JPH11287526A - Stirling refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a Stirling refrigerator to use other regenerator than a heat storage type regenerator. SOLUTION: A Stirling refrigerator consists of a pair of refrigerator units 1a and 1b and drives one refrigerator unit 1a and the other refrigerator unit 1b with a phase difference of 180 deg.. The regenerator of one refrigerator unit 1a and the regenerator of the other refrigerator unit 1b are integrally interjoined, and by the integrally interjoined regenerators, actuation gas of one refrigeration cycle and actuation gas of the other refrigeration cycle cross each other or are opposed to each other. This constitution uses other regenerator than a heat storage type regenerator, whereby since ventilation resistance of a regenerator 11 is decreased and the time constant of a heat regeneration cycle is also low, high speed operation is practicable and a refrigeration output per unit weight is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a Stirling refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a Stirling refrigerating machine is known as a reverse cycle of a Stirling engine. Since it uses natural gas (helium, nitrogen gas, etc.) as a refrigerant, it is harmless to the environment. It is excellent in that it has a high Carnot efficiency, is relatively simple in structure, and is easy to produce at extremely low temperatures.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a conventional Stirling refrigerator.

The Stirling refrigerator 401 includes a compression cylinder 403b forming a compression chamber for working gas, and a compression piston 404b reciprocating in the compression cylinder 403b.
And an expansion cylinder 403a forming an expansion chamber for the working gas.
, An expansion piston 404a reciprocating in the expansion cylinder 403a, a compression piston 404b and an expansion piston 4
04a with a phase difference of 90 °.

[0005] Expansion piston 404a, compression piston 40
4b is connected to the crankshaft 406 by piston rods 405a and 405b.

[0006] The compression cylinder 403b is connected to the high-temperature side heat exchanger 410 via the communication pipe 408b and is connected to the expansion cylinder 403a.
Are connected to the low-temperature side heat exchanger 409 via the communication pipe 408a. A regenerator 411 is interposed between the low-temperature heat exchanger 409 and the high-temperature heat exchanger 410.

When the crankshaft 406 rotates, the expansion chamber 4
07a and the working gas in the compression chamber 407b reciprocate in the low-temperature heat exchanger 409, the high-temperature heat exchanger 410, and the regenerator 411.

In the low-temperature heat exchanger 409, the working gas is expanded and cooled, and in the high-temperature heat exchanger 410, the working gas is compressed and heated.

When the hot working gas in the compression chamber 407b passes through the regenerator 411, the heat of the working gas is deprived, and the cooled working gas flows into the expansion chamber 407a, and
When the low-temperature working gas “a” passes through the regenerator 411, heat is removed from the regenerator 411, and the heated working gas flows into the compression chamber 407 b.

[0010]

However, in this Stirling refrigerator 401, the expansion cylinder 403a and the compression cylinder 403b are arranged so as to form an L-shape as shown in FIG. There was a problem of doing.

As a conventional Stirling refrigerator which can be reduced in size, a four-cylinder horizontally opposed Stirling refrigerator shown in FIG. 5 is known.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a refrigerator unit of a conventional four-cylinder horizontally opposed Stirling refrigerator, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a Stirling refrigerator using two refrigerator units of FIG. 5, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a flow of working gas of the Stirling refrigerator of FIG. 6.

This Stirling refrigerator includes two sets of refrigerator units 501a and 501b. The two refrigerator units 501a and 501b are driven with a phase difference of 180 ° from each other, and the respective units 501a and 501b are driven.
b constitute independent refrigeration cycles.

Each of the refrigerator units 501a and 501b includes
Compression cylinder 503b, compression piston 512b, expansion cylinder 503a, expansion piston 512a, high temperature side heat exchangers 510a, 510b, low temperature side heat exchangers 509a, 50
9b, regenerators 511a and 511b, and a drive mechanism 502.

The expansion cylinder 503a and the compression cylinder 50
3b are horizontally opposed to each other with the crankshaft 506 constituting a part of the drive mechanism 502 interposed therebetween. The compression piston 512b and the expansion piston 512a are driven with a phase difference of 90 °.

The expansion chamber 507a of the expansion cylinder 503a is connected to the low-temperature heat exchanger 509a via the communication pipe 508a, and the compression chamber 507b of the compression cylinder 503b is connected to the communication pipe 508b.
Are connected to the high-temperature-side heat exchanger 510a through the respective components.

As described above, the refrigerator units 501a, 501
01b are driven with a phase difference of 180 ° from each other, so that when the working gas is sent from the high temperature side to the low temperature side by one of the refrigerator units 501b, the other refrigerator unit 50b is driven.
1a, the working gas is sent from the low temperature side to the high temperature side (FIG. 7).
(A)).

When the working gas is sent from the low-temperature side to the high-temperature side in one refrigerator unit 501b, the working gas is sent from the high-temperature side to the low-temperature side in the other refrigerator unit 501a (see FIG. 7B). ).

When the working gas is sent from the high temperature side to the low temperature side (white arrow), the regenerators 511a and 511b take away the heat of the working gas and temporarily store the heat. When the working gas is sent from the low temperature side to the high temperature side (black arrow), the regenerator 511
a, 511b provide heat to the working gas.

In this Stirling refrigerating machine, a regenerator having a wire mesh of about # 200 mesh or a regenerative regenerator made of a porous metal material or the like must be used. It is difficult to improve the engine performance by high-speed operation because it has disadvantages such as a large heat storage time constant and the like. Because of the large deterioration of the characteristics, it was necessary to avoid mixing of the lubricating oil into the working gas. However, if a non-lubricating material is used for the sliding portion to avoid this, the durability is reduced, and if a seal device is provided at the boundary between the driving portion of the piston and the working space, the structure becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a Stirling refrigerator capable of using a regenerator other than a regenerative regenerator.

[0022]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a Stirling refrigerator according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises at least a pair of refrigerator units, and the refrigerator unit constitutes a working gas compression chamber. Compression cylinder, a compression piston reciprocating in the compression cylinder, an expansion cylinder forming an expansion chamber for the working gas, an expansion piston reciprocating in the expansion cylinder, and a high temperature connected to the compression cylinder. Side heat exchanger, a low-temperature side heat exchanger connected to the expansion cylinder, a regenerator provided between the high-temperature side heat exchanger and the low-temperature side heat exchanger, the compression piston and the expansion. A drive mechanism for driving the piston with a predetermined phase difference, and driving one of the refrigerator units and the other of the refrigerator units with a phase difference of 180 ° That the Stirling refrigerator, said regenerator of the regenerator and the other of said refrigerator unit of one of the refrigeration unit is characterized in that it is integrally joined.

As described above, since the regenerator of one refrigerator unit and the regenerator of the other refrigerator unit are integrally joined, the regenerator after joining has the high-temperature working gas of one refrigerator unit. And the low-temperature working gas of the other refrigerator unit are adjacent to each other via the partition, and heat exchange is directly performed between one high-temperature working gas and the other low-temperature working gas.

The Stirling refrigerator according to the second aspect of the present invention comprises:
In the Stirling refrigerator according to the first aspect of the present invention, the working gas of one refrigeration cycle and the working gas of the other refrigeration cycle are integrally joined and intersect at the regenerator.

Since the working gas of one refrigeration cycle and the working gas of the other refrigeration cycle are integrally joined and intersect at the regenerator, a direct heat exchange is performed between the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas. Is performed.

The Stirling refrigerator according to the third aspect of the present invention is
In the Stirling refrigerator according to the first aspect of the present invention, the working gas of one refrigeration cycle and the working gas of the other refrigeration cycle are integrally joined and opposed by the regenerator.

[0027] Since the working gas of one refrigeration cycle and the working gas of the other refrigeration cycle are integrally joined and face each other in the regenerator, direct heat exchange is performed between the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas. Is performed.

Since the contact area (heat transfer area) between the working gases is larger than that of the cross flow method, the efficiency of heat exchange between the working gases is high.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a Stirling refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of a working gas, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a regenerator.

The Stirling refrigerator 1 is composed of two refrigerator units 1a and 1b. Each of the refrigerator units 1a and 1b is driven with a phase difference of 180 °.

Since the basic structure of the refrigerator units 1a and 1b is common to the refrigerator units 501a and 501b of FIG. 5, a part of the drive mechanism and the like is not shown.

Each of the refrigerator units 1a, 1b constitutes a compression cylinder 20b, 21b constituting a compression chamber for working gas, a compression piston 4a reciprocating in the compression cylinders 20b, 21b, and an expansion chamber for working gas. Expansion cylinder 2
0a, 21a, an expansion piston 4b reciprocating in the expansion cylinders 20a, 21a, and a drive mechanism (not shown) for driving the compression piston 4a and the expansion piston 4b with a phase difference of 90 °. .

The expansion piston 4b and the compression piston 4a are piston rods (not shown) and are connected to a crankshaft (not shown) which constitutes a part of a drive mechanism.

The compression chamber 3a and the expansion chamber 7a of the refrigerator unit 1a are connected to a communication pipe 8 connected in series.
a, the high-temperature side heat exchanger 9b, the regenerator 11, the low-temperature side heat exchanger 10b, and the communication pipe 8d.

The compression chamber 3b and the expansion chamber 7b of the other refrigerator unit 1b are connected to a communication pipe 8 connected in series.
c, connected via a high-temperature side heat exchanger 9a, a regenerator 11, a low-temperature side heat exchanger 10a, and a communication pipe 8b.

The regenerator 11 originally has the respective refrigerator units 1a,
1b is one in which two regenerators to be used for each of the devices 1b are integrated. As shown in FIG. 3, the regenerator 11 is formed by sequentially stacking corrugated plates of the same shape on a corrugated plate via a flat plate so that the waving directions are orthogonal to each other. . Compression chamber 3 of refrigerator unit 1a
a, 3b passes through the passage 14a, and the working gas from the expansion chambers 7a, 7b of the refrigerator unit 1b passes through the passage 1a.
Exit 3a. That is, both working gases intersect in the regenerator 11 (cross flow).

When the crankshaft of the drive mechanism (not shown) rotates, the compression piston 4a and the expansion piston 4b of one of the refrigerator units 1a start reciprocating with a phase difference of 90 °, and move 180 ° with respect to the refrigerator unit 1a. The other refrigerator unit 1b operates with the phase difference of. Compression piston 4a and expansion piston 4b of refrigerator unit 1b
Reciprocates with a phase difference of 90 °.

The compression chambers 3a, 3
The working gas of b is compressed, and the working gas of the expansion chambers 7a and 7b is expanded by the expansion piston 4b.

The hot working gas in the compression chambers 3a and 3b is
As shown by white arrows, the communication paths 8a and 8c, the high-temperature side heat exchangers 9a and 9b, the regenerator 11, and the low-temperature side heat exchangers 10a and 1
0b and the communication pipes 8b and 8d, the expansion chambers 7a and 7b
Sent to

The low-temperature working gas in the expansion chambers 7a and 7b is shown in FIG.
, The communication paths 8b and 8d, the low-temperature side heat exchangers 10a and 10b, the regenerator 11, the high-temperature side heat exchanger 9a,
9b and the communication chambers 8a and 8c, the compression chambers 3a and 3b
Sent to

Since the high-temperature working gas in the compression chambers 3a and 3b and the low-temperature working gas in the expansion chambers 7a and 7b intersect when passing through the regenerator 11, the working gas from the compression chambers 3a and 3b is not expanded. Heat is taken off by the low-temperature working gas from 7a, 7b, cooled and sent to expansion chambers 7a, 7b, and the working gas from expansion chambers 7a, 7b is heated by high-temperature working gas from compression chambers 3a, 3b. Compressed chamber 3
a, 3b.

According to the Stirling refrigerating machine of this embodiment, the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas intersect with each other. Since there is no need to use a regenerator, the ventilation resistance is small, and the time constant of the heat cycle is small, which is advantageous for high-speed operation, and the refrigeration output per unit weight can be improved. Further, a forced lubrication mechanism can be employed, so that mechanical loss can be reduced and durability can be improved.

Also, since the regenerator of one refrigerator unit 1a and the regenerator of the other refrigerator unit are integrally joined, the size of the Stirling refrigerator composed of a plurality of refrigerator units can be reduced. And the number of parts can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the case where the cross flow system in which the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas intersect in the regenerator 11 has been described. A counter flow method (not shown) may be adopted in which the working gas and the low-temperature working gas face each other.

The contact area (heat transfer area) between the working gases is larger than in the cross-flow system, the efficiency of heat exchange between the working gases is improved, and the refrigeration output is further improved.

[0047]

As described above, according to the Stirling refrigerating machine of the first aspect of the present invention, heat exchange is performed directly between the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas, and the regenerative heat-storage regeneration is performed. Since a regenerator is not required, the ventilation resistance of the regenerator is small and the time constant of the heat regeneration cycle is also small, so that high-speed operation is possible and the refrigeration output per unit weight is improved.

In addition, a forced lubrication mechanism can be employed, so that mechanical loss is reduced, noise during high-speed operation is suppressed, durability is improved, an oil seal is not required, and the structure is simplified.

Further, since the regenerator of one refrigerator unit and the regenerator of the other refrigerator unit are integrally joined, the size of the Stirling refrigerator can be reduced and the number of parts can be reduced.

According to the Stirling refrigerator of the second aspect of the present invention, the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas cross-flow in the regenerator after joining, so that the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas are mixed. Direct heat exchange is performed between the two, and the same effect as in claim 1 can be obtained.

According to the Stirling refrigerator of the third aspect of the present invention, the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas have a counter flow in the regenerator after joining, so that the high-temperature working gas and the low-temperature working gas are separated. Although heat exchange is performed directly between the working gases, the heat transfer area between the working gases is larger than in the cross flow method, the efficiency of heat exchange between the working gases is improved, and the refrigeration output is further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a Stirling refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of a working gas.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a regenerator.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a structure of a conventional Stirling refrigerator.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a refrigerator unit of a conventional four-cylinder horizontally opposed Stirling refrigerator.

6 is a diagram showing a Stirling refrigerator using two refrigerator units of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a flow of a working gas of the Stirling refrigerator of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stirling refrigerator 1a, 1b Refrigerator unit 3a, 3b Compression chamber 4a Compression piston 4b Expansion piston 7a, 7b Expansion chamber 9a, 9b High-temperature side heat exchanger 10a, 10b Low-temperature side heat exchanger 11 Regenerator 13a, 14a 1st Communication passage 20a, 21a Expansion cylinder 20b, 21b Compression cylinder

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator unit comprising at least a pair of refrigerator units, the refrigerator unit comprising a compression cylinder constituting a compression chamber for working gas, a compression piston reciprocating in the compression cylinder, and an expansion of the working gas. An expansion cylinder constituting a chamber, an expansion piston reciprocating in the expansion cylinder, a high-temperature heat exchanger connected to the compression cylinder, and a low-temperature heat exchanger connected to the expansion cylinder.
A regenerator provided between the high-temperature side heat exchanger and the low-temperature side heat exchanger, and a driving mechanism for driving the compression piston and the expansion piston with a predetermined phase difference, In a Stirling refrigerator that drives the refrigerator unit and the other refrigerator unit with a phase difference of 180 °, the regenerator of one refrigerator unit and the regenerator of the other refrigerator unit Are integrally joined. 2. The Stirling refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the working gas of one refrigeration cycle and the working gas of the other refrigeration cycle are integrally joined and intersect at the regenerator. 3. The Stirling refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the working gas of one refrigeration cycle and the working gas of the other refrigeration cycle are integrally joined and face each other in the regenerator.