JPS6387564A - Heat pump type air conditioner utilizing hydrogen occluding alloy - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides an indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor heat exchanger, and a method for circulating and flowing a refrigerant from the indoor heat exchanger to the outdoor heat exchanger. The first compressor has a built-in compressor and a hydrogen storage alloy with different temperature-hydrogen pressure characteristics. A second auxiliary heat exchanger is connected, and a heating mechanism is provided to heat the 27th TFF auxiliary heat exchanger, and when the heating @ mechanism is stopped, hydrogen is occluded in the second NiivJ heat exchanger side. an auxiliary heating device that stores heat, releases hydrogen from the second auxiliary heat exchanger side when the heating mechanism is operated, stores hydrogen in the first auxiliary heat exchanger side, and radiates heat to the refrigerant; The present invention relates to a heat pump air conditioner that uses a hydrogen storage alloy.

(Prior Art) A heat pump type air conditioner using this type of hydrogen storage alloy is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-73266.

FIG. 6 shows a refrigerant circuit diagram of the air conditioner, in which 101 is an indoor heat exchanger, 102 is an outdoor heat exchanger, and l'03 is from the indoor heat exchanger 101 to the outdoor heat exchanger 102. This is a compressor that circulates and flows refrigerant.

A defrosting refrigerant circuit 104 is connected between the compressor 103 and the indoor heat exchanger 101 and between the indoor heat exchanger 101 and the outdoor heat exchanger 102. Defrost on/off valve 105
By opening this defrost on-off valve 105, a part of the high-temperature refrigerant is transferred to the indoor heat exchanger 101.
It flows directly to the outdoor heat exchanger 102 without passing through it.

A first auxiliary heat exchanger 10 containing a hydrogen storage alloy and hydrogen is provided between the discharge side of the compressor 103 and the indoor heat exchanger 101.
6 are connected in parallel, and first and second on-off valves 107 and 108 are provided for switching between a state in which the refrigerant flows into the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 and a state in which it does not flow. Further, between the outdoor heat exchanger 102 and the suction side of the compressor 103, a second auxiliary heat exchanger 106 is provided with a hydrogen storage alloy and hydrogen having different temperature-hydrogen pressure characteristics from the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106. The exchangers 109 are connected in parallel, and the second auxiliary heat exchanger 109 and the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 are connected in communication, and the refrigerant is transferred to the second auxiliary heat exchanger 109.
Third and fourth on-off valves 110 and 111 are provided for switching between a flowing state and a non-flowing state. A fan 112 is attached to this second auxiliary heat exchanger 109. With these configurations, the following operations are performed during heating operation, defrost operation, and heating start-up operation.

■During heating operation, the first and fourth on-off valves 107 and 111 are opened, and the second and third on-off valves tos and tto are closed, allowing the low-temperature, low-pressure air flowing through the outdoor heat exchanger 102 to the suction side of the compressor 103. The refrigerant flows into the second auxiliary heat exchanger 109, lowers the temperature of the second auxiliary heat exchanger lO9, stores hydrogen in its hydrogen storage alloy, and transfers the refrigerant from the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 to the second auxiliary heat exchanger 109. Transfer hydrogen. At this time, fan 11
2 is stopped.

■During defrost operation, the second and third on-off valves 108 and 110 are opened, and the first and fourth on-off valves 107 are opened. Ill is closed, the defrost on-off valve 105 is opened, and the fan 112 is driven to increase the temperature of the second auxiliary heat exchanger 109 through heat exchange with the outside air, thereby releasing hydrogen from the hydrogen storage alloy. At the same time, it moves to the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 and is stored in the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 to generate reaction heat. The gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 103 is heated by this heat of reaction, and a part of this heated refrigerant is transferred to the outdoor heat exchanger 10.
2 and heats the outdoor heat exchanger 102 to defrost the air.

■During heating start-up operation The operation is the same as the defrost operation except that the defrost on-off valve 105 is closed, and thereby the refrigerant heated by the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 is transferred to the indoor expansion 1 heat exchanger 10.
1 to speed up the rise to the set temperature at the start of heating operation, that is, the rise in temperature.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of the conventional example having such a configuration, hydrogen is transferred from the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 to the second auxiliary heat exchanger 109 during heating operation to store heat. Once completed,
Only during heating start-up operation and defrost operation, hydrogen is transferred from the second auxiliary heat exchanger 109 to the first auxiliary heat exchanger 106 and the heat is used for radiation, and the total time is small. The reality is that the auxiliary heating device is only used for a period of .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to dissipate heat to the refrigerant of an auxiliary heating device that uses a hydrogen storage alloy not only during heating start-up operation or defrost operation, but also during normal heating operation. The purpose is to efficiently heat the refrigerant during heating operation.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a heat pump type air conditioner using the hydrogen storage alloy described at the beginning, in which the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2 ) with a predetermined amount of hydrogen stored in the hydrogen storage alloy of the heating mechanism (
5) and stopping the driving of the heating mechanism (5) in a state in which a predetermined amount of hydrogen is released from the hydrogen storage alloy of the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2). The structure is as follows.

(Function) According to the above configuration, in the auxiliary heating device (A), when the heating mechanism (5) is stopped and the hydrogen storage alloy of the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2) stores a predetermined amount of hydrogen (heat storage ), the heating mechanism (5) is driven by the control means (18) to release hydrogen from the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2) side, and the hydrogen is transferred to the first auxiliary heat exchanger (2).
It is stored in the hydrogen storage alloy of the auxiliary heat exchanger (1), and the reaction heat generated there is given to the refrigerant (heat radiation). The auxiliary heating device (A) automatically repeats this heat storage and heat radiation operation to efficiently heat the refrigerant.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an air conditioner B using an auxiliary heating device A (indicated by dotted lines) of the present invention.

The auxiliary heating device A includes a first auxiliary heat exchanger 1 containing a first hydrogen storage alloy Ml and hydrogen, a second auxiliary heat exchanger 2 containing a second hydrogen storage alloy M2 and hydrogen, and a sub-auxiliary heat exchanger 2 containing a second hydrogen storage alloy M2 and hydrogen. The heat exchanger 1.2 is airtightly connected to the hydrogen flow vibrator 4, which is provided with an on-off valve 3 in the middle, and an outside air blowing fan 5 as a heating mechanism for the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2. As the first hydrogen storage alloy Ml and the second hydrogen storage alloy M2, alloys having different temperature-hydrogen pressure characteristics are used, as shown in the graph of FIG.

The air conditioner B basically includes an indoor heat exchanger 6, an outdoor heat exchanger 7, and a compressor 8 that circulates and flows a refrigerant from the indoor heat exchanger 6 to the outdoor heat exchanger 7. , a flow path between the compressor 8 and the indoor heat exchanger 6, and the outdoor heat exchanger 7.
The first
1 second two four-way switching valves 9. lO is provided.

A decompression expansion mechanism 11 is disposed between the indoor heat exchanger 6 and the outdoor heat exchanger 7, and an accumulator 12 is disposed on the suction side of the compressor 8. 1st. Second four-way switching valve9.
A bypass flow path 13 is provided in one of the flow paths between the two. On-off valves 14 and 15 are attached to the bypass flow path 13 and the main flow path located in parallel with the bypass flow path 13, respectively.

Further, a defrost passage 16 is provided to connect the discharge side of the compressor 8, the decompression expansion mechanism 11, and the outdoor heat exchanger 7, and the defrost passage 16 is provided with an on-off valve 17. .

The first auxiliary heat exchanger l of the auxiliary heating device A is the first auxiliary heat exchanger l.
．． The second auxiliary heat exchanger 2 is interposed in the other flow path between the second four-way switching valves 9 and 10 to enable heat exchange.
One flow path between the second four-way switching valves 9 and 10, that is,
It is interposed in the main flow path located in parallel with the bypass flow path 13 described above so as to enable heat exchange.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

■ During heating operation 1st. The second four-way switching valve 9.10 is switched as shown by the solid line in FIG.
．． When the compressor 8 is operated with 17 closed, the refrigerant is
Compressor 8 - First four-way switching valve 9 - First auxiliary heat exchanger 1 - Second four-way switching valve l - Indoor heat exchanger 6 - Decompression expansion mechanism 1
1-Outdoor heat exchanger 7-Second four-way switching valve 10-Second auxiliary heat exchanger 2-First four-way switching valve 9-Accumulator 12-
It circulates with the compressor 8, and the heat absorbed by the outdoor heat exchanger 7 is released into the room by the indoor heat exchanger 6 to perform heating.

18 is a CPU as a control means for the outside air blowing fan 5, which outputs a drive output at a predetermined timing, and the drive output excites the relay coil 19 as shown in FIG. is configured to drive the outside air blowing fan 5 by closing the C.
The operation of the PU 18 will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

First auxiliary heat exchanger l using high temperature refrigerant discharged from compressor 8
When heating starts, start the counter.
), it is determined whether the count has reached a predetermined value m (S2). If the discrimination signal is No, continue counting,
During that time, hydrogen is released from the first auxiliary heat exchanger 1 side by heating with a high temperature refrigerant, and hydrogen is released from the second auxiliary heat exchanger 1 by heating with a high temperature refrigerant, and by cooling with a low temperature refrigerant from the outdoor heat exchanger 7.
The hydrogen storage alloy of the auxiliary heat exchanger 2 stores hydrogen (heat storage).

That is, here, heat is stored for a time sufficient to store a predetermined amount of hydrogen in the second hydrogen storage alloy M2 of the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2.

If the determination signal is YES, output the hand drive output (S3
) Drive the outside air blower fan 5. Thereafter, the counter is partially reset (S4) and then restarted (S5), and it is determined whether the count has reached a predetermined value n (S6). If the determination signal is No, the count continues, and during that time, the outside air blower fan 5 is driven to heat the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2 with outside air to prevent hydrogen from being released from the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2 side. , this hydrogen is stored in the first hydrogen storage alloy Ml of the first auxiliary heat exchanger l to generate reaction heat to be given to the refrigerant (heat radiation).

That is, here, heat is released only for a time sufficient to store a predetermined amount of hydrogen in the first hydrogen storage alloy Ml of the first auxiliary heat exchanger l.

If the determination signal is YES, stop the drive output (S7
) After stopping the drive of the outside air blowing fan 5 and then resetting the counter (S8), the process returns to step 1 and the above operations are repeated.

In this manner, during heating operation, a heat storage operation for a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) and a heat dissipation operation for a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) are sequentially repeated.

■ 1st during heating start-up operation. The second four-way switching valve 9.10 is switched as shown by the dotted line in FIG.
．． When the compressor 8 is operated with the compressor 17 closed and the outside air blowing fan 5 is also operated, the refrigerant flows through the compressor 8-first
Four-way switching valve 9 - Bypass flow path 13 - Second four-way switching valve l〇 - Indoor heat exchanger 6 - Decompression expansion mechanism 11 - Outdoor heat exchanger 7 - Second four-way switching valve 10 - First auxiliary Heat exchanger l-1st
The refrigerant is circulated through the four-way switching valve lO, the accumulator 12, and the compressor 8.

At this time, by heating the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2 with the outside air blowing fan 5, hydrogen is released from the second hydrogen storage alloy M2, and on the other hand, the first auxiliary heat exchanger l is cooled by the flow of the low-temperature refrigerant. By this, the first hydrogen storage alloy M
1 absorbs hydrogen and generates heat, which heats the low-temperature refrigerant (heat radiation).

In this state, since the first auxiliary heat exchanger l is being cooled, the equilibrium pressure of the first hydrogen storage alloy M I is kept low, and hydrogen is efficiently transferred due to the large transfer differential pressure. 1st
After hydrogen storage in the hydrogen storage alloy M2 is completed, the on-off valve 3 is closed and the outside air blowing fan 5 is stopped. In this state, the refrigerant temperature is raised by heating the low-temperature refrigerant in the first auxiliary heat exchanger l, so that the set temperature can be quickly reached.

■ During defrost operation, the operation is carried out in the same manner as in (■) except that the on-off valve 17 is opened, and a portion of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 8 is directly supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 7 via the defrost passage 16. This causes the outdoor heat exchanger 7 to be defrosted.

As mentioned above, during the heating start-up operation (■) and the defrost operation (■), heat is radiated from the auxiliary heating device A for heating the refrigerant. Heat must be stored in A. Therefore, during the heating operation in (■), it is necessary to stop the next heat radiation when heat is stored, and this can be done by turning off the start switch of the CPU 18 or by turning off the on-off valve of the hydrogen flow vibrator 4 of the auxiliary heating device A. Step 3 may be performed by closing after storing heat.

As the control means I8, a mechanical timer that drives and stops the outside air blowing fan 5 at predetermined time intervals may be used in addition to the above-mentioned one, and furthermore, a mechanical timer that drives and stops the outside air blowing fan 5 at predetermined time intervals may be used.
The hydrogen concentration and the amount of hydrogen transferred in the hydrogen flow vibrator 4 are measured to detect the completion of hydrogen occlusion to the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2 side, and the outside air blowing fan 5 is driven or driven based on the detection signal. It may be something like stopping.

In the embodiment described above, the first. Second four-way switching valve 9
．． 1) By switching the switch and opening and closing the on-off valve 14゜■5 as appropriate, low-temperature refrigerant flows into the first auxiliary heat exchanger l during heating start-up operation and defrost operation. There is an advantage in that high-temperature refrigerant flows through the heat exchanger 1 and low-temperature refrigerant flows through the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2, allowing the auxiliary heating device A to store and dissipate heat efficiently.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment, in which only the first auxiliary heat exchanger l of the auxiliary heating device A is interposed between the outdoor heat exchanger 7 and the accumulator 12, and the outside air blowing fan 5 is stopped. It is configured so that heat is stored on the second auxiliary heat exchanger 2 side during operation, and heat is radiated on the first auxiliary heat exchanger l side during operation.

In the present invention, for example, when two outdoor heat exchangers are used in series, the first auxiliary heat exchanger l may be interposed in the intermediate refrigerant flow path. It can be placed in various locations as long as the location allows the low-temperature refrigerant to flow.

Further, the present invention can be applied to a case where the defrost channel 16 as described above is not provided, and in this case, the first. Second
The four-way selector valve 9.1) (of Good.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the auxiliary heating device (A) is capable of storing a predetermined amount of hydrogen in the hydrogen storage alloy of the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2) and storing heat therein. , the heating mechanism (5) is driven by the control means (18), the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2) is heated to release hydrogen, and the hydrogen is stored in the hydrogen storage alloy of the first auxiliary heat exchanger (1). Since the heat can be automatically radiated to the refrigerant, the heat radiated from the auxiliary heating device (A) can be effectively used not only during heating start-up operation and defrost operation, but also during normal heating operation. machine + R (5
), it has become possible to efficiently heat the refrigerant using external heat.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of an example of an air conditioner using the auxiliary heating device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a graph showing the characteristics of the hydrogen storage alloy used, and Fig. 3 is a main part electric circuit diagram. , 4th
5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control means, FIG. 5 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of another embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of a conventional example. A is an auxiliary heating device, B is an air conditioner, 1 is a first auxiliary heat exchanger, 2 is a second auxiliary heat exchanger, 5 is an outside air blower fan (heating mechanism), 6 is an indoor heat exchanger, 7 is an indoor heat exchanger Outdoor heat exchanger. 8 is a compressor, and 18 is a CPU (control means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An indoor heat exchanger (6), an outdoor heat exchanger (7), and from the indoor heat exchanger (6) to the outdoor heat exchanger (7).
), and first and second auxiliary heat exchangers (1) and (2) containing hydrogen storage alloys having different temperature-hydrogen pressure characteristics are connected, A heating mechanism (5) for heating the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2) is provided and configured, and the heating mechanism (
5) when the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2) is stopped, hydrogen is stored and stored in the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2), and when the heating mechanism (5) is operated, hydrogen is released from the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2). Then, the first
In a heat pump air conditioner using a hydrogen storage alloy, the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2 ) with a predetermined amount of hydrogen stored in the hydrogen storage alloy, the heating mechanism (5) is driven, and a predetermined amount of hydrogen is released from the hydrogen storage alloy of the second auxiliary heat exchanger (2). 1. A heat pump type air conditioner using a hydrogen storage alloy, characterized in that the heat pump type air conditioner is equipped with a control means (18) that stops driving the heating mechanism (5) in a state in which the heating mechanism (5) is heated.