KR20090103416A - Air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A system for an air conditioning is provided to prevent the performance degradation of a product by detecting the leakage of refrigerant in advance. CONSTITUTION: A system for an air conditioning comprises followings. An outdoor unit(OU) includes an outdoor unit case and a ventilation fan. The outdoor unit case forms the outer shell. The ventilation fan is arranged inside the outdoor unit case. A refrigerant sensor(200) senses the leakage refrigerant and is arranged at the bottom surface of the outdoor unit case. An indoor unit includes an indoor unit case and an outlet. The indoor unit case forms the outer shell. The outlet discharges the heat-exchanged air and is located at one side of the indoor unit case. The refrigerant sensor senses the leakage refrigerant and is arranged at one side of an outlet.

Description

Air conditioning system

The present invention relates to an air conditioning system, and more particularly, to an air conditioning system capable of detecting a leak of a refrigerant using a refrigerant sensor provided in an outdoor unit or an indoor unit.

In general, an air conditioning system is a device for cooling or heating an indoor space by performing a process of compressing, condensing, expanding, and evaporating a refrigerant. The air conditioning system is divided into a general air conditioning system in which one indoor unit is connected to an outdoor unit, and a multi air conditioning system in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to the outdoor unit. In addition, the air conditioning system is divided into a cooling system for supplying only cold air to the room by operating the refrigerant cycle in only one direction, and a cooling and heating system for supplying cold or warm air to the room by operating the refrigerant cycle in both directions.

Inside the outdoor unit of the multi-air conditioning system, there are complicated joints and welds, and when the refrigerant is circulated, the refrigerant is supplied and recovered through the pipes. May occur. That is, if the piping is likely to be damaged by the heat generated in the equipment that generates a lot of heat, and the fitting of the connection part of the piping is wrong, refrigerant leakage may occur frequently due to poor assembly.

However, the air conditioning system according to the prior art is difficult to detect the leakage of the refrigerant until the performance of the product is rapidly reduced due to the leakage of a large amount of refrigerant, it is difficult to respond quickly to the refrigerant leakage, environmental pollution and There is a problem that the maintenance cost increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning system that can detect the leakage of the refrigerant using a refrigerant sensor provided in the outdoor unit or indoor unit.

An air conditioning system of the present invention includes: an outdoor unit including an outdoor unit case forming an appearance; And a coolant sensor disposed on a bottom surface of the outdoor unit case to sense leaked coolant.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an air conditioning system includes: an outdoor unit including an outdoor unit case forming an appearance and a blowing fan disposed inside the outdoor unit case; And a refrigerant sensor disposed on a flow path of air flowing by the operation of the blower fan and detecting a leaked refrigerant.

Air conditioning system according to another aspect of the present invention, the indoor unit case forming the appearance; And an indoor unit formed at one side of the indoor unit case and including a discharge port for discharging the heat-exchanged air; And a refrigerant sensor disposed at one side of the discharge port and configured to detect a leaked refrigerant.

In the present invention, the refrigerant sensor may detect that the refrigerant leaked when the concentration of the refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value.

In the present invention, the control unit includes a control unit for determining whether the refrigerant is leaked based on the refrigerant detection signal detected by the refrigerant sensor, the control unit may detect that the refrigerant is leaked when the concentration of the refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value. Can be.

In the present invention, the display unit for displaying the refrigerant leakage information; And a controller configured to display the refrigerant leakage information on the display unit based on the refrigerant detection signal detected by the refrigerant sensor.

In the air conditioning system according to the present invention, the leakage of the refrigerant may be detected by using the refrigerant sensor provided in the outdoor unit or the indoor unit. Therefore, it is possible to detect a small amount of refrigerant leakage in real time during operation of the outdoor unit or the indoor unit, there is an advantage that can solve the refrigerant leakage problem before the performance degradation of the product occurs. In addition, there is an advantage that can reduce the prevention and maintenance costs of environmental pollution due to refrigerant leakage.

1 is a configuration diagram of a general multi-type air conditioner (hereinafter, referred to as an “air conditioner”).

2 is a view showing the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling operation of the entire room of the air conditioner.

3 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of an outdoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a perspective view illustrating an internal configuration of the outdoor unit illustrated in FIG. 3.

5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an indoor unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram briefly illustrating a control flow of an air conditioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Simple description of the code for the main part of the drawing>

100: multi air conditioner 110: compressor

120: indoor heat exchanger 131: indoor expansion valve

132: outdoor expansion valve 133: check valve

140: outdoor heat exchanger 160: four-way valve

180: supercooler 200: refrigerant sensor

210: control unit 220: database

230: display unit IU: indoor unit

OU: outdoor unit

The air conditioning system includes a general air conditioner for cooling operation, a heater for heating operation, a general heat pump type air conditioner for performing both heating and cooling operations, and a multi-type air conditioner for cooling and heating a plurality of indoor spaces. Include. Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the air conditioner, the configuration of the multi-type air conditioner and the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling operation will be briefly described.

1 is a block diagram of a general multi-type air conditioner (hereinafter, referred to as an “air conditioner”) 100. Referring to FIG. 1, the air conditioner 100 includes an outdoor unit OU and an indoor unit IU. The outdoor unit OU includes a compressor 110, an outdoor heat exchanger 140, an outdoor expansion valve 132, a supercooler 180, and a controller (not shown). The air conditioner 100 includes one outdoor unit OU, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the air conditioner 100 may include a plurality of outdoor units.

The indoor units IU each include an indoor heat exchanger 120, an indoor blower 125, and an indoor expansion valve 131. The indoor heat exchanger 120 acts as an evaporator during the cooling operation and acts as a condenser during the heating operation. The outdoor heat exchanger 140 acts as a condenser in the cooling operation and acts as an evaporator in the heating operation.

The compressor 110 compresses the low temperature low pressure refrigerant into the high temperature high pressure refrigerant. The compressor 110 may be applied in various structures, and an inverter type compressor may be adopted. On the discharge pipe 161 of the compressor 110, a flow rate sensor 191, a discharge temperature sensor 171, and a discharge pressure sensor 151 are provided. In addition, a suction temperature sensor 175 and a suction pressure sensor 154 are provided on the suction pipe 162 of the compressor 110, and a frequency detection sensor 188 is installed to measure the frequency of the compressor 110. . The outdoor unit OU includes one compressor 110, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the outdoor unit OU may include a plurality of compressors. The accumulator 187 is installed in the suction pipe 162 of the compressor 110 to prevent the liquid refrigerant from flowing into the compressor 110.

The four-way valve 160 is a flow path switching valve for cooling and heating switching, and guides the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 110 to the outdoor heat exchanger 140 during the cooling operation and to the indoor heat exchanger 120 during the heating operation. .

The indoor heat exchangers 120 are disposed in the corresponding indoor spaces, respectively. In order to measure the temperature of the indoor spaces, the indoor temperature sensors 176 are respectively installed. The indoor expansion valves 131 are devices for condensing the refrigerant introduced during the cooling operation. The indoor expansion valves 131 are respectively installed in the indoor inlet pipes 163 of the indoor units IU. Various types of indoor expansion valves 131 may be used, and an electronic expansion valve may be used for ease of use. The indoor inlet pipe temperature sensors 173 are installed on the indoor inlet pipes 163. More specifically, the indoor inlet pipe temperature sensors 173 are installed between the indoor heat exchangers 120 and the indoor expansion valves 131. In addition, indoor outlet pipe temperature sensors 172 and indoor pressure sensors 152 are installed on the indoor outlet pipes 164, which are engines that guide the gaseous refrigerant between the outdoor unit OU and the indoor units IU.

The outdoor heat exchanger 140 is disposed in the outdoor space. In order to measure the temperature of the outdoor space, an outdoor temperature sensor 177 is provided. The liquid pipe temperature sensor 174 is installed on the liquid pipe 165 connecting the outdoor expansion valve 132 and the indoor unit IU to guide the liquid refrigerant.

The outdoor expansion valve 132 throttles the refrigerant flowing in during the heating operation and is installed on the liquid pipe 165. In addition, on the inlet pipe 166 connecting the liquid pipe 165 and the outdoor heat exchanger 140, a first bypass pipe 167 is installed for the refrigerant to bypass the outdoor expansion valve 132. The check valve 133 is provided on the bypass piping 167. The check valve 133, although the refrigerant flows from the outdoor heat exchanger 140 to the indoor unit (IU) during the cooling operation, but blocks the flow of the refrigerant during the heating operation. The outdoor pressure sensor 153 is provided on the inflow pipe 166.

The subcooler 180 includes a subcooled heat exchanger 184, a second bypass pipe 181, a subcooled expansion valve 182, and a discharge pipe 185. The subcooling heat exchanger 184 is disposed on the inlet pipe 166. In the cooling operation, the second bypass pipe 181 bypasses the refrigerant discharged from the subcooling heat exchanger 184 and performs a function of introducing the subcooled heat exchanger 184 into the subcooling heat exchanger 184. The subcooled expansion valve 182 is disposed on the second bypass pipe 181 to throttle the liquid refrigerant flowing into the second bypass pipe 181 to lower the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant, and then the heat exchanger for subcooling. (184). Therefore, during the cooling operation, after the high temperature condensed refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 140 is cooled by heat exchange with the low temperature refrigerant introduced through the second bypass pipe 181 and the subcooled heat exchanger 184, Flow into the indoor units (IU). The bypass refrigerant is introduced into the accumulator 187 through the discharge pipe 185 after heat exchange in the subcooled heat exchanger 184. On the second bypass pipe 181, a bypass flow meter 183 for measuring a flow rate bypassed through the second bypass pipe 181 is provided.

2 illustrates a flow of the refrigerant during the cooling operation of the entire room of the air conditioner 100. An example of the operation of the air conditioner 100 shown in FIG. 1 will be briefly described by limiting the operation to the room cooling operation. 2, the high temperature and high pressure gaseous refrigerant discharged from the compressor 110 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 140 via the four-way valve 160. The refrigerant condenses in the outdoor heat exchanger 140. The outdoor expansion valve 132 is fully open. In addition, the indoor expansion valves 131 of the indoor units IU are open to the opening degree set for the refrigerant throttling. Therefore, the refrigerant flowing out of the outdoor heat exchanger 140 is first introduced into the subcooler 180 through the outdoor expansion valve 132 and the bypass pipe 133. The leaked refrigerant is supercooled in the subcooler 180 and then flows into the indoor units IU.

The refrigerant introduced into the indoor units IU is throttled in the indoor expansion valve 131 and then evaporated in the indoor heat exchanger 120. The evaporated refrigerant is introduced into the suction pipe 162 of the compressor 110 through the four-way valve 160 and the accumulator 187. At this time, the indoor blowers 125 operate.

3 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of the outdoor unit (OU) according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an internal configuration of the outdoor unit OU shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the outdoor unit OU has an outdoor unit case having a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped, and sucks the outside air to the left / right side and the rear side, heats the sucked outside air inside, and then moves upwards. And to discharge.

The outdoor unit case forming the exterior of the outdoor unit OU has a front panel 4 that shields the internal space of the outdoor unit OU from the front, and forms a front exterior, and a side that guides the inflow of external air to the left / right sides. A grill 42, a rear grill 44 for guiding the inflow of external air from the rear to the inside, a base fan 2 for supporting a plurality of parts, and an upper surface for guiding the upward discharge of the heat-exchanged air therein; Panel 50 is included.

A pair of vent holes 52 are formed in the central portion of the upper panel 50 so that the air heat-exchanged in the outdoor unit OU can be discharged to the outside of the outdoor unit.

A cylindrical shroud 54 is mounted on the upper surface of the vent hole 52, and the shroud 54 is provided in a quantity corresponding to the number of the vent holes 52, and through the vent hole 52, the outdoor unit ( OU) to guide the flow direction of the air discharged into the.

The upper surface of the base fan 2 is provided with an outdoor heat exchanger 140 to heat the outdoor air, the lower side of the upper panel 50 is axially coupled with the fan motor 58 for generating rotational power to generate wind blowing The fan 57 is provided. The blowing fan 57 rotates by receiving power from the fan motor 58 that generates rotational power when the power is applied, thereby generating air flow upward, thereby discharging air inside the outdoor unit (OU) case to the outside. do.

The fan motor 58 is supported by a motor mount 58 'formed in an approximately' + 'shape when viewed from above, and the motor mount 58' is fixedly mounted to one side of the upper surface of the base fan 2, thereby providing a blowing fan ( 57 is able to maintain a stable state even if it is rotated quickly by receiving the rotational power from the fan motor (58).

The front frame 8 is provided at the left and right ends of the front panel 4, that is, at the left and right edges of the front end of the base pan 2. The front frame 8 is formed long up and down to support the front panel 4 and the side grill 42 to maintain the state coupled to each other.

A pipe bracket 4''a is provided at the lower front side of the front panel 4. That is, the lower part of the front panel 4 is cut in a predetermined portion, and the pipe bracket 4''a is configured to shield the cutout portion, and the pipe bracket 4''a communicates with the indoor unit IU so that the refrigerant flows. Guide the pipe to be installed.

At least one compressor 110 is installed in the base fan 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the compressor 110 may be provided in plural on the left and right sides thereof, and each of the compressor 110 may be configured as a constant speed compressor and an inverter compressor.

One side of the compressor 110 is provided with an oil separator 12, respectively. The oil separator 12 serves to filter oil mixed in the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 110, and the filtered oil is recovered by the oil separator 12 to the compressor 110 again. .

The accumulator 187 is installed between the central portion of the base fan 2, more specifically, the compressors 110. The accumulator 187 is installed to communicate with the compressors 110, respectively, and introduces a refrigerant in a gaseous state into the compressors 110.

The control box 30 is installed above the compressor 110. Although not shown, the control box 30 includes control components such as voltage transformers and capacitors, and a circuit board. A control cover 32 is provided at the front of the control box 30 to shield the inside of the control box 30.

The outdoor end heat exchanger 140 is provided at the side end and the rear end of the base fan 2. The outdoor heat exchanger 40 may be provided in pairs on the left and right. That is, the outdoor heat exchanger 140 having a '┏' shape (viewed from above) is installed on the left side, and the outdoor heat exchanger 140 having a '┓' shape (viewed from above) is installed on the left side, and the outdoor heat exchanger is installed. The groups 140 are formed to be slightly lower than the height of the outdoor unit OU.

On the other hand, the upper panel 50 is installed on the upper end of the side grill 42 and the rear grill (44). A pair of vent holes 52 are formed in the central portion of the upper panel 50 so that the air heat-exchanged in the outdoor unit OU can be discharged to the outside of the outdoor unit.

The air conditioning system of the present invention includes a refrigerant sensor 200 provided in the outdoor unit OU to detect leaked refrigerant. The refrigerant sensor 200 may be a sensor capable of detecting any kind of refrigerant gas, such as a method of detecting a pressure of the refrigerant gas or a method of detecting a temperature difference between the air and the refrigerant. It is preferable to use a sensor that can directly recognize the gas through the component analysis of the.

Since the leak detection of the refrigerant using the refrigerant sensor 200 can detect the leaked refrigerant up to a small unit such as mg, it is possible to determine whether the leakage is earlier than the determination of the refrigerant leakage using a general temperature sensor or a pressure sensor. There is this.

Referring to FIG. 4, the refrigerant sensor 200 may be disposed on the bottom surface of the outdoor unit case. Referring to FIG. 4, the bottom of the outdoor unit case may refer to a base fan 2 supporting a plurality of components. In fact, when the refrigerant leaks from the refrigerant pipe, the refrigerant having a high specific gravity drops to the bottom side of the outdoor unit case. Therefore, since the concentration of the leaked coolant rises on the bottom side of the outdoor unit case, the coolant sensor 200 may be disposed on the base fan 2 to easily detect the leaked coolant. In this case, when the concentration of the leaked refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value, the refrigerant sensor 200 may detect that the refrigerant is leaked. Wherein the predetermined value is 80 ppm to 120 ppm. When the refrigerant gas reaches the predetermined value, the refrigerant sensor 200 outputs a refrigerant detection signal related to the refrigerant leakage to the controller 210 to be described later.

On the other hand, the refrigerant sensor 200 may be disposed on the flow path of the air flowing by the operation of the blowing fan (57). Referring to FIG. 4, the blowing fan 57 rotates by receiving power from a fan motor 58 that generates rotational power when power is applied, thereby generating air flow upwards, and thus, the flow of air flows. A flow path (A in FIG. 4) is formed. At this time, when the refrigerant leaks from the refrigerant pipe, the leakage refrigerant is included in the flow path A, and is discharged from the inside of the outdoor unit case to the outside. Therefore, since the concentration of the leaked coolant increases on the flow path A, the coolant sensor 200 may be disposed on the flow path A to easily detect the leaked coolant. As described above, the refrigerant sensor 200 detects that the refrigerant has leaked when the concentration of the leaked refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value, and the refrigerant sensor 200 relates to the refrigerant leakage when the refrigerant gas reaches the predetermined value. The refrigerant detection signal is output to the controller 210 to be described later.

5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an indoor unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. The indoor unit IU includes an indoor unit case forming an external appearance. However, in FIG. 5, the indoor unit of the ceiling type air conditioner has been described as being limited to the indoor unit of various configurations, but is not limited thereto. Ramen can be any indoor unit.

Referring to Figure 5, the indoor unit (IU) is mounted so that the upper portion is inserted and fixed inside the ceiling and the lower surface is exposed below the ceiling.

The indoor unit case forming the exterior of the indoor unit (IU), the front panel 310 and the central portion of the front panel 310 to form an edge of the outer surface of the suction grill to allow the indoor air to flow into the indoor unit (IU). 320 and a cabinet 330 which forms an upper appearance of the indoor unit IU and includes a plurality of parts therein, and shields the upper surface of the cabinet 330 and simultaneously mounts the indoor unit IU inside the ceiling. A base 340.

The front panel 310 is perforated in a rectangular shape so that the suction grill 320 is mounted, and a rectangular discharge port 312 is formed on the lower surface thereof. The discharge port 312 is to discharge the air heat-exchanged inside the indoor unit (IU) back to the room, and is formed in the same shape in the front, rear, left and right of the front panel 310.

The discharge port 312 is formed with a louver 314 forcing the flow direction of air discharged into the room through the discharge port 312. The louver 314 has a square plate shape corresponding to the shape and size of the discharge port 312, and is connected to a motor (not shown) that generates rotational power to rotate the air flow direction.

Therefore, the air discharged to the indoor space through the discharge port 312 is blown to a distance far from the discharge port 312 so that the indoor unit IU maximizes air conditioning.

A suction grill 320 having a substantially square plate shape is mounted at the center of the front panel 310. The suction grill 320 allows the indoor air to be sucked into the indoor unit IU as described above. Therefore, a plurality of suction ports 322 are formed in the central portion of the suction grill 320 so that the upper and lower portions penetrate in the horizontal direction.

In this case, when leakage of the coolant occurs on the coolant pipe, the leaked coolant is likely to be included in the air discharged to the indoor space through the discharge port 312. Therefore, the coolant sensor 200 may be disposed on one side of the discharge port 312 to easily detect the leaked coolant. As described above, the refrigerant sensor 200 detects that the refrigerant has leaked when the concentration of the leaked refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value, and the refrigerant sensor 200 relates to the refrigerant leakage when the refrigerant gas reaches the predetermined value. The refrigerant detection signal is output to the controller 210 to be described later.

6 is a block diagram briefly illustrating a control flow of an air conditioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The air conditioning system of the present invention includes a display unit 230 displaying refrigerant leakage information and a controller 210 displaying the refrigerant leakage information on the display unit 230 based on the refrigerant detection signal detected by the refrigerant sensor 200. More).

As described above, when the concentration of the leaked refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value, the refrigerant sensor 200 detects that the refrigerant is leaked and transmits a refrigerant detection signal to the controller 210. When the controller 210 receives the refrigerant detection signal, the controller 210 transmits and displays the refrigerant leakage information to the display 230. Here, the refrigerant leakage information may include information on whether the refrigerant leaked and the concentration (amount) of the leaked refrigerant. That is, the coolant sensor 200 determines whether the coolant leaks according to whether the concentration of the leaked coolant gas is a predetermined value, and outputs coolant leakage information to the controller 210 when the coolant leaks.

On the other hand, the control unit 210 may immediately transmit a signal to display the display unit 230 immediately after receiving the refrigerant detection signal from the refrigerant sensor 210, the concentration of the refrigerant gas leaked from the refrigerant sensor 210 Regardless, when the refrigerant gas is detected, the refrigerant detection signal is directly transmitted to the control unit 210. When the refrigerant detection signal is received, the control unit writes the concentration value of the leaked refrigerant included in the refrigerant detection signal and the database 220. The concentration value of the stored refrigerant gas may be compared to determine whether to display on the display unit 230.

That is, even if a very small amount of refrigerant is detected, the refrigerant sensor 200 transmits the same to the controller 210, and the controller 210 stores the concentration value of the refrigerant gas determined from the transmitted refrigerant detection signal in the database 220. If the predetermined value is exceeded, it is determined that the refrigerant leaks, and then the refrigerant leakage information is transmitted to the display unit 230 for display. Here, the coolant leakage information may include information on whether or not the coolant leaks and the concentration (amount) of the leaked coolant.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims (6)

An outdoor unit including an outdoor unit case forming an appearance; And An air conditioning system disposed on a bottom surface of the outdoor unit case and including a refrigerant sensor configured to sense leakage refrigerant. An outdoor unit including an outdoor unit case forming an appearance and a blowing fan disposed inside the outdoor unit case; And And a refrigerant sensor disposed on a flow path of air flowing by the operation of the blower fan to detect a leaked refrigerant. An indoor unit case forming an appearance; And an indoor unit formed at one side of the indoor unit case and including a discharge port for discharging the heat-exchanged air; And Is disposed on one side of the discharge port, Air conditioning system including a refrigerant sensor for detecting a leaked refrigerant. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, And the refrigerant sensor detects that the refrigerant has leaked when the concentration of the refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, And a controller for determining whether the refrigerant is leaked based on the refrigerant detection signal detected by the refrigerant sensor. The control unit detects that the refrigerant is leaked when the concentration of the refrigerant gas reaches a predetermined value. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A display unit displaying refrigerant leakage information; And And a controller configured to display the refrigerant leakage information on the display unit based on the refrigerant detection signal detected by the refrigerant sensor.