KR20130093379A - Expansion valve and chiller system including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An expansion valve and a chiller system are provided to control the opening area of an opening of an outflow unit according to the level of fluid stored inside a body unit, thereby controlling a flow rate of a refrigerant discharged via the expansion valve. CONSTITUTION: An expansion valve includes a body (310) and a flow control unit (350). The body includes an inflow unit (320) on one side; and an outflow unit (330) including an opening on at least one lateral side of the lower part. Fluid having flown through the inflow unit is stored in the body. The flow control unit controls the opening area of the opening of the outflow unit according to the level of the fluid stored in the body. The flow control unit includes an opening member (353) moving up and down by being in contact with the inner surface of the outflow unit; and a main floater (354) providing buoyancy to the opening member. The main floater is arranged inside the body and connected to the opening member.

Description

Expansion valve and chiller system including the same {EXPANSION VALVE AND CHILLER SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an expansion valve and a chiller system, and to an expansion valve and a chiller system that automatically adjusts the flow rate of a refrigerant, is simple in structure, and low in manufacturing cost.

Generally, a chiller system is a cooling device or a freezing device for supplying cold water to a cold water demand source such as an air conditioner or a freezer, and includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator through which the refrigerant is circulated.

The evaporator of the chiller system is a water-refrigerant heat exchanger, which cools the cold water by heat-exchanging the refrigerant passing through the evaporator and the cold water heat-exchanged in the heat exchanger of the air conditioner or the freezer, and the condenser of the chiller system is a water-cooling heat exchanger. The refrigerant passing through the condenser and the cooling water heat-exchanged in the water cooling device are exchanged to cool the refrigerant.

In general, the chiller system uses an expansion valve as an expansion valve that throttling the refrigerant condensed in the condenser while simultaneously controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant.

The expansion valve according to the prior art is a ball valve or a butterfly valve. Such a ball valve or a buffer valve has a problem of causing a great inconvenience to a user because a user or an administrator must manually operate the valve by monitoring the flow rate of the refrigerant in real time.

In order to solve this problem, another expansion valve according to the prior art is provided with an actuator for controlling the opening and closing of the valve. However, when the actuator is mounted on the expansion valve, the structure of the expansion valve is complicated, so that maintenance performance is low and expensive manufacturing cost has been a problem.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an expansion valve and chiller system that solve the problems according to the prior art.

Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an expansion valve and chiller system that is simple in structure without the need for a separate actuator and can automatically adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant.

According to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems, the present invention includes an inlet provided on one side, and an outlet provided on the bottom and having an opening in at least one side, A main body in which fluid introduced through the gas is stored; It is possible to provide an expansion valve including a; flow rate control unit for adjusting the opening and closing area of the opening of the outlet portion in accordance with the level of the fluid stored in the body.

In addition, preferably, the flow rate control unit, including an opening and closing member which is raised and lowered in contact with the inner surface of the outlet, and a main plotter located in the main body and connected to the opening and closing member to provide buoyancy to the opening and closing member. It features.

In addition, preferably, the flow rate control unit further comprises a sub-plotter for providing additional buoyancy to the opening and closing member, and a connection for transmitting the additional buoyancy of the sub-plotter to the main plotter.

In addition, the outlet portion, characterized in that it comprises a packing member around the opening on the inner surface of the outlet portion.

In addition, preferably, the packing member is characterized in that it comprises an inclined portion on top of the packing member.

In addition, preferably, the opening and closing member is provided with a first magnetic force member therein, and the packing member is characterized in that it has a second magnetic force member for applying a attraction force to the first magnetic force member therein.

In addition, preferably, the opening and closing member is characterized in that composed of a polymer.

According to another embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems, the present invention, a compressor for compressing the refrigerant; A condenser condensing the refrigerant by heat-exchanging the refrigerant compressed by the compressor with the cooling water; An expansion valve to expand the refrigerant condensed in the condenser; An evaporator configured to evaporate the refrigerant by cooling the cold water and the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve, and to cool the cold water; And an air conditioning unit configured to cool the air in the air conditioning space by heat-exchanging the cold water cooled in the evaporator with the air in the air conditioning space, wherein the expansion valve is provided below the expansion valve and has an opening on at least one side thereof. It may provide a chiller system comprising an outlet portion and a flow rate control unit for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion valve in accordance with the level of the refrigerant stored in the expansion valve.

Also, preferably, the flow rate control unit includes an opening / closing member which is lifted in contact with the inner surface of the outlet, and a main plotter which is located in the expansion valve and is connected to the opening / closing member to provide buoyancy to the opening / closing member. It is characterized by.

In addition, the outlet portion, characterized in that it comprises a packing member around the opening on the inner surface of the outlet portion.

In addition, preferably, the packing member is characterized in that it comprises an inclined portion on top of the packing member.

In addition, preferably, the opening and closing member is made of a nonmagnetic material, the opening and closing member is provided with a first magnetic force member therein, the packing member is an agent that applies the attraction force to the first magnetic force member therein It characterized in that it comprises a magnetic force member.

Further, preferably, the opening and closing member is made of a ferromagnetic material, the packing member is characterized in that it is provided with a second magnetic force member for applying an attraction force to the opening and closing member therein.

According to the aforementioned problem solving means, the present invention can provide an expansion valve having a simple structure without the need for a separate actuator, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the expansion valve and the manufacturing cost of the chiller system and at the same time maintain the expansion valve Maintenance cost can be reduced.

In addition, the present invention can automatically adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant with a simple structure, thereby providing a user or administrator with the convenience for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant.

1 is a schematic diagram of a chiller system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an expansion valve according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a schematic partial enlarged cross-sectional view of the expansion valve according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A and 4B are schematic views showing an operating mechanism of the expansion valve according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a chiller system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

In addition, the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. For convenience of explanation, the size and shape of each constituent member shown may be exaggerated or reduced have.

1 is a schematic diagram of a chiller system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a partially enlarged view of the drive shaft and the bearing portion of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the chiller system 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention condenses a refrigerant by exchanging a compressor 100 for compressing a refrigerant, a refrigerant compressed in the compressor 100, and a cooling water. In the condenser 200, a cooling unit 600 for exchanging the coolant and the outdoor air heat exchanged with the refrigerant to cool the cooling water, an expansion valve for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 200, in the expansion valve An evaporator 400 which evaporates the refrigerant by exchanging the expanded refrigerant and cold water to cool the cold water, and an air conditioning unit that cools the air in the air conditioning space by heat-exchanging the cold water cooled in the evaporator 400 and the air in the air conditioning space ( 500).

The condenser 200 condenses the refrigerant by releasing heat from the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 100, and heat-exchanges the refrigerant with the cooling water supplied from the cooling unit 600 to condense the refrigerant.

To this end, the condenser 200 may be configured, for example, of a shell-tube type heat exchanger. In this case, a condensation space in which the refrigerant is condensed is formed in the shell of the condenser 200, and a cooling water tube through which the coolant passes is disposed in the condensation space. The coolant tube is connected to the coolant inlet tube and the coolant outlet tube of the cooling unit 600 to allow the coolant to flow.

The cooling unit 600 cools the cooling water absorbing heat from the refrigerant of the condenser 200, and the cooling unit 600 is a cooling water inlet tube through which the cooling water flows from the condenser 200, and the cooling water into the condenser 200. It includes a cooling water outflow pipe outflow.

The cooling unit 600 may be configured as a cooling tower, for example, to cool the cooling water absorbing heat from the refrigerant of the condenser 200. At this time, the cooling unit 600 has a main body portion having an air discharge port formed on the upper side and an air inlet formed on the side, and is installed in the air discharge port forcibly sucked outside air into the main body portion and the outside to the air discharge port A blowing fan for forcibly discharging air, a cooling water inlet pipe installed at an upper part of the main body part, and spraying cooling water heat-exchanged in the condenser 200 toward the lower part of the main body part through an injection part, and injected from the cooling water inlet pipe The cooling water is collected by cooling water is collected by the heat exchange with the outside air.

The evaporator 400 supplies heat to the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve to evaporate the refrigerant, and heat-exchanges the refrigerant with cold water supplied from the air conditioning unit 500 to evaporate the refrigerant.

To this end, the evaporator 400 may be configured, for example, of a shell-tube type heat exchanger. In this case, an evaporation space in which the refrigerant is evaporated is formed in the shell of the evaporator 400, and a cold water tube through which cold water passes is disposed in the evaporation space. The cold water tube is connected to the cooling water inlet pipe and the cooling water outlet pipe connected from the air conditioning unit 500 to allow the cold water to flow. The refrigerant evaporated in this way is sucked into the inlet pipe of the compressor 100 and compressed by the compressor 100.

The air conditioning unit 500 may, for example, supply heat to a refrigerant of the evaporator 400 to exchange heat with the cooled cold water and air in the air conditioning space to cool the air in the air conditioning space, and from the evaporator 400. And a cold water inlet tube through which cold water is introduced into the air conditioning unit 500, and a cold water outlet tube through which the cold water flows from the air conditioning unit 500 to the evaporator 400.

The compressor 100 compresses the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 400. The compressor 100 may preferably be a turbo compressor 100. In addition, the compressor 100 may be a single stage compressor 100 or a multi stage compressor 100 that compresses multiple stages of a refrigerant.

The compressor 100 includes at least one impeller 110 for sucking the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 400 in the axial direction and compressing the refrigerant in the centrifugal direction, and at least one for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant sucked into the impeller 110. The variable inlet guide vane 120, the motor 130 for rotating the drive shaft 160 connected to the rotation shaft 111 of the impeller 110, and the rotation shaft 111 of the impeller 110. ) And a gear unit 170 connecting the drive shaft 160 of the motor 130, and a bearing unit 180 supporting the drive shaft 160 of the motor 130.

The motor 130 includes a stator 140 including an outer circumferential surface fixed to the motor 130 and an inner circumferential surface forming a rotation space, and accommodated in a rotation space of the stator 140 and rotating with respect to the stator 140. Rotor 150 and a drive shaft to rotate together with the rotor to transmit the rotational driving force of the rotor to the rotary shaft of the impeller.

The expansion valve expands the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 200. Hereinafter, an expansion valve according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the expansion valve 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a schematic partial enlarged cross-sectional view of the expansion valve 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the expansion valve 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an inlet 320 through which a fluid (that is, a refrigerant) is introduced, an outlet 330 through which the fluid is discharged, and After the fluid flowing through the inlet 320 is temporarily stored, the body 310 is discharged through the outlet 330 and the refrigerant stored in the expansion valve 300 (ie, the body 310). It includes a flow control unit 350 for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion valve 300 in accordance with the level.

Inlet 320 is provided on one side of the body 310, the condenser side pipe (P1) is connected to the inlet (320). Preferably, the inlet 320 may be provided below the one side of the main body 310.

The outlet portion 330 is provided below the main body 310, and the outlet portion 330 has an opening 331 through which fluid can be discharged on at least one side surface (ie, on one side or both sides). . The opening 331 may be configured as one hole or may be configured as a plurality of holes.

The outlet 330 is connected to the evaporator side pipe (P2).

The main body 310 is configured in a chamber shape and is temporarily stored in the main body 310 before the fluid introduced from the inlet 320 is discharged through the outlet 330.

The flow rate control unit 350 controls the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out through the expansion valve 300 by adjusting the opening and closing area of the opening 331 of the outlet 330 according to the level of the fluid stored in the main body 310. do.

The flow regulating unit 350 is located in the main body 310 and the opening and closing member 353 which is raised and lowered in contact with the inner surface of the outlet portion 330 is connected to the opening and closing member 353 and the opening and closing member 353 Main floater 354 to provide buoyancy.

The opening and closing member 353 is connected to the main plotter 354 through a cable or wire 355, and the main plotter 354 is connected to the main plotter 354 through the cable or wire 355 according to the level of the fluid stored in the main body 310. Raise the main plotter 354.

The opening and closing member 353 may be directly connected to a cable or a wire 355, but the opening and closing member 353 is a horizontal member 352 extending at right angles from an upper end of the opening and closing member 353, as shown in FIG. 2. ), A vertical member 351 extending at right angles to the horizontal member 352, and a ring portion provided at an upper end of the vertical member 351. In this case, the vertical member 351 is provided to be in contact with the inner surface of the main body 310 to move up and down, the horizontal member 352 is the main body plotter 354 when lowering the lowering height of the main body 310 Is provided to be in contact with the bottom surface.

In this way, the opening and closing member 353 is connected to the cable or wire 355 through the vertical member 351 and the horizontal member 352 to stabilize the lifting path of the opening and closing member 353 and the opening and closing member 353 is It can be kept in close contact with the inner surface of the opening 331 of the outlet portion 330 so that the opening and closing member 353 can open and close the opening 331 of the outlet portion 330 reliably.

Preferably, the flow control unit 350 is a sub floater 356 for providing additional buoyancy to the opening and closing member 353 and the additional buoyancy of the sub plotter 356 to the main plotter 354. It may further include a connecting portion 357 to deliver. At this time, more preferably, in order to reliably transfer the buoyancy of the sub-plotter 356 to the main plotter 354, the connection portion 357 may be made of a rigid material.

In this way, by additionally including the sub-plotter 356, it is possible to facilitate the upward movement of the opening and closing member 353 of the opening and closing member 353 by overcoming the attraction of the magnetic force member and the weight of the opening and closing member 353 to be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the outlet portion 330 includes a packing member 333 around the opening portion 331 on the inner side surface of the outlet portion 330. Due to the packing member 333, it is possible to accurately adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out through the opening 331.

Preferably, the packing member 333 has an inclined portion 353a on the packing member 333. That is, the inner surface of the packing member 333 positioned in the upper direction of the valve may be inclined to remove spatial interference between the lower end of the opening and closing member 353 and the packing member 333 when the opening and closing member 353 is lowered. Thereby, the lowering of the opening and closing member 353 is facilitated.

Referring to FIG. 3, the opening and closing member 353 includes a packing part 353b on a surface facing the inner side surface of the opening 331, and has a first magnetic force inside the packing part 353b of the opening and closing member 353. A member 353a, and the packing member 333 of the outlet portion 330 includes a second magnetic force member 334 that applies magnetic attraction to the first magnetic force member 353a therein. .

In addition, the opening and closing member 353 has a first magnetic force member 353a therein without the packing portion 353b, and the packing member 333 of the outlet portion 330 has the first magnetic force therein. A second magnetic force member 334 that applies magnetic attraction to the member 353a may be provided.

At this time, preferably, the opening and closing member 353 is composed of a nonmagnetic material, for example, may be composed of a polymer such as plastic.

3, the opening and closing member 353 is made of a ferromagnetic material, and the packing member 333 is configured to apply attractive force to the opening and closing member 353 therein. 2 may be provided with a magnetic member 334. That is, in this modified embodiment, unlike the Figure 3, only the magnetic member is provided inside the packing member 333.

In this way, the opening / closing member 353 is packed by including the first magnetic member 353a and the second magnetic member 334 or the opening / closing member 353 made of a ferromagnetic material and the second magnetic member 334. It can be in close contact with the member 333 can precisely adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion valve 300, and also due to the magnetic attraction close to the packing member 333 when the opening and closing member 353 moves up and down Since the state can be maintained, the path of the opening and closing member 353 can be stably maintained, thereby preventing malfunction of the starting blood.

4A and 4B are schematic views showing an operating mechanism of the expansion valve 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 4A is a schematic operation state diagram of the expansion valve 300 for the case where the flow rate of the coolant is the first flow rate, and FIG. 4B is a second flow rate when the flow rate of the coolant is larger than the first flow rate of FIG. 4A. It is a schematic operation state diagram of the expansion valve 300.

As shown in FIG. 4A, when the refrigerant flows into the main body 310 through the inlet 320 of the expansion valve 300, some of the refrigerant flows out directly through the outlet 330, while the other part of the main body flows out. Stored inside the 310 to form the level of the coolant, and buoyancy is generated in the main plotter 354 and / or sub-plotter 356 according to the level so that the buoyancy force is opened and closed through the cable or wire 355 ( 353) to rise and close the opening and closing member (353).

As shown in FIG. 4B, when the flow rate of the coolant flowing through the inlet 320 increases, the level of the coolant stored in the main body 310 increases, which causes the main plotter 354 and / or the sub-plotter ( 356) is raised. As a result, the opening / closing member 353 connected to the main plotter 354 and / or the sub-plotter 356 rises to increase the open area of the opening 331, thereby increasing the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion valve 300. To increase.

Then, the opening and closing member when the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the inlet 320 is reduced or the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out through the outlet 330 is increased to lower the level of the refrigerant stored in the body 310. Reference numeral 353 lowers due to the self load to reduce the open area of the opening 331.

Preferably, although not shown in the drawing, in order to assist the lowering of the opening 331, an additional magnetic member is provided at the lower end of the shed member, and the additional magnetic force is also provided at the bottom 332 of the outlet portion 330. Additional magnetic force members may be further provided to apply attraction to the members.

According to the above, the present invention can provide an expansion valve having a simple structure without the need for a separate actuator, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the expansion valve and the manufacturing cost of the chiller system, and at the same time reduce the maintenance cost of the expansion valve. Can be saved.

In addition, the present invention can automatically adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant with a simple structure, thereby providing a user or administrator with the convenience for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, And additions should be considered as falling within the scope of the following claims.

1000: Chiller System
100: Compressor
130: motor
140: Stator
150: Rotor
180: gas foil journal bearing
200: condenser
300: expansion valve
400: evaporator
500: air conditioning unit
600: cooling unit

Claims (13)

A main body including an inflow part provided on one side and an outflow part provided on a lower side and having an opening on at least one side, and the fluid introduced through the inflow part is stored;
And a flow rate control unit for adjusting the opening and closing area of the opening of the outlet part according to the level of the fluid stored in the main body. The method of claim 1,
The flow rate control unit, the expansion valve comprising a main opening and closing member for lifting and lowering in contact with the inner surface of the outlet portion, the main plotter is located in the body and connected to the opening and closing member to provide buoyancy to the opening and closing member. 3. The method of claim 2,
The flow control unit expansion valve further comprises a sub-plotter for providing additional buoyancy to the opening and closing member, and a connection for transmitting the additional buoyancy of the sub-plotter to the main plotter. 3. The method of claim 2,
The outlet portion, expansion valve, characterized in that it comprises a packing member around the opening on the inner side of the outlet portion. 5. The method of claim 4,
The packing member, the expansion valve, characterized in that provided with an inclined portion on the top of the packing member. 5. The method of claim 4,
And the opening and closing member has a first magnetic force member therein, and the packing member has a second magnetic force member for applying attractive force to the first magnetic force member therein. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
The opening and closing member is an expansion valve, characterized in that composed of a polymer. A compressor for compressing the refrigerant;
A condenser condensing the refrigerant by heat-exchanging the refrigerant compressed by the compressor with the cooling water;
An expansion valve to expand the refrigerant condensed in the condenser;
An evaporator configured to evaporate the refrigerant by cooling the cold water and the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve, and to cool the cold water; And
And an air conditioning unit configured to cool the air in the air conditioning space by heat-exchanging the cold water cooled in the evaporator with the air in the air conditioning space.
The expansion valve is provided in the lower portion of the expansion valve and the outlet portion having an opening on at least one or more sides, and the flow rate control unit for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion valve in accordance with the level of the refrigerant stored in the expansion valve Chiller system comprising a. 9. The method of claim 8,
The flow rate control unit includes a chiller system including an opening / closing member which is lifted in contact with the inner surface of the outlet, and a main plotter which is located in the expansion valve and is connected to the opening / closing member to provide buoyancy to the opening / closing member. . 9. The method of claim 8,
The outlet portion, the chiller system, characterized in that it comprises a packing member around the opening on the inner side of the outlet. The method of claim 10,
The packing member, the chiller system, characterized in that provided with an inclined portion on the top of the packing member. The method of claim 10,
The opening and closing member is made of a nonmagnetic material, the opening and closing member is provided with a first magnetic force member therein, and the packing member has a second magnetic force member for applying a force to the first magnetic force member therein Chiller system, characterized in that. The method of claim 10,
And the opening and closing member is made of a ferromagnetic material, and the packing member is provided with a second magnetic force member for applying attractive force to the opening and closing member.

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