KR20120018520A - An indoor unit of air conditioner and a control method the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An indoor unit of an air conditioner and a control method thereof are provided to improve heat exchange performance by securing a supercooling level in an indoor heat exchanger. CONSTITUTION: An indoor unit of an air conditioner comprises an indoor heat exchanger(130), an outlet, and a drain part. A front panel comprises a suction part sucking indoor air, and the indoor heat exchanger comprises a refrigerant pipe. The outlet is arranged in at least one side of the suction part and discharges air that is heat exchanged in the indoor heat exchanger. The drain part accommodates at least a part of the indoor heat exchanger, and stores condensate generated in the indoor heat exchanger. The refrigerant pipe comprises a heat exchange part(132) and a supercooling part(134). The heat exchange part exchanges heat with the air. At least a part of the supercooling part is located in the drain part.

Description

Indoor unit of air conditioner and a control method the same

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an indoor unit of a ceiling embedded air conditioner and a control method thereof.

In general, an air conditioner is a cooling / heating system that sucks indoor air, exchanges heat with a refrigerant, and discharges the same into a room, and is a device that forms a refrigeration cycle consisting of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator.

The air conditioner is roughly classified into a separate air conditioner in which the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are separately installed, and an integrated air conditioner in which the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are integrally installed.

Recently, a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and many multi-type air conditioners in which a plurality of indoor units are installed in different indoor spaces are used.

The separate air conditioner includes an outdoor unit installed outdoors and an indoor unit installed inside a building. The outdoor unit and the indoor unit may be provided with heat exchangers, respectively.

On the other hand, in the separate air conditioner, the indoor unit may be embedded in the ceiling. Such indoor units may be referred to as ceiling-embedded indoor units.

Recently, in order to improve the efficiency of a cooling / heating system, many researches and developments have been made to increase the heat exchange performance while reducing the amount of refrigerant circulating in a refrigeration cycle and to reduce power consumption of a compressor.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner that increases heat exchange performance for air conditioning and reduces power consumption of the compressor.

In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, in the indoor unit of the air conditioner embedded in the ceiling of the indoor space, the front panel is formed with a suction unit for sucking the air in the indoor space ; An indoor heat exchanger having a refrigerant pipe for heat exchange with air sucked through the suction unit; A discharge port disposed on at least one side of the suction unit and discharging air exchanged with the indoor heat exchanger; And a drain portion configured to receive at least a portion of the indoor heat exchanger and to store condensed water generated in the indoor heat exchanger, wherein the refrigerant pipe includes: a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat with the air; And a supercooling part flowing in the refrigerant passing through the heat exchange part to perform subcooling, and at least a part of the subcooling part positioned at the drain part.

In addition, in the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to another aspect, the indoor heat exchanger in the indoor unit of the air conditioner is embedded in the ceiling of the indoor space, and provided with an indoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat with the indoor air and a blowing fan for generating suction force. A plurality of inlet pipes providing a refrigerant suction path to the air; A plurality of outlet pipes providing a refrigerant outlet path from the indoor heat exchanger; A lamination part in which the plurality of outlet pipes are laminated; And a drain part for collecting the condensed water of the indoor heat exchanger, wherein the indoor heat exchanger includes: a heat exchange part configured to cool the condensate as a refrigerant pipe between the plurality of inlet pipes and the outlet pipes; And a refrigerant pipe through which the refrigerant is re-introduced and flows from the lamination portion, and includes a subcooling portion located at the drain portion to allow the refrigerant to be supercooled.

According to the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the above configuration, it is possible to secure the supercooling degree in the indoor heat exchanger, thereby increasing the heat exchange performance for air conditioning.

In addition, there is an advantage in that the amount of condensation heat can be increased by increasing the supercooling degree by utilizing a portion of the heat exchanger adjacent to the drain portion as a supercooling part in the indoor indoor unit.

In addition, since the degree of supercooling in the indoor heat exchanger is increased, the power consumption in the compressor can be reduced by increasing the evaporation pressure in the refrigerating cycle and decreasing the condensation temperature.

1 is a view showing the internal configuration of an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a system diagram showing the configuration of a refrigeration cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view showing a part of the configuration of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a view showing a velocity profile of a fluid to heat exchange with an indoor heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a PH diagram for a refrigeration cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a graph showing the relationship between the subcooling stage ratio and the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described a specific embodiment of the present invention. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can easily suggest other embodiments within the scope of the same idea.

1 is a view showing the internal configuration of an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the indoor unit 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 110 embedded in a ceiling of an indoor space and a plurality of parts for air conditioning, and a front of the main body 110. Included is a front panel 120 provided at and exposed to the outside from the ceiling. The front panel 120 is disposed to face the bottom surface of the indoor space.

In detail, the front panel 120 includes a suction part 125 through which the air in the indoor space is sucked and a discharge port 127 which discharges the air sucked through the suction part 125 into the indoor space after being heat-exchanged. do.

The suction part 125 may be formed at an approximately center portion of the front panel 120, and a plurality of discharge ports 127 may be provided around the suction part 125. However, the position at which the suction part 125 and the discharge port 127 are formed will not be limited thereto.

The front panel 120 includes a discharge vane 128 as an "opening member" for selectively opening the discharge port 127. The discharge vanes 128 are provided to be movable on one side of the discharge port 127, and a plurality of discharge vanes 128 may be provided.

According to the movement of the discharge vane 128, for example, a rotation operation, the amount or discharge direction of air discharged through the discharge port 127 may be controlled.

Inside the main body 110, an indoor heat exchanger 130 for cooling or heating the air sucked into the indoor unit 100, and a blowing fan 140 that provides suction power may be provided.

The indoor heat exchanger 130 may be provided in plurality, and the plurality of indoor heat exchangers 130 may be disposed at both sides of the blower fan 140. The air sucked through the suction unit 125 passes through the indoor heat exchanger 130 on both sides via the blower fan 140.

The air heat-exchanged in the indoor heat exchanger 130 may be discharged to the indoor space through the discharge port 127.

Under the plurality of indoor heat exchanger 130, a drain unit 150 for storing the condensed water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 130 is provided. A lower portion of the indoor heat exchanger 130 is disposed to be accommodated in the drain portion 150.

2 is a system diagram showing the configuration of a refrigeration cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a refrigeration cycle is driven in the air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In the refrigeration cycle, the compressor 10 for compressing the refrigerant, the four-way valve 20, and the indoor heat exchanger for transmitting the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 to the outdoor heat exchanger 50 or the indoor heat exchanger 130. An expansion device 40 is included in the path between the 130 and the outdoor heat exchanger 50 to allow the refrigerant to expand.

When the refrigeration cycle is driven for heating, the indoor heat exchanger 130 functions as a condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger 50 functions as an evaporator.

On the other hand, when the refrigeration cycle is driven for cooling, the indoor heat exchanger 130 functions as an evaporator, and the outdoor heat exchanger 50 functions as a condenser.

In this embodiment, the case where the refrigeration cycle is driven for heating will be described as an example. That is, the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 130 undergoes condensation, and the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 130 undergoes evaporation.

However, the refrigeration cycle may be driven for cooling according to the control of the four-way valve 20 and the flow path of the refrigerant.

In the indoor heat exchanger (130), the refrigerant passing through the compressor (10) flows into the heat exchanger 132 through which heat is exchanged with the surrounding air, and the refrigerant passing through the heat exchanger 132 flows into the supercooling. Part 133 is included.

The heat exchange part 132 and the subcooling part 133 may be defined as part of a refrigerant pipe constituting the indoor heat exchanger 130, respectively.

The refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 130 is expanded by the expansion device 40, and then flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 50 and evaporates. The evaporated refrigerant is introduced into the compressor 10 after the liquid refrigerant is filtered while passing through the gas-liquid separator 12.

Figure 3 is a view showing a part of the configuration of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a view showing a velocity profile of the fluid heat exchange with the indoor heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 4, in the air conditioner 1 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a branch unit 15 through which the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 is branched and introduced into the indoor heat exchanger 130. ) Is included. The branch unit 15 is disposed in a refrigerant pipe connecting the compressor 10 and the indoor heat exchanger 130.

The refrigerant passing through the branch part 15 is introduced into the heat exchange part 132 through a plurality of inlet pipes 131. The plurality of inlet pipes 131 provide a plurality of refrigerant suction paths toward the indoor heat exchanger 130.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inlet pipe 131 may include n pipes in this embodiment. That is, the refrigerant may be introduced into the indoor heat exchanger 130 through n paths. N = 10, but it is not limited to any one value.

The refrigerant introduced through the inlet pipe 131 is exchanged through the refrigerant pipe in the indoor heat exchanger 130 and discharged through the outlet pipe 134. The outlet pipe 134 provides a plurality of refrigerant outlet paths from the indoor heat exchanger 130.

The number of outlet pipes 134 may correspond to the number of inlet pipes 131. That is, the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 130 may be discharged through n paths.

The heat exchanger 132 may be defined as a refrigerant pipe region (heat exchange region) of the indoor heat exchanger 130 disposed between the inlet pipe 131 and the outlet pipe 134. In the heat exchange unit 132, heat exchange is performed by the temperature difference between the refrigerant and the ambient air, and in this process, the refrigerant may be condensed in a saturated liquid state.

The plurality of outlet pipes 134 are laminated at the lamination part 135, and the laminated refrigerant is introduced into one refrigerant pipe of the indoor heat exchanger. Here, the one refrigerant pipe may be understood as part of the refrigerant pipe except for the heat exchange part 132.

The lamination unit 135 may be an expansion device, for example, a capillary tube.

The refrigerant introduced into the one refrigerant pipe is discharged after passing through a predetermined length path, and the discharged refrigerant may be flowed to the outdoor heat exchanger 50.

Here, the refrigerant piping region (heat exchange region) in which the laminated refrigerant is re-introduced into the indoor heat exchanger 130 and flows may be defined as the subcooling unit 133.

The refrigerant heat-exchanged in the heat exchange part 132 is re-introduced into the subcooling part 133 and overcooled. In this process, the refrigerant may be phase-changed into the supercooled liquid phase.

Meanwhile, at least a part of the subcooling part 133 may be accommodated in the drain part 150. In other words, a portion of the indoor heat exchanger 130 forming the subcooling unit 133 may be shielded by the drain unit 150.

In detail, the drain part 150 extends upwardly from the seating part 151 on which the indoor heat exchanger 130, that is, the subcooling part 130 is seated, and the seating part 151, and the subcooling part 133. Included is a flow interference portion 152 that shields at least a portion of the region of the substrate.

The ambient air (indoor air) introduced into the indoor unit 100 flows to the indoor heat exchanger 130 by an indoor unit fan (not shown).

4, the flow rate of ambient air (heat exchange fluid) flowing to the indoor heat exchanger 130 side is shown.

As the direction from the heat exchange part 132 toward the subcooling part 133 is increased, the flow rate of the surrounding air may be gradually lowered. That is, the amount of air passing through the heat exchange part 132 may be greater than the amount of air passing through the subcooling part 133.

In particular, in the region of the subcooling part 133 located inside the flow interference part 151, the flow rate of the surrounding air is formed very low.

This may be understood to be due to the air flowing toward the subcooling part 133 of the surrounding ambient air interfering with the flow interference part 152. By such a configuration and action, the amount of heat exchanged in the subcooling unit 133 may be relatively small.

That is, the amount of heat exchanged in the subcooling unit 133 may be less than the amount of heat exchanged in the heat exchange unit 132.

Conversely, the subcooling part 133 is formed in the indoor heat exchanger region adjacent to the drain portion 150, and the heat exchange part 132 is formed in the indoor heat exchanger region spaced apart from the drain portion 150. .

According to this configuration, the heat exchange unit 132 mainly performs heat exchange for condensation, and in the subcooling unit 133, a relatively small amount of heat exchanger is used for the refrigerant supercooling, thereby improving the performance of the system. have.

5 is a P-H diagram of a refrigeration cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a P-H diagram L1 based on a refrigeration cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention may be compared with a P-H diagram L2 of a refrigeration cycle in which subcooling is not performed.

First, the P-H diagram L2 will be described. Here, it can be assumed that the P-H diagram (L2) is an abnormal process of the refrigeration cycle.

The refrigerant in a saturated vapor state is introduced into the compressor 10 and compressed, and the compressed refrigerant is condensed in the indoor heat exchanger 130 and phase-changed to a saturated liquid state. The refrigerant is expanded in the expansion device 40 to be in a two-phase state, and at this time, the enthalpy of the refrigerant may be kept constant.

The refrigerant passing through the expansion device 40 is evaporated while passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 50 to become saturated steam. The evaporated refrigerant is re-introduced into the compressor 10, and the refrigeration cycle of the above process is repeated.

Next, the P-H diagram L1 will be described.

Superheated steam with an enthalpy of ho is introduced into the compressor (10). The refrigerant introduced into the compressor 10 is compressed and the enthalpy of the compressed refrigerant is h1. The refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is condensed and subcooled in the indoor heat exchanger 130, and an enthalpy of the subcooled refrigerant becomes h2.

Here, the enthalpy h2 has a lower enthalpy value than the enthalpy h2 'of the saturated liquid state. The refrigerant of the enthalpy h2 may be understood as being supercooled in the refrigerant of the enthalpy h2 '. H2'-h2 has a value of Δh.

The refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 130 is expanded in the expansion device 40 to become a two-phase state, and evaporates while passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 50.

The refrigerant heat-exchanged in the outdoor heat exchanger 50 may have a superheated vapor state, and the refrigerant is reintroduced into the compressor 10 in a superheated steam state.

The effect of the P-H diagram L2 on the P-H diagram L1 will be described.

When the degree of supercooling is increased in the P-H diagram l2, the inlet temperature of the evaporator, i.e., the outdoor heat exchanger 50 is lowered, thereby increasing the temperature difference between the refrigerant and the ambient air.

The amount of heat of evaporation is increased by the increase in the temperature difference, and thus the evaporation pressure of the outdoor heat exchanger 50 may be increased.

In addition, since the refrigerant passing through the expansion device 40 is branched and introduced into the outdoor heat exchanger 50, the refrigerant circulation amount of the outdoor heat exchanger 50 is reduced, and the pressure loss in the outdoor heat exchanger 50 is reduced. Can be. Thus, the effect of increasing the evaporation pressure can be obtained.

When the evaporation pressure is increased, the load of the compressor 10 is reduced and the discharge temperature of the compressor 10 is lowered. Accordingly, the condensation temperature (condensation pressure) of the indoor heat exchanger 130 may be lowered.

As a result, the effect of reducing the power consumption by the compressor 10 can be obtained.

6 is a graph showing the relationship between the subcooling stage ratio and the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention.

6, according to the ratio of the subcooling unit 133 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger 130 appears differently. This is the data obtained by the experiment.

The ratio of the subcooling unit 133 may be understood as the ratio of the refrigerant piping that performs subcooling of the entire refrigerant piping of the indoor heat exchanger 130.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when n = 10, the refrigerant pipes formed in the heat exchange part 132 have ten rows, and the refrigerant pipes formed in the supercooling part 133 have two rows.

In this case, the ratio of the subcooling part 133 is 2/12, which is about 16.7%.

Returning to FIG. 6, the ratio of the subcooling part 133 recognized as having excellent heat exchange ability is formed between Po and P1. The Po is about 15% and P1 may be 22%.

On the other hand, when the ratio of the subcooling unit 133 is lower than the Po and higher than the P1, the heat exchange capacity may be reduced.

That is, since the optimal subcooling ratio may be present to increase the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger 130, when the optimal subcooling portion is properly included in the indoor heat exchanger 130, the performance of the air conditioning system is improved. You can do it.

100: indoor unit 110: main body
120: front panel 125: suction part
127 discharge port 128 discharge vane
130: indoor heat exchanger 132: heat exchanger
133: supercooling section 135: lamination section

Claims (10)

In the indoor unit of the air conditioner embedded in the ceiling of the indoor space,
A front panel on which a suction unit for sucking air in the indoor space is formed;
An indoor heat exchanger having a refrigerant pipe for heat exchange with air sucked through the suction unit;
A discharge port disposed on at least one side of the suction unit and discharging air exchanged with the indoor heat exchanger; And
A drain portion for accommodating at least a portion of the indoor heat exchanger and for storing condensate generated in the indoor heat exchanger,
In the refrigerant pipe,
A heat exchanger configured to heat exchange with the air; And
An indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the refrigerant passing through the heat exchange part is introduced to perform subcooling, and a subcooling part at least partially positioned in the drain part. The method of claim 1,
In the drain portion,
A seating part in which the subcooling part is seated; And
An indoor unit of an air conditioner, which includes a flow interference part extending in one direction from the seat and shielding at least a portion of the subcooling part. The method of claim 1,
A branch unit for allowing refrigerant to be introduced into the indoor heat exchanger; And
The indoor unit of the air conditioner further comprises a lamination unit for laminating the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger. The method of claim 3, wherein
The indoor unit of the air conditioner, the refrigerant laminated in the lamination portion flows into the refrigerant pipe corresponding to the subcooling portion. The method of claim 4, wherein
The lamination unit is an indoor unit of an air conditioner that is an expansion device. The method of claim 1,
The indoor unit of the air conditioner, the amount of air passing through the heat exchange unit is larger than the amount of air passing through the subcooling unit. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner is embedded in the ceiling of the indoor space, the indoor heat exchanger is heat exchanged with the indoor air and the air conditioner is provided with a blowing fan for generating a suction force,
A plurality of inlet pipes providing a refrigerant suction path to the indoor heat exchanger;
A plurality of outlet pipes providing a refrigerant outlet path from the indoor heat exchanger;
A lamination part in which the plurality of outlet pipes are laminated; And
It includes a drain portion for collecting the condensate of the indoor heat exchanger,
The indoor heat exchanger,
A refrigerant pipe between the plurality of inlet pipes and an outlet pipe, the heat exchange part allowing a refrigerant to condense; And
A refrigerant pipe in which the refrigerant is re-introduced and flows from the lamination portion, wherein the refrigerant is supercooled, and the indoor unit of the air conditioner includes a subcooling portion located in the drain portion. The method of claim 7, wherein
The indoor unit of the air conditioner, the ratio of the subcooling portion of the refrigerant pipe of the indoor heat exchanger is formed in the range of 15% to 22%. The method of claim 7, wherein
In the drain portion,
An indoor unit of an air conditioner including a flow interference part for shielding at least a portion of the subcooling part with respect to the outside of the indoor heat exchanger. The method of claim 7, wherein
The indoor unit of the air conditioner is formed so that the speed of the indoor air passing through the heat exchange unit is greater than the speed of the indoor air passing through the subcooling unit.

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