KR100230126B1 - Method and apparatus for preventing freezing of a warm-water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

[assignment]

Provided is a freezing prevention method and a freezing prevention apparatus in a hot water heater capable of performing a reliable freezing prevention operation without running out of a pump head.

[Resolution]

Each circulation system circuit 14a, 14b, 14c, 16a, 16b, and 16c including a terminal heater is previously classified into a plurality of freeze protection circuit groups A and B, and the heating hot water generating means 3 and the circulation pump ( 18) is operated to sequentially supply hot water for each of the freeze protection circuit groups to perform a freeze protection operation.

Description

Freezing prevention method and freezing prevention device in hot water heater

The present invention relates to a freezing prevention method and a freezing prevention apparatus in a hot water heater. That is, the present invention relates to a freezing prevention method and a freezing prevention apparatus applicable to a hot water heater connected to a plurality of terminal heaters.

For example, the gas hot water heater has a heating hot water generating means for generating hot water by burning a gas using a gas burner, and a circulation pump for circulating and supplying the hot water to the terminal heater through a heating circuit. have.

The heating circuit for circulating and supplying hot water to the plurality of terminal heaters is formed by forming a plurality of circulation system circuits including each terminal heater in parallel, and through each of the circulation system circuits, the hot water generated by the heating hot water generating means is used. It is configured to circulate supply to the terminal heater.

Since the heating circuit connected to each terminal heater is exposed to the outside air in many cases, it is necessary to prevent freezing in winter. Usually, when the temperature of the hot water heater is below the freezing danger temperature, the freezing prevention operation is performed by activating the heating hot water generating means and the circulation pump and circulating the hot water required for freezing prevention through the circulation circuit to each terminal heater. Is executed.

In the freezing prevention operation of the conventional hot water heater, the operation control of the hot water heater main body and the operation of the terminal heater are performed separately. Therefore, the hot water heater main body and each terminal heater are configured so that the hot water is not circulated and supplied to the terminal heater unless both of them enter the freezing prevention operation mode.

Therefore, even if the hot water heater main body enters the freeze protection mode, there is a fear that the terminal heater does not enter the freeze prevention operation mode when the temperature near the terminal heater is higher than the freezing danger temperature. In this case, the circulation circuit reaching the terminal heater has a high risk of freezing.

In addition, the heating capacity of hot water heaters also increases in recent years, and many terminal heaters are connected to one main body of water heaters.

However, in the conventional hot water heater, all the terminal heaters are configured to prevent freezing operation. Therefore, when there are more terminal heaters to enter the freezing prevention mode, the head of the circulation pump is insufficient and the circulation system has a large pipe resistance. There is a fear that hot water is not supplied enough to prevent freezing. For this reason, it cannot be said that the reliability of freezing prevention operation is high.

An object of the present invention is to provide a freezing prevention method and a freezing prevention apparatus in a hot water heater capable of performing a reliable freezing prevention operation without running out of a pump head.

1 is a schematic diagram of a hot water heater.

2 is a block diagram showing a control system in a hot water heater.

3 is a flowchart showing an example of the freezing prevention operation according to the present invention.

4 is a circuit configuration diagram according to another embodiment.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: hot water heating device 3: heating hot water generating means

13a: high temperature terminal heater 13b: high temperature terminal heater

13c: high temperature terminal heating unit 14: high temperature terminal heating circuit

14a: fourth circulation system circuit 14b: fifth circulation system circuit

14c: 6th circulation system circuit 15a: low temperature terminal heater

15b: low temperature terminal heater 15c: low temperature terminal heater

16: low temperature side terminal heating circuit 16a: first circulation system circuit

16b: second circulation system circuit 16c: third circulation system circuit

18: circulation pump 19: water temperature detection means

23: low temperature detection thermistor (freezing danger temperature detection means)

24: thermal valve (circuit opening and closing means)

25: central control unit (control means) A: group

B: group

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM In order to solve the said subject, the following technical means are calculated | required.

The invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is a heating circuit comprising a heating hot water generating means, a plurality of circulation system circuits, and hot water generated by the heating hot water generating means is circulated to the terminal heater through the circulation system circuit. In a hot water heater having a circulation pump for supplying, each of the circulation system circuits is classified into a plurality of freeze protection circuit groups in advance, and the hot water generating means and the circulation pump are operated, and at the same time, hot water for each freeze protection circuit group. It is characterized by executing the freeze protection operation by sequentially supplying.

The hot water heater includes not only a hot water heater that burns gas to generate hot water, but also a variety of hot water heaters such as a hot water heater that generates hot water by burning petroleum and a hot water heater that generates hot water by electric power.

The circulation circuit is branched in parallel to the tapping-side piping and the circulation water-side piping extending from the hot water heater main body, and is each circulation circuit including each terminal heater. Moreover, as a terminal heater, various apparatuses, such as a warm air fan apparatus and a hot water floor heating apparatus, can be employ | adopted. The number of the circulation circuits is not limited. The number of terminal heaters provided in one circulation circuit is not limited.

The invention as set forth in claim 2 of the present invention is a heating circuit comprising heating hot water generating means, a plurality of circulation system circuits, and hot water generated by the heating hot water generating means is circulated to the terminal heater through the circulation system circuit. A hot water heater provided with a circulation pump for supplying, comprising circuit opening and closing means for controlling water supply to each circulation system circuit, and freezing hazard temperature detection means for detecting that the temperature falls below the freezing hazard temperature. By pre-classifying the circulation circuit into a plurality of freeze protection circuit groups, the heating and hot water generating means and the circulation pump are operated by detecting that the temperature is below the freezing danger temperature, and the circuit opening and closing means is operated for each freeze protection circuit group. By supplying hot water sequentially to each freeze protection circuit group to form a control means for executing a freeze prevention operation, It is characterized in that the configuration of the hot water supply control by exchanging information between the main body and the terminal heater.

The circuit opening and closing means controls the circulation of water to each circulation communication circuit, and specifically, a thermal valve, a solenoid valve, or the like can be employed.

The freezing hazard temperature refers to the temperature at which moisture in the circuit starts to freeze and can be based on atmospheric temperature, water temperature, etc. The actual freezing temperature varies depending on the location of the hot water heater and the circuit, the quality of the water, etc., but in general, water freezes below 0 ° C, so it is preferable to set the temperature slightly above 0 ° C as the freezing hazard temperature. The place where the freezing danger temperature is detected is not particularly limited and can be detected by a terminal heater in a hot water heater body.

As the freezing hazard temperature detecting means, for example, various temperature sensors such as thermistors and thermocouples can be employed. In addition, the water temperature detecting means may employ various temperature sensors as the freezing hazard temperature detecting means.

The control means stores a freezing danger temperature as a reference in advance, and compares the reference temperature with the information by the freezing risk temperature detecting means to control the operation of the circulation pump, the heating hot water generating means and the like. Also, each freeze protection circuit group is stored so that the circuit opening and closing means for the freeze protection circuit group operates simultaneously.

Also, based on the information from each terminal heater, the heating and hot water generating means and the circulation pump are operated to perform freezing prevention operation, and the circuit opening and closing means of each circulation system circuit can be controlled on the hot water heater main body side. Doing.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of this invention is described concretely based on drawing.

Figure 1 shows a schematic configuration of a gas hot water heater to which the present invention is applied.

The hot water heater shown in FIG. 1 is a so-called hot water heater, which is provided with hot water generating means 2 for supplying hot water to a faucet or a bathtub, and heating hot water generating means 3 for circulating and supplying hot water to a terminal heater. The present invention is applied to (1).

The hot water generating means (2) and the heating hot water generating means (3) are arranged in these hot water generating means (2, 3) by burners (2a, 3a) which are supplied with gas and burned in the gas supply pipe (4). The water flowing in the hot water heating circuit 5 and the heating water heating circuit 6 is configured to be heated respectively.

In this embodiment, the heat exchanger 7 for water warming is comprised so that bath water may be heated by the hot water produced | generated by the said heating hot water generation means 3, and liquid-liquid type heat exchange is carried out. It is provided in the warming circuit 8.

A bathtub hot water supply circuit 9 for branching from the hot water heating circuit 5 of the hot water generating means 2 to hot water into the bath B through the bath water heating circuit 8 is formed. The hot water solenoid valve 10 is provided in the middle of the hot water circuit 9. The bath water heating circuit 8 is provided with a bath pump 11 for circulating the bath water of the bath (B).

In the present embodiment, the high temperature side terminal heating circuit 14 provided with the high temperature terminal heaters 13a, 13b, and 13c such as the warm air heater and the low temperature terminal heaters 15a, 15b, and 15c such as the floor heater are provided. It is formed by connecting the installed low-temperature terminal heating circuit 16 and the upstream and downstream sides of the high-temperature terminal heater in a circulating manner, and circulates and supplies hot water to the water heat exchanger 7 for liquid-liquid heat exchange. The bypass circuit 12 for a bath is branched off from the heating water heating circuit 6.

The high temperature side terminal heating circuit 14 and the low temperature side terminal heating circuit 16 are configured by connecting circulating system circuits 14a, 14b, 14c, 16a, 16b, and 16c including each terminal heater in parallel. The terminal heating circuits 14 and 16 including these circulation circuits and the heating water heating circuit 6 constitute a heating circuit.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the terminal heaters 13a, 13b, 13c, 15a, 15b, and 15c controls circulation of water to each circulation circuit 14a, 14b, 14c, 16a, 16b, and 16c. Thermal valves (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e, 27f), room temperature sensors (28a, 28b, 28c, 28d, 28e, 28f) and end-side control devices (29a, 29b, 29c, 29d, 29e, 29f) ) And operation sections 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e, and 30f are respectively provided. When the hot water is circulated by the terminal heaters, the thermal valves 27a to 27f are opened, and when the hot water is not circulated, the thermal valves 27a to 27f are closed.

The hot water flowing through each circuit is recovered to the water tank 17 and is reheated by the heating hot water generating means 3 to be circulated and supplied to each circuit by the circulation pump 18.

In the heating water heating circuit 6, the hot water temperature detecting means 19 is formed on the tapping side of the heating hot water generating means 3, and the cold water temperature detecting means is located upstream of the low temperature terminal heating circuit 16. 20 is formed. In this embodiment, thermistors are employed as these water temperature detection means.

In addition, although the detailed description is omitted, the temperature sensor 21 other than the temperature detection means 19 and 20, the water quantity sensor 22, and the like are provided at predetermined portions of each circuit of the hot water heater. By controlling the amount of water, the amount of heating and the like to be able to hot water the desired amount of water at a predetermined temperature.

In this embodiment, the low temperature detection thermistor 23 is adopted as the freezing danger temperature detection means. The low temperature detection thermistor 23 is provided near the combustion air intake port of the hot water heater and the hot water heater 1, and is configured to detect whether or not the temperature is below the freezing danger temperature by detecting the temperature of the outside air introduced from the intake port.

On the other hand, in the bath bypass circuit 12, a thermal valve 24 is provided on the upstream side of the water heat exchanger 7 as a circuit opening and closing means, and is configured to open when the bath water is heated.

Control of the hot water heater / heater 1 according to the present embodiment is executed by the central controller 25 in which the microcomputer is combined, as shown in FIG. In addition, the central control unit 25 is connected to the hot water generating means (2), the heating hot water generating means (3), the water temperature detection means (19, 20) and the like in the main body of the hot water heater (1), hot water temperature, While controlling the amount of hot water supply, each terminal heater 13a, 13b, 13c, 15a, 15b, 15c is connected to respective terminal side control devices 29a to 29f. The terminal-side control devices 29a to 29f and the central control device 25 exchange information with each other to control the opening and closing of the thermal valves 27a to 27f of each terminal heater.

For example, when the start of heating is instructed by the operation unit 30a of the terminal heater 13a, the thermal valve 27a of the terminal heater is opened through the terminal side control device 29a, and at the same time, the central controller 25 is opened. Heating start information is entered. Then, the heating hot water generating means 3 or the like is operated based on the information from the terminal heater 13a. In addition, when entering the freezing prevention operation mode described later, the thermal valve is opened via the terminal-side control device 29a from the central control device 25.

Further, the room temperature information obtained by the room temperature sensor 28a is sent to the central control unit 25 through the terminal side control unit 29a, and the thermal valve 27a is controlled to start the freeze prevention operation. And the like to instruct the central controller 25.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the circulation system circuits 14a, 14b, and 14c including the high temperature terminal heaters 13a, 13b, and 13c are classified into group A, and the respective thermal valves 27a, While integrally controlling the water supply of the circulation system circuit opened and closed by the 27b and 27c, the circulation system circuits 16a, 16b, and 16c including the low temperature terminal heaters 15a, 15b, and 15c are classified into B groups. It is comprised so that the water supply of the circulation system circuit opened and closed by these each thermal valve 27d, 27e, 27f may be integrally controlled.

3 is a flowchart of the freezing prevention operation performed by the control means according to the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, when the temperature in the gas hot water heater detected by the low temperature sensing thermistor 23 becomes 3 ° C. or lower (S101) during the heating operation stop (S100), the freezing prevention operation mode is entered.

First, in the present embodiment, the circulation pump 18 is operated (S102), and the thermal valves 27a to 27f of all the terminal heaters are opened (S103) to circulate water in all the circulation system circuits for 3 minutes ( S104). When the temperature of the circulating water is detected and it is 20 ° C. or lower (YES in S105), it is determined that the freezing prevention operation is necessary, and the thermal valve of the group B is first closed (S107). Next, the group A circulation circuit 14a, 14b, 14c including the high temperature terminal heater through the thermal valves 27a, 27b, 27c of the group A in the valve open state by operating the heating hot water generating means (S108). Circulate the hot water.

When the temperature of the hot water circulating in the circulation circuits 14a, 14b, 14c rises above 60 ° C, or 3 minutes have elapsed since the heating hot water generating means 3 was activated (S109), it is necessary to prevent freezing. When it is determined that hot water is supplied, the freezing prevention operation of the circulation system circuits 14a, 14b, 14c constituting the group A is terminated by closing the thermal valves 27a, 27b, 27c of the group A (S110).

In addition, in S105, when the water temperature is 20 ° C or more, it is determined that the freezing prevention operation is not necessary, and all the thermal valves are closed (S111), the circulation pump is turned off (S116), and the intermittent idle time described later is entered. .

After the freezing prevention operation of the group A is finished, the thermal valves 27d, 27e, and 27f belonging to the group B are opened (S112), and the circulation circuits 16a and 16b including the low temperature terminal heaters 15a, 15b, and 15c. Circulate the hot water in 16c).

When the temperature of the hot water circulating in the circulation circuit of the group B rises to 60 ° C. or more, or three minutes have elapsed since the heating hot water generating means 3 was activated (S113), the hot water required for freezing prevention It is judged that the circuit is supplied to the circuit, and the freezing prevention operation of the circulation system circuits 16a, 16b, and 16c constituting the group B is completed by closing the thermal valve of the group B (S114). Then, after stopping the heating hot water generating means (S115), the circulation pump is turned off (S116).

The freeze protection operation in this embodiment is configured to be executed by intermittently operating the heating hot water generating means 3 at a low temperature, and enters a pre-set stop time of the freeze protection operation by terminating the freeze protection operation. This idle time is set in advance in the central control unit 25 according to the temperature change in the heating pipe, the length of the heating pipe, the number of terminal heaters, and the like.

It is configured to start the interval timer with the start of the idle time to measure the idle time (S117). On the other hand, when the idle time ends (S118), it is determined whether or not the condition for freezing prevention operation is satisfied again (S101), and when it is determined that it is necessary, it is configured to start the freezing prevention operation again.

If it is determined that the freezing prevention operation is necessary for the hot water heater having the above-described configuration, the heating hot water generating means 3 and the circulating pump 18 are operated with the hot water heater in the freezing prevention operation mode, and each freezing prevention circuit group is operated. The terminal heater is forcibly set to the freezing prevention mode and the freezing prevention operation is executed for all terminal heating units.

As a result, when there is a risk of freezing, it is possible to reliably execute the freezing prevention operation of all circulation circuits. Therefore, since a part of the terminal heater does not enter the freeze protection mode, there is no fear that the risk of freezing of the circulation circuit including the terminal heater increases.

Further, by classifying the circulation circuits into groups A and B, and performing the freeze protection operation for each of these freeze protection circuit groups, the number of circulation system circuits which simultaneously execute the freeze protection operation is reduced.

For this reason, the number of circulation system circuits circulating and supplying hot water is reduced by almost half, and the head of the circulation pump is increased by that amount, and the amount of hot water circulating in each circulation system circuit is also increased. Therefore, it is possible to circulate and supply a sufficient amount of hot water even to the circulation system circuit having a large pipe resistance, and thus it is possible to execute a reliable freezing prevention operation.

In addition, there is no need to employ a circulating pump having a large output and there is no fear that the hot water heater is enlarged. In addition, since the present invention can be achieved by the central control unit 25 using a microcomputer or the like, the cost does not increase significantly.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to the hot water heater or the hot water heater 1 provided with the hot water generator 2 and the hot water generator 3, but can also be applied to a hot water heater equipped with only the heating and hot water generator. .

In this embodiment, the control is classified into a group A consisting of a circulating system circuit including a high temperature terminal heater and a group B consisting of a circulating system circuit including a low temperature terminal heater, but the high temperature terminal heater and a low temperature terminal heater are included. One freeze protection circuit group may be formed by mixing the circulation circuits.

In addition, in this embodiment, although classified into two groups, A and B, it can also classify into three or more groups, and freeze prevention operation | movement can also be performed. The number of circulation circuits is not limited to this embodiment.

In the above embodiment, a thermal valve is used for opening and closing the circuit, but this is in accordance with the viewpoint of heat resistance and operation reliability in a hot water heater. However, since the thermal valve does not have high responsiveness (for example, it is "open" in about 1 minute after the valve is prevented from opening, and "closed" in about 1.5 to 2 minutes after the valve closing instruction. ), The valve opening prevention and the valve closing instruction may be controlled so as to operate at the timing shown in the above-described flowchart. Therefore, in consideration of heat resistance and the like, a solenoid valve having excellent responsiveness may be used instead of the thermal valve.

In addition, it is also possible to individually determine the necessity of the freezing prevention operation by circulating water in each circulation system circuit while the thermal valve 24 of the bathtub bypass circuit 12 is opened. You may judge in the closed state.

When the thermal valve 24 is executed in a closed state, the bathtub bypass circuit 12 is also treated as one circulation circuit, and the thermal valve is closed with the thermal valves 27a to 27f of each circulation system circuit closed. (24) can be opened to determine the risk of freezing of the bath bypass circuit 12 and to prevent freezing operation. In this case, it is preferable not to receive water in the bathtub. If there is water in the bath, it enters the freeze protection mode and at the same time the pump for the bath also works because the bath water boils.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the thermal valve is arrange | positioned at each terminal heater, each thermal valve can also be provided and controlled in each circulation system circuit in a hot water heater.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, a header 32 having circuit opening / closing means in which on / off valves 31a, 31b, 31c are arranged intensively is provided on the outside of the hot water heater. The circuits may be connected to the respective circulation system circuits, and the on / off valves 31a, 31b, and 31c may be controlled by control means.

The header may be provided on the circulation circuits 14a, 14b and 14c.

In the freezing prevention method according to the present invention, when it is determined that the freezing prevention operation is necessary, the heating and hot water generating means and the circulation pump are operated by the hot water heating main body as the freezing prevention operation mode, and at the same time, the terminal heater is forced for each freeze protection circuit group. In the freezing prevention mode, the freezing prevention operation is executed for all terminal heaters.

As a result, when there is a risk of freezing, it is possible to reliably execute the freezing prevention operation of all circulation circuits. Therefore, as in the conventional hot water circulator, a part of the terminal heater does not enter the freezing prevention mode, so there is no fear that the risk of freezing of the circulation system circuit including the terminal heater increases.

Further, by classifying the circulation circuits into a plurality of freeze protection circuit groups and executing a freeze protection operation for each of these freeze protection groups, the number of circulation system circuits that simultaneously execute the freeze protection operation can be reduced.

Since the number of circulation circuits for circulating hot water is reduced, the head of the circulation pump is increased accordingly, and the amount of hot water circulating in each circulation system circuit is also increased. Therefore, it is possible to circulate and supply a sufficient amount of hot water even to the circulation system circuit having a large pipe resistance, and thus it is possible to execute a reliable freezing prevention operation.

In addition, there is no need to employ a circulating pump having a large output and there is no fear that the body of the hot water heater becomes large. In addition, since the present invention can be achieved by a control means using a microcomputer or the like, the cost does not increase significantly.

Claims (2)

In a hot water heater having a heating hot water generating means, a heating circuit including a plurality of circulation system circuits, and a circulation pump for circulating and supplying hot water generated by the heating hot water generating means to each terminal heater through the circulation system circuit. The preliminary classification of the circulation circuits into a plurality of freeze protection circuit groups, the heating hot water generating means and the circulation pump are operated, and hot water is sequentially supplied to each of the freeze protection circuit groups to perform a freeze prevention operation. A freezing prevention method in a hot water heater, characterized by performing. In a hot water heater having a heating hot water generating means, a heating circuit including a plurality of circulation system circuits, and a circulation pump for circulating and supplying hot water generated by the heating hot water generating means to each terminal heater through the circulation system circuit. A circuit opening and closing means for controlling the water supply to each of said circulation system circuits, and a freezing risk temperature detection means for detecting that the temperature is below the freezing risk temperature, and the plurality of freeze protection circuit groups By pre-classifying and detecting that the temperature is below the freezing danger temperature, the heating hot water generating means and the circulation pump are operated, and the circuit opening / closing means is operated for each freeze protection circuit group to sequentially supply hot water for each freeze protection circuit group. A control means for executing a freeze prevention operation by supplying the control unit to the Freeze protection device in that in the exchange information of the hot water in the hot water heater is configured to control the hot water heater according to claim.

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