part in the air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a piping diagram of a refrigeration circuit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a connection state between a discharge pipe and a water supply pipe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (1) Air conditioner (2) Casing (7) Evaporator (8) Condenser (27) Water supply pipe (29) Drain water supply means (30) Refrigeration circuit (31) Compressor (32) Capillary tube (decompression mechanism) (33) Refrigerant pipe (33a) Discharge gas pipe (33b) High-pressure liquid pipe

Claims (5)

[Claims] An evaporator (7) and a condenser (8) of a refrigeration circuit (30) are provided in a casing (2), and drain water generated by refrigerant evaporation in the evaporator (7) is drained. An air conditioner which supplies the water to the condenser (8) by the water supply means (29) and evaporates the drain water by heat radiation accompanying the condensation of the refrigerant in the condenser (8), wherein the drain water supply means ( 29) heats the drain water with a heat source having a higher temperature than the drain water, and then heats the condenser (8)
An air conditioner, characterized in that it is supplied to an air conditioner. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the refrigeration circuit (30) includes a compressor (31), a condenser (8), and a pressure reducing mechanism (3).
2) an air conditioner, wherein an evaporator (7) is connected by a refrigerant pipe (33), and the heat source is a refrigerant flowing through a gas pipe (33a) on the discharge side of the compressor (31). apparatus. 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the refrigeration circuit (30) includes a compressor (31), a condenser (8), and a pressure reducing mechanism (3).
2), an evaporator (7) is connected by a refrigerant pipe (33), and the heat source is a refrigerant flowing through a high-pressure liquid pipe (33b) connecting the condenser (8) and the pressure reducing mechanism (32). An air conditioner characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the refrigeration circuit (30) includes a compressor (31), a condenser (8), and a pressure reducing mechanism (3).
2) An air conditioner, wherein the evaporator (7) is connected by a refrigerant pipe (33), and the heat source is heat radiation from the compressor (31). 5. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the drain water supply means (29) includes a water supply pipe (27) for supplying drain water to the condenser (8). (27) is the refrigeration circuit
(30) is connected to the outer surface of the pipes (33a) and (33b)
7) An air conditioner characterized in that the drain water inside receives the heat of the refrigerant.