JPS63220047A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (b) Industrial application field The present invention relates to a refrigeration system equipped with a heat storage device.

(b) Conventional technology Conventionally, as an air conditioner equipped with a heat storage tank,
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No.-191156.

According to this content, a liquid (heat storage material) is sealed in a heat storage tank, and the liquid is heated with an electric heater to store heat.

At the start of the heating operation, the refrigerant is flowed into the heat storage tank to quickly heat the refrigerant and accelerate the rise in room temperature.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention In this air conditioner, in order to quickly heat the refrigerant, the temperature of the liquid in the heat storage tank must be kept above a certain value. Adequate insulation must be provided to minimize heat loss in the heat storage tank.

The object of the present invention is to suppress heat loss in the heat storage tank, to make it easier to transfer the heat in the heat storage tank to the refrigerant, and to quickly raise the room temperature to the set temperature during heating operation.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve this object, the present invention incorporates a metal or alloy that generates heat by reacting with hydrogen in the evaporator of the refrigeration system.

(e) During operation, the liquid refrigerant introduced into the evaporator is heated and evaporated by the heat generated by the reaction between the metal or alloy in the evaporator and hydrogen.

(f) Example Hereinafter, an example in which the refrigeration apparatus of the present invention is applied to a separate air conditioner will be described.

In Fig. 1, 1 is a separate air conditioner, which includes an indoor unit 3 with a built-in indoor heat exchanger (condenser) 2, an outdoor unit 4 with built-in equipment described later, and a refrigerant that connects these two units. It is composed of piping 5.

6 is a compressor, 7 is a first outdoor heat exchanger (auxiliary evaporator), 8
is a pressure reducer; 9 is a bypass pipe that bypasses the first outdoor heat exchanger 7; a second outdoor heat exchanger (main evaporator) 10 is disposed in this bypass pipe 9;

Reference numeral 11 denotes a control valve (three-way switching valve) provided at one end 12 of the bypass pipe 9, and is connected to the inlet side pipe 13 of the first external heat exchanger T. By switching the control valve 11, the refrigerant from the pressure reducer 8 is made to flow to the first outdoor heat exchanger 7 or the second outdoor heat exchanger 10. 14 is a control device, and this device is arranged in a container 16 provided with heat exchange fins 15, a communication pipe 1T connecting this container 16 and the second outdoor heat exchanger 10, and this communication pipe 17. It is composed of a valve 18. This heat exchange fin 15
is placed in contact with the outside air.

The second outdoor heat exchanger 10 includes a metal M, and a container 16.
A metal hydride M 2 Hn2 is incorporated in each as shown in FIG. Generally, the metal hydride MHn is usually a powdered solid, which is a reaction between metal M and hydrogen, and reacts as shown in the following formula.

[Hydrogen] IJ knowledge [Metal hydride] In this reaction, when metal hydride MHn is heated, it separates into metal M and hydrogen Tf (, i.Meanwhile, metal M is cooled. Then, this metal M reacts with hydrogen TH, forming a metal hydride MHn, and heat is generated at this time.The metal hydride is thus separated into metal and hydrogen by heating, and on the other hand, the metal thus separated is When cooled, it reacts with hydrogen to form a metal hydride.Metal hydrides that react in this way include, for example, TiMn-based and LaNi-based ones, and the reaction of these metal hydrides depends on temperature and pressure. The relationship between these changes is shown in Figure 3.

For example, in the state of straight line A shown in Figure 3, this LaNi-based metal hydride is made to have a pressure lower than the equilibrium pressure of hydrogen coexisting with this metal hydride (however, the temperature is constant). When the temperature of the metal hydride is made higher than the temperature in the equilibrium state shown by straight line A (however, the pressure is constant), the metal hydride generates hydrogen. In this case, the metal hydride is not necessarily a pure metal, but generally contains hydrogen. Conversely, if the temperature is constant and the hydrogen pressure is made higher than the line A, or the pressure is constant and the temperature of the metal hydride is made lower than the line A, the metal hydride absorbs hydrogen and generates heat. . Further, the above-mentioned reaction can be said to be similar to TiMn-based metal hydrides (line B in FIG. 3).

The container 16 contains the above-mentioned TiMn-based metal hydride (hereinafter referred to as M2Hn2), and the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 contains the above-mentioned LaNi-based metal (hereinafter referred to as M1).
are built-in respectively.

Therefore, when the container 16 is heated by the heat exchange fins 15 in contact with the outside air (the outside temperature is higher than the reaction temperature of the metal hydride M2Hn, for example, 0° C.), the metal hydride M2Hn2 contained in the container 16 is heated. is separated into metal M2 and hydrogen in this container 16, and the pressure in this container 16 increases. The separated hydrogen is sent to the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 via the communication pipe 17 when the pulp 18 is opened.

At the same time, when the valve 18 is opened, the high pressure inside the container 16 is transferred to the second outdoor heat exchanger 10, and the pressure inside this heat exchanger increases.This pressure is applied to the metal M1, and the metal M1 absorbs hydrogen. The metal hydrides M and Hn are generated, and the heat generated at this time heats the refrigerant in the refrigerant vibe 19 of the second outdoor heat exchanger 10.

On the other hand, metal hydrides M, Hn,
When this second outdoor heat exchanger 10 is heated using the heater 20 with the metal hydrides M, Hn,
Separates into metal M and hydrogen at, for example, 45°C and 5 atmospheres. This separated hydrogen is sent into the container 16 via the communication pipe 17 when the pulp 18 is opened. Then, this hydrogen is occluded by the metal M2 in the container 16 and becomes a metal hydride. In this way, the metal M2 built into the container 16 has a hydrogen storage function, and the metal M built into the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 has a heat storage function. The heat exchanger 10 constitutes a heat storage tank.

In the air conditioner having such a configuration, the control valve 11 is set so that the pulp 18 is opened and the refrigerant flows from the inlet pipe 13 of the first outdoor heat exchanger γ to the bypass pipe 9 when heating operation starts. Then, the compressor 6 is operated. Therefore, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 6 flows as shown by the solid arrow and heats the room by heat radiation from the indoor heat exchanger 2. At this time, the refrigerant from the pressure reducer 8 is sent to the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 via the control valve 11 and the bypass pipe 9. Since hydrogen is flowing into the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 due to the opening of the pulp 18, this hydrogen reacts with the metal M1 inside the second outdoor heat exchanger 10, and the heat generated causes the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 to flow into the second outdoor heat exchanger 10.
The refrigerant sent to is heated. By heating the refrigerant in the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 in this manner, heat is radiated from the indoor heat exchanger 2 as soon as the operation starts, and the feeling of cold air at the start of operation can be alleviated.

After a certain period of time has passed from the start of operation, the control valve 11 is switched so that the refrigerant flows from the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 to the first outdoor heat exchanger 7, and the operation is switched to the normal heat pump cycle. In order to separate hydrogen from the metal hydrides M and Hn in the second outdoor heat exchanger 10, the second outdoor heat exchanger 10 may be heated with the heater 20 or the like.

When the outside temperature is low and heat cannot be sufficiently pumped up from the first outdoor heat exchanger 7, the control valve 11 and the pulp 18 are operated as at the start of the heating operation described above, and the refrigerant is transferred to the second outdoor heat exchanger 7. It may be heated to 10°C. Further, the container 16 may be a hydrogen cylinder.

The refrigeration system of the present invention is applicable not only to the above-mentioned air conditioners but also to water heaters and the like.

(g) Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention includes a metal or alloy that reacts with hydrogen and generates heat in the evaporator that constitutes a part of the refrigeration system, and the refrigerant flowing inside the evaporator is This reaction heat is used for heating. Therefore, compared to conventional methods in which a heat storage tank is coated with a heat insulating material to suppress the drop in temperature of the heat storage material and the refrigerant is heated using this heat storage material, the refrigerant is heated more easily, and this refrigeration system If applied to an air conditioner, the room temperature can be quickly raised to the set temperature during heating operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of a separate air conditioner, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the second outdoor heat exchanger and the container of the same machine, and FIG. The figure is a diagram showing the relationship between the temperature and equilibrium pressure of the metal hydride contained in the second outdoor heat exchanger and the container. 2... Indoor heat exchanger (condenser), 6... Compressor,
8... Pressure reducer, 10... Second outdoor heat exchanger (evaporator), Ml... Metal. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A refrigeration system in which a compressor, a condenser, a pressure reducer, and an evaporator are connected in sequence, and the evaporator has a built-in metal or alloy that generates heat by reacting with hydrogen.