KR20070058138A - Oil separator and cooling cycle apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An oil separator and an air-conditioner using the same are provided to supply additional oil selectively into a heat exchange cycle according to an installation condition and to solve an oil shortage or oversupply problem. An air-conditioner using an oil separator(30) includes a body(42), a second oil outlet pipe(44), and a opening/closing valve. The body operates while connected to the oil separator at bottom of the oil separator. The second oil outlet pipe discharges oil stored in the body to the compressor. The opening/closing valve is installed at the second oil outlet pipe to open and to close the second oil outlet pipe. A top surface of the body of the oil tank is modified so as to be directly communicated with the body of the oil separator. The second oil outlet pipe can be formed of a plural number to allow an amount of oil additionally supplied from the oil tank to a compressor to be controlled at the oil tank.

Description

Oil separator and cooling cycle apparatus using the same

1 is a perspective view of an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator according to the present invention.

3 is a perspective view of a part of the oil separator according to the present invention cut out.

4 is a view showing an oil separation phenomenon of the oil separator according to the present invention.

5 is a sectional view showing an oil separator according to the prior art.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

1: evaporator 2: indoor unit

4: refrigerant pipe 6: outdoor unit

10 compressor 12 condenser

14: Inflator 20: Accumulator

30: oil separator 38: the first oil outlet pipe

40 oil tank 44 second oil outlet pipe

46: on-off valve

The present invention relates to an oil separator for separating oil from a gas and an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator, and in particular, an oil separator and an oil tank equipped with an oil tank to selectively supply additional oil used in the compressor according to the installation environment. An air conditioner with a separator is provided.

In general, an air conditioner is a device for supplying cold or warm air to a building or a room in which the air conditioner is installed using a heat exchange cycle consisting of a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and an expander, and is largely divided into a separate type and an integrated type.

The separation type and the integrated type are functionally the same, but the separation type has an indoor heat exchanger (evaporator or condenser) installed in the indoor unit, and an outdoor heat exchanger (condenser or evaporator) and a compressor installed in the outdoor unit. The one-piece unit is an indoor heat exchanger, a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, and an expansion device.

The integrated air conditioner includes a window type air conditioner installed directly by hanging a device on a window, and a duct type air conditioner connected to an intake duct and a discharge duct and installed outside the room. The separate type air conditioner includes a stand type air conditioner installed upright and a wall type air conditioner mounted on a wall.

In addition, the air conditioner may be classified into a cooling air conditioner that is used only for cooling, and a heat pump type air conditioner that may be used for both cooling and heating.

Recently, a multi-type air conditioner including at least one outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units has been widely used.

This air conditioner allows refrigerant to be condensed in the condenser after it is compressed in the compressor, then expanded in the expansion mechanism, evaporated in the evaporator and then circulated back to the compressor through an accumulator where liquid refrigerant can accumulate. .

In addition, the air conditioner is the compressor is lubricated and cooled by oil, the oil used in the compressor is discharged with the gas refrigerant from the compressor, the oil discharged from the compressor is separated from the gas refrigerant and recovered to the compressor again An oil separator is further included.

5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an oil separator according to the prior art.

The oil separator 50 shown in FIG. 5 includes a cylinder 52 having a space therein, an inlet pipe 54 for supplying gas refrigerant and oil into the cylinder 52, and the refrigerant passes through the oil. Oil recovery for collecting the filtering member 56 such as the net installed in the cylinder 52 and the oil dropped to the inner lower portion of the cylinder 52 so as to be filtered and dropped to the inner lower portion of the cylinder 52, and to the compressor. A pipe 58 and a discharge pipe 60 through which the gas refrigerant passing through the filtering member 56 is discharged to flow to the condenser.

Referring to the operation of the conventional oil separator 50 configured as described above are as follows.

When the compressor is driven, oil is discharged from the compressor together with a high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant (solid line), and the gas refrigerant and oil discharged from the compressor are passed through the inlet pipe 54 of the oil separator 50 through the cylinder ( 52) is supplied into the interior.

The oil supplied to the inside of the cylinder (52) hits the striking member (56), falls down to the lower portion of the cylinder (12) by gravity, and is recovered by the compressor through the oil return pipe (58). .

On the other hand, the gas refrigerant supplied into the cylinder 52 is discharged through the discharge pipe 60 after passing through the filter member 56.

However, in the air conditioner equipped with the oil separator and the oil separator according to the prior art, since the oil used in the compressor is normally sealed in an appropriate amount in accordance with the standard refrigerant pipe length and the standard refrigerant filling amount, the length of the refrigerant pipe according to the installation environment Is longer than the standard value or the refrigerant filling amount is larger than the standard value, such that the oil used in the compressor is not sufficiently recovered by the compressor, the oil shortage occurs, there is a problem that the compressor can be damaged.

In another aspect, there is a problem in that the amount of oil used in the compressor is limited, so that the length of the refrigerant pipe is limited or the refrigerant cannot be further charged.

Of course, in order to solve the above problems, the oil used in the compressor may be over-sealed, but in order to over-package the oil used in the compressor, the amount of refrigerant may be reduced, and the oil used in the compressor may be reduced. There is a problem that the heat exchange efficiency of the refrigerant is adversely affected to lower the heat exchange efficiency.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, by including an oil tank that can be stored a predetermined amount of oil used in the compressor can be circulated in an appropriate amount of oil used in the compressor according to the installation environment It is an object to provide an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator and an oil separator.

Another object of the present invention is that the oil tank is configured to be integrally provided with an oil separator for separating the gas refrigerant and oil, the overall structure can be simplified, the oil separator can be minimized the additional manufacturing costs due to the oil tank and An air conditioner equipped with an oil separator is provided.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a solenoid type on-off valve so that the oil tank can be opened and closed periodically when the oil used in the compressor is additionally supplied, whereby the gas refrigerant compressed in the compressor is re-introduced into the compressor. It is to provide an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator and an oil separator that can be minimized.

Air conditioner according to the present invention for solving the above problems is a compressor for compressing the gas refrigerant and the oil discharged together with the compressed gas refrigerant; An oil separator configured to separate the oil discharged from the compressor from the gas refrigerant and recover the oil from the compressor; It is characterized in that it comprises an oil tank connected to the compressor and provided with an additional supply of oil.

The oil separator comprises: a cylinder having an inner space in which gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor and oil can be separated; An inlet pipe which is introduced into the cylinder to allow gas refrigerant and oil discharged from the compressor to be circumferentially injected into the inner space of the cylinder; A refrigerant outlet pipe through which gas refrigerant separated from oil is discharged from the inner space of the cylinder; It is characterized in that the oil outlet pipe which is separated from the gas refrigerant in the inner space of the cylinder discharged to the compressor.

The oil tank is structurally integrated with the oil separator.

The oil tank is installed in the lower portion of the oil separator is in communication with the oil separator, the oil outlet pipe for the oil stored in the cylinder is discharged to the compressor, characterized in that the opening and closing valve for opening and closing the oil outlet pipe do.

The on-off valve is characterized in that it is provided with a solenoid type that can open and close the oil additional supply passage periodically during the additional oil supply.

The oil tank further comprises a capillary tube installed on the oil additional supply passage.

In addition, the oil separator according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a cylinder having an internal space in which gas and oil can be separated; An inlet pipe which is introduced into the cylinder to allow the gas and oil to be circumferentially injected into the inner space of the cylinder; A refrigerant outlet pipe installed at the cylinder to discharge gas separated from the oil; A first oil outlet pipe installed at a central portion of the cylinder to discharge the oil when the oil separated from the gas reaches a predetermined level; At least one second oil outlet pipe installed in the cylinder such that the oil separated from the gas is discharged so as to be positioned below the first oil outlet pipe; And an on / off valve for opening and closing the respective second oil outlet pipes.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an oil separator and an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. For reference, the air conditioner equipped with the oil separator according to the present invention may be applied to all types of air conditioners without the integrated / separate type or the cooling only / cooling / cooling type or the single type / multi-type type. For convenience, a description will be given of only a cooling type multi air conditioner.

1 is a perspective view of an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner equipped with an oil separator according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows a part of the oil separator according to the present invention. 4 is a perspective view of the oil separator of the oil separator according to the present invention.

The air conditioners shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 are installed in an indoor (I) requiring air conditioning, and the indoor unit (2) in which the indoor (I) air is cooled by heat exchange with a refrigerant, and outside the indoor (I), that is, outdoors Installed in (O) and connected through the indoor unit 2 and the refrigerant pipe 4 so that the refrigerant discharged from the indoor unit 2 can exchange heat with the air of the room I in the indoor unit 2. It consists of an outdoor unit 6 to be returned to the indoor unit (2).

The indoor unit 2 is provided with an evaporator 1 or the like in which a low pressure liquid refrigerant evaporates to a gaseous state while absorbing heat of the air in the room I so that the air in the room I can be cooled.

The outdoor unit 6 includes a compressor 10 in which the gas refrigerant evaporated in the indoor unit 2 is compressed to high temperature and high pressure, and a refrigerant of high temperature and high pressure compressed in the compressor 10 in a liquid state while dissipating heat to the surroundings. The condenser 12 is condensed, and the expander 14 is expanded to a low pressure of the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 12 is provided.

The compressor 10 includes a compression unit having a compression chamber for compressing a refrigerant, a motor unit for varying the compression chamber, and an oil pump for pumping oil used in the compressor for lubrication and cooling of the compression unit or the motor unit. It is configured to include.

The compressor 10 accumulates the liquid refrigerant from the evaporator 1 toward the compressor 10 so that the liquid refrigerant not evaporated in the evaporator 1 does not flow into the compressor 10. It is connected with 20.

In addition, the compressor 10 is connected to an oil separator 30 which allows oil discharged together with the gas refrigerant from the compressor 10 to be separated from the gas refrigerant and recovered to the compressor 10.

The oil separator 30 may be implemented in a cyclone manner among several types.

That is, the cyclone-type oil separator 30 includes a cylinder 32 having an internal space in which gas refrigerant and oil discharged from the compressor 10 can be separated while turning in a cyclone manner, and the compressor. Gas refrigerant and oil discharged from the compressor 10 by being connected to the discharge port of the oil separator 30 and introduced into the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 are formed in the internal space of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30. An inlet pipe 34 to be circumferentially discharged, and a refrigerant outlet pipe 36 through which gas refrigerant separated from oil is discharged toward the condenser 14 in an inner space of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30. And a first oil outlet pipe 38 through which oil separated from the gas refrigerant in the inner space of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 is discharged toward the inlet of the compressor 10.

The cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 has a structure in which a bottom surface thereof is opened to communicate with an oil tank 40 to be described later.

The inlet pipe 34 of the oil separator 30 has the gas refrigerant and oil discharged from the compressor 10 toward the other than the central axis of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30. A straight pipe inserted into the upper portion of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 so as to flow into the cylinder 32, and inserted in a direction inscribed in the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30. Most preferred.

The refrigerant outlet pipe 36 of the oil separator 30 is inserted into the upper portion of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 in a lengthwise direction of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30.

The first oil outlet pipe 38 of the oil separator 30 is connected to the lower portion of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30, but is smaller than the inlet of the refrigerant outlet pipe 36 of the oil separator 30. It is preferred to be positioned low.

In addition, the first oil outlet pipe 38 of the oil separator 30 may be directly connected to the inlet of the compressor 10 or may be indirectly connected to the compressor 10 through the accumulator 20. 20) is connected to the suction port.

A capillary tube 37 is provided on the first oil outlet pipe 38 of the oil separator 30 to assist in oil recovery.

On the other hand, the compressor 10 is the oil used in the compressor 10 so that the oil used in the compressor 10 can be selectively supplied in addition to the standard amount enclosed in the manufacturing process of the air conditioner, depending on the installation environment, etc. This is connected to the oil tank 40 which can be stored a predetermined amount.

The oil tank 40 may be structurally separated from the oil separator 30 or may be integrated with the oil separator 30 for the purpose of simplifying the structure and minimizing the manufacturing cost as in the present embodiment.

The oil tank 40 integrated with the oil separator 30 includes a cylinder 42 installed under the oil separator 30 so as to communicate with the oil separator 30, and a body of the oil tank 40. The oil stored in 42 is installed on the second oil outlet pipe 44 through which the compressor 10 is discharged, and the second oil outlet pipe 44 for opening and closing of the second oil outlet pipe 44. It may be made of an on-off valve 46.

The cylinder 42 of the oil tank 40 has a structure in which an upper surface thereof is opened to directly communicate with the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30.

The oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40 is vertically lowered to the cylinder 42 of the oil tank 40 so that the amount of oil additionally supplied from the oil tank 40 to the compressor 10 can be adjusted. Although a plurality may be provided in the direction, the present invention will be described by being limited to one.

As such, the second oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40, which is provided as one, may be further supplied with the entire amount of oil stored in the cylinder 42 of the oil tank 40. It is preferable to be connected to the lower surface of the cylinder 42.

The open / close valve 46 of the oil tank 40 may be implemented by a manual type in which an open / close mode is directly determined by a person, or in an automatic mode in which the open / close mode is determined by an electric / electronic control.

In particular, when the on-off valve 46 of the oil tank 40 is to supply additional oil stored in the oil tank 40 according to the installation environment, the gas refrigerant in the oil separator 30 is the oil tank 40 Solenoid type that can periodically open and close the second oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40 to minimize the re-introduction to the compressor 10 through the second oil outlet pipe 44 of the It may be provided as.

Meanwhile, the oil tank 40 is installed on the oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40 to allow the oil stored in the oil tank 40 to be smoothly supplied to the compressor 10. 48) is further included.

For reference, since the integrated oil separator 30 and the oil tank 40 are not distinguished in appearance, they may be referred to as oil separators having an oil tank function.

Prior to describing in detail the operation of the present invention configured as described above, the heat exchange action of the air conditioner according to the present invention refers to those described in detail in the above-mentioned prior art, the oil used in the compressor 10 according to the present invention Explaining the circulating action in detail as follows.

First, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, in the state where the second oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40 is closed by the on / off valve 46 of the oil tank 40, the compressor 10 ) Is driven, the gas refrigerant of the high temperature and high pressure is discharged from the compressor 10 and the oil inside the compressor 10 is discharged together with the gas refrigerant, and the gas refrigerant and the oil discharged from the compressor 10 are The inlet pipe 34 of the oil separator 30 flows into the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gas refrigerant and the oil flowing into the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 are directed toward the inlet pipe 34 of the oil separator 30, that is, the oil separator 30. The gas flows along the inner wall of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 while moving in the lateral direction of the central axis of the cylinder 32, so that the oil is separated from the gas refrigerant by the specific gravity difference between the oil and the gas refrigerant. Are centrifuged.

The gaseous refrigerant separated from the oil in the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 is discharged to the condenser 14 through the refrigerant outlet pipe 36 of the oil separator 30.

The oil separated from the gaseous refrigerant in the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 is lowered along the inner wall of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 to the lower portion of the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30. Flow down.

The oil flowing down into the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 has an oil level in the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 at least to the first oil outlet pipe 38 of the oil separator 30. When it is reached, it is discharged from the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 through the first oil outlet pipe 38 of the oil separator 30.

The oil discharged from the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 passes through the accumulator 20 and is recovered to the compressor 10.

At this time, since the first oil outlet pipe 38 of the oil separator 30 is located at a position higher than the upper surface of the cylinder 42 of the oil tank 40, the oil stored in the oil tank 40 is stored in the oil tank. It remains stored at 40.

On the other hand, as shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, the second oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40 in the open state by the opening and closing valve 46 of the oil tank 40, the compressor 10 ) Is driven, the gas refrigerant of the high temperature and high pressure is discharged from the compressor 10 and the oil inside the compressor 10 is discharged together with the gas refrigerant, and the gas refrigerant and the oil discharged from the compressor 10 are It flows into the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30, and is mutually separated.

The gaseous refrigerant separated from the oil in the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 is discharged to the condenser 14 through the refrigerant outlet pipe 36 of the oil separator 30.

And the oil separated from the gas refrigerant in the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 is the oil even if the oil level in the cylinder 32 of the oil separator 30 is lower than the first oil outlet pipe 38 Together with the oil stored in the tank 40 is discharged from the cylinder 42 of the oil tank 40 through the second oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40.

The oil discharged from the cylinder 42 of the oil tank 40 passes through the capillary tube 48 of the oil tank 40 and the accumulator 20 in sequence and is recovered to the compressor 10.

As such, once the second oil outlet pipe 44 of the oil tank 40 is opened, the oil stored in the oil tank 40 is mixed with the oil supplied to the heat exchange cycle from the beginning to circulate the heat exchange cycle. .

The oil separator and the air conditioner equipped with the oil separator according to the present invention configured as described above are configured to be additionally supplied to the heat exchange cycle of the oil stored in the oil tank in accordance with the installation environment, due to oil shortage or excess oil There is an advantage to solve the problem.

In addition, since the oil tank is configured to be integrally provided with an oil separator that separates the gas refrigerant and oil, the overall structure can be simplified, and further manufacturing costs due to the oil tank can be minimized.

In addition, the solenoid type on-off valve is provided so that the oil tank can be opened and closed periodically when the oil used in the compressor is additionally supplied, thereby minimizing the reflow of the gas refrigerant compressed in the compressor into the compressor. There is an advantage that the lowering of the efficiency can be prevented.

Claims (7)

A compressor configured to compress the gas refrigerant and discharge the oil therein together with the compressed gas refrigerant; An oil separator configured to separate the oil discharged from the compressor from the gas refrigerant and recover the oil from the compressor; An air conditioner having an oil separator, characterized in that it comprises an oil tank connected to the compressor and provided with an additional supply of oil. The method according to claim 1. The oil separator comprises: a cylinder having an inner space in which gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor and oil can be separated; An inlet pipe which is introduced into the cylinder to allow gas refrigerant and oil discharged from the compressor to be circumferentially injected into the inner space of the cylinder; A refrigerant outlet pipe through which gas refrigerant separated from oil is discharged from the inner space of the cylinder; An air conditioner having an oil separator, characterized in that the oil separated from the gas refrigerant in the inner space of the cylinder is composed of a first oil outlet pipe which is discharged to the compressor. The method according to claim 1, And the oil tank is structurally integrated with the oil separator. The method according to claim 1, The oil tank may be installed at a lower portion of the oil separator to communicate with the oil separator, a second oil outlet pipe through which oil stored in the cylinder is discharged to the compressor, and an open / close valve for opening and closing the second oil outlet pipe. Air conditioner with an oil separator, characterized in that made. The method according to claim 4, The on-off valve is an air conditioner having an oil separator, characterized in that provided with a solenoid type that can open and close the oil additional supply passage periodically when additional oil supply. The method according to claim 4, The oil tank further comprises an air capillary tube installed on the additional oil supply flow path. A cylinder having an internal space in which gas and oil can be separated; An inlet pipe which is introduced into the cylinder to allow the gas and oil to be circumferentially injected into the inner space of the cylinder; A refrigerant outlet pipe installed at the cylinder to discharge gas separated from the oil; A first oil outlet pipe installed at a central portion of the cylinder to discharge the oil when the oil separated from the gas reaches a predetermined level; At least one second oil outlet pipe installed in the cylinder such that the oil separated from the gas is discharged so as to be positioned below the first oil outlet pipe; And an on / off valve configured to open and close each of the second oil outlet pipes.

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