KR20200017081A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

A dehumidifier comprises: a drain fan; a condenser; an evaporator disposed on the drain fan and facing the condenser; and an expansion mechanism connected to the condenser via a condenser outlet tube. The condenser outlet tube comprises: a condenser connection tube unit connected to the condenser; and a supercooling tube unit extending between a lower end of the evaporator and the drain fan from the condenser connection tube unit to be located below the evaporator.

Description

Dehumidifier {Air conditioner}

The present invention relates to a dehumidifier, and more particularly to a dehumidifier having a condenser and an evaporator.

The dehumidifier is an air conditioner for lowering humidity and can lower relative humidity by directly removing moisture in the air.

Dehumidifier removes moisture in the air can be divided into cooling and drying.

Dry dehumidifiers use a chemical desiccant, which absorbs or adsorbs moisture directly in the air, like a dehumidifying product used at home. If the desiccant can no longer absorb moisture, the desiccant can be heated again to bring the moisture away from the dehumidifier and use it again. This method is useful for removing small amounts of moisture in confined spaces. The moisture absorbent includes a silica gel, which is a porous material having excellent ability to adsorb moisture.

Cooled dehumidifiers control moisture by condensing water vapor in the air with water. In order to condense the water vapor, the air temperature must be lowered below the dew point . Cooled dehumidifiers use refrigerants for cooling.

The cooled dehumidifier includes a compressor through which the refrigerant is circulated, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator.

The dehumidifier as described above may include a drain pan for receiving condensate dropped from the evaporator and a bucket for receiving condensate dropped from the drain pan.

On the other hand, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2011-0131886 A (published Dec. 7, 2011) discloses an air conditioning system using condensate through which a refrigerant passage connecting a condenser and an expansion valve passes through a condensate drain. The condensate may include a drain plug and a spring for accumulating condensate in the condensate drain, and the refrigerant passage may be heat-exchanged with the condensate accumulated in the condensate drain to supercool the refrigerant.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0131886 A (published Dec. 7, 2011)

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dehumidifier capable of supercooling a refrigerant having passed through a condenser with a simple structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidifier that can increase the amount of dehumidification of the evaporator while keeping the drain pan clean.

Embodiments of the invention include a drain pan; A condenser; An evaporator disposed over the drain pan and directed to the condenser; An expansion mechanism connected to the condenser and the condenser outlet tube and connected to the evaporator and the evaporator inlet tube, the condenser outlet tube extending from the condenser connection tube to the bottom of the evaporator and between the drain pan and the evaporator It includes a subcooling tube portion located below.

The evaporator may comprise an evaporation tube through which the refrigerant passes. At least a portion of the subcooling tube part may be spaced apart from the evaporation tube in the vertical direction.

The evaporation tube may comprise a plurality of rows of evaporation tubes spaced apart in the air flow direction. The supercooling tube part may include a plurality of straight pipe parts spaced apart in parallel with the spaced direction of the plurality of rows of evaporation tubes.

The subcooling tube part may include a pair of straight pipe portions long in the width direction of the evaporator and spaced in the air flow direction, and a curved pipe portion connecting the pair of straight pipe portions.

The outer diameter of the subcooling tube portion may be thinner than the gap between the bottom of the evaporator and the inner bottom of the drain pan portion.

The drain pan may include a plurality of walls surrounding the outside of the subcooling tube portion.

It may be coupled to the subcooling tube portion, and may include at least one condensate guide for guiding the condensate dropped from the evaporator to the subcooling tube portion.

The at least one condensate guide may include a first condensate guide connected to one of the pair of straight pipe portions, and a second condensate guide connected to the other of the pair of straight pipe portions.

The first condensation guide and the second condensation guide may be inclined closer to each other toward the lower side. A gap may be formed between the lower end of the first condensation guide and the lower end of the second condensation guide to allow the condensate to fall into the drain pan.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the condensed water dropped downward from the evaporator is in direct contact with the subcooling tube part located under the evaporator to cool the refrigerant, a separate opening and closing mechanism for collecting condensate in the drain pan is not required. The drain pan has a simple structure.

In addition, since the condensed water for subcooling the refrigerant is not required to be stored in the drain pan at a predetermined height, the condensed water dropped from the evaporator or the subcooled tube portion can be drained to the outside of the drain pan, and more condensed water is stored in the drain pan. The drain pan can be kept clean.

It is also possible to subcool the refrigerant in the condenser outlet tube by a simple process of bending a portion of the condenser outlet tube down to the bottom of the evaporator.

In addition, the refrigerant passing through the subcooling tube part can be cooled in multiple stages by the condensed water, and can be supercooled more quickly and efficiently with a simple structure of a pair of straight pipe portions.

In addition, the condensed water dropped from the evaporator may guide the condensate guide to the surface of the supercooled tube, so that the condensed water dropped from the evaporator can be dropped into the drain pan after the heat dissipation of the supercooled tube.

In addition, since the condensate guide absorbs the heat of the subcooled tube part and transfers the condensed water to the condensate, the time and area of the condensed water heat exchange with the refrigerant can be maximized, and the refrigerant can be efficiently cooled efficiently while minimizing the length of the subcooled tube part. .

In addition, the plurality of walls of the drain pan surround the outer side of the subcooling tube and protect the subcooling tube.

In addition, the first condensate guide and the second condensate guide can collect the condensed water dropped from the evaporator as much as possible to the supercooling tube part, thereby increasing the heat exchange amount of the subcooling tube part of the condensate, and ensuring that the dehumidifier has sufficient subcooling degree. Can help.

1 is a view showing a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2 is a perspective view showing a condenser and an evaporator according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a cross-sectional view showing the condenser, the evaporator and the drain pan shown in FIG.
4 is a PH diagram of a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a view illustrating a change in condenser outlet temperature and a change in condensate temperature in a bucket according to a change in supercooling degree according to an embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a view showing the cooling capacity and the subcooling heat exchange amount and the dehumidification efficiency according to the change in subcooling degree according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a condenser and an evaporator according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a condenser, an evaporator and a drain shown in Figure 1 The fan is a sectional view shown.

The dehumidifier has a drain pan 1, a condenser 2; An evaporator 3; Expansion mechanism (4).

The dehumidifier may further comprise a compressor 7 for compressing the refrigerant.

The dehumidifier may further comprise a fan 8 for flowing air in the order of the condenser 2 and the evaporator 3.

The dehumidifier may further include a case 9.

The dehumidifier may further include a bucket 10 for receiving condensate dropped from the drain pan 1.

The drain pan 1 may be arranged to receive condensed water dropped on the surface of the evaporator 3 or on the surface of the condenser outlet tube 5.

The drain pan 1 may be disposed above the barrier 97. The drain pan 1 may be arranged horizontally on the top of the barrier 97. The drain pan 1 may be disposed long in the width direction Y of the evaporator 3.

The drain pan 1 may include a bottom plate 12 through which condensed water dropped from the evaporator 3 flows. The bottom plate 12 may be located below the evaporator 3 and may be formed larger than the evaporator 3. The lower plate 12 may be formed with ribs supporting the evaporator 3, and the ribs support the evaporator 3 so that the lower end 3A of the evaporator 3 is spaced apart from the inner bottom 1A of the drain pan 1. can do.

The drain pan 1 may include a plurality of walls 13 and 14 surrounding the outer side of the subcooling tube part 52 which will be described later. The plurality of walls 13 and 14 can protect the supercooled tube portion 52. The plurality of walls 13 and 14 may include a front wall 13 positioned in front of the subcooled tube portion 52 and a rear wall 14 positioned behind the subcooled tube portion 52. The drain pan 1 may further comprise a pair of side walls connecting the front wall 13 and the rear wall 14.

The drain pan 1 may form the drain flow path D by the lower plate 12 and the plurality of walls 13 and 14.

The drain pan 1 may have a drain 15 that guides the condensed water in the drain flow path D to the bucket 10 at a lower portion thereof. The drain portion 15 may be formed in communication with the drain flow path (D).

The bottom plate 12 of the drain pan 1 may extend below the condenser 2, and the bottom plate 12 may be formed with ribs 16 supporting the condenser 2. The rib 16 supporting the condenser 2 may be formed outside the drain flow path D.

The drain pan 1 may comprise a fan seating body 11 on which the fan 8 is seated, and the fan seating body 11 extends from the lower plate 12 of the drain pan 1 to the lower side of the fan 8. Can be extended.

The condenser 2 may be located after the evaporator 3 in the flow direction of air. The condenser 2 may be arranged between the evaporator 3 and the fan 8 in the flow direction of air.

The condenser 2 may include a condensation tube 21, 22, 23 through which the refrigerant passes. The condenser outlet tube 5, which will be described later, may be connected to the condensation tubes 21, 22, 23.

The condenser 2 may comprise a plurality of condensation tubes 21, 22, 23. The plurality of condensation tubes 21, 22, 23 may be spaced apart in the air flow direction. The plurality of condensation tubes 21, 22, 23 may be positioned closer to the evaporator 3 than either one 23 is than the other condensation tubes 21, 22.

The condenser 2 may consist of a fin-tube heat exchanger, and the condenser 2 may further comprise fins 24 coupled to the condensation tubes 21, 22, 23.

The evaporator 3 may be arranged above the drain pan 1 and directed towards the condenser 2. The evaporator 3 may be located between the suction body 92 and the condenser 2 in the air flow direction.

The evaporator 3 may comprise evaporation tubes 31 and 32 through which the refrigerant passes. It may comprise a plurality of evaporation tubes 31, 32 of the evaporator 3. The plurality of evaporation tubes 31 and 32 may be spaced apart in the air flow direction.

The evaporator 3 may consist of a fin-tube type heat exchanger, and the evaporator 3 may further comprise a fin 33 coupled to the evaporation tube 31. The lower end of the fin 33 may be the lower end 3A of the evaporator 3.

The evaporator 3 may have a thickness in the air flow direction X, may have a height in the vertical direction Z, and a direction Y orthogonal to each of the air flow direction X and the vertical direction Z. It can have a width.

The lower end 3A of the evaporator 3 may be spaced apart from the inner bottom surface 1A of the drain pan 1, that is, the upper surface of the lower plate 12 in the up and down direction Z, and the evaporator 3 may have a lower end ( A gap G between the 3A) and the inner bottom surface of the grain pan 1 may be formed in which a subcooling tube part 52 to be described later is located.

The expansion mechanism 4 can be connected to the condenser 3 and the condenser outlet tube 5. The expansion mechanism 4 may be connected to an evaporator 3 and an evaporator inlet tube (not shown).

The condenser outlet tube 5 may be connected to the condensation tube 23 closest to the evaporator 3 of the plurality of condensation tubes 21, 22, 23 of the condenser 2. The condenser outlet tube 5 can be connected to the bottom of this condensation tube 23.

The condenser outlet tube 5 may comprise a condenser connection tube part 51 connected to the condenser 2 and a subcooling tube part 52 located below the evaporator 3. The condenser outlet tube 5 may further comprise an expansion mechanism connecting tube portion 53 extending from the subcooling tube portion 52 and connected to the expansion mechanism 4.

The subcooling tube part 52 may extend in the condenser connecting tube part 51 between the lower end 3A of the evaporator 3 and the inner bottom 1A of the drain pan 1.

The outer diameter T of the subcooling tube part 52 may be smaller than the vertical width H of the plurality of walls 13 and 14. The outer diameter T of the subcooling tube portion 52 may be smaller than the gap G between the lower end 3A of the evaporator 3 and the inner bottom surface 1A of the drain pan portion 1.

At least a portion of the subcooling tube portion 52 may be spaced apart from the evaporation tube in the vertical direction (Z), and the condensate dropped downward from the evaporation tube 31 may contact the outer surface of the subcooling tube portion 52. The subcooled tube portion 52 can be cooled.

 The subcooling tube part 52 may include a plurality of straight pipe parts 54 and 55 spaced apart in a direction parallel to the spaced direction X of the plurality of rows of evaporation tubes 31 and 32.

The subcooling tube portion 52 may include a pair of spaced apart straight pipe portions 54 and 55.

The subcooling tube part 52 is a pair of straight pipe sections 54 and 55 long in the width direction of the evaporator 3 and spaced apart in the air flow direction X, and a pair of straight pipe sections 54 and 55. It may comprise a bend 56.

The supercooled tube part 52 may be located in the drain flow path D formed in the drain pan 1, and the condensed water flowing toward the drain part 15 along the drain flow path D may pass through the supercooled tube part 52. While moving along, the subcooling tube part 52 may be further cooled.

The expansion mechanism connecting tube portion 53 may be a portion that is bent upward in any one of the pair of straight pipe portions 54 and 55 constituting the supercooled tube portion 52, and the supercooled tube portion ( Opposite side 52 may be connected to expansion mechanism 4.

The condenser connection tube part 51, the subcooling tube part 52, and the expansion mechanism connection tube part 53 may be integrally formed, and the condenser connection tube part 51 and the subcooling tube part in the flow direction of the refrigerant. 52 and the expansion mechanism connecting tube portion 53 in the order.

The condenser outlet tube 5 may be bent such that a portion thereof is positioned below the evaporator 3, and the condenser outlet tube portion 51 may be a portion located below the evaporator 3 of the condenser outlet tube 5. Can be.

The dehumidifier may further include at least one condensate guide 57 and 58 coupled to the subcooling tube part 52 and guiding the condensed water W dropped from the evaporator 3 to the subcooling tube part 52. .

The condensate guides 57 and 58 may include an upper guide 60 connected to an upper portion of the straight pipe portions 54 and 55 and a lower guide 61 connected to a lower portion of the straight pipe portions 54 and 55. .

The upper end of the upper guide 60 may be spaced apart from the lower end 3A of the evaporator 3 in the vertical direction Z.

The lower end of the lower guide 61 may be spaced apart from the inner bottom surface 1A of the drain pan 1 in the vertical direction Z or may contact the inner bottom surface 1A of the drain pan 1. The lower end of the lower guide 61 may be positioned at a height capable of contacting the condensate flowing along the drain channel D. In this case, the subcooling tube part 52 may discharge heat to the condensed water W flowing along the drain flow path D through the lower guide 61, and the subcooling tube part 52 may be disposed on the surface of the subcooling tube part 52. After the primary cooling of the 52, the condensed water (W) dropped into the drain flow path (D) can be secondary cooling the subcooling tube portion 52 by the lower guide (61).

On the other hand, the present embodiment is not limited to including the lower guide 61 as described above, the lower part of the subcooled tube portion 52 may be in contact with the condensate (W) flowing along the drain flow path (D) Of course, it can also be directly cooled by the condensed water (W) flowing along the drain flow path (D).

The condensate guides 57 and 58 may be made of metal having high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, and the condensate guides 57 and 58 may be supercooled heat transfers connected to the subcooled tube part 52, in particular, the straight pipe parts 54 and 55. It may be a pin.

The fin 33 of the evaporator 3 may be a vertical plate disposed long in the vertical direction (Z). On the other hand, the condensate guides 57 and 58 are laid down in the inclined direction between the air flow direction X and the up and down direction Z, and may be long inclined plates in the width direction Y. The condensate guides 57 and 58 are not connected to the curved pipe part 56, and the horizontal length of the condensate guides 57 and 58 may be shorter than the horizontal length of the entire subcooled tube part 52.

The condensate guides 57 and 58 may be provided in plural dehumidifiers, and the plurality of condensate guides 57 and 58 may include a first condensate connected to any one of the pair of straight pipe sections 54 and 55. The guide 57 may include a second condensation guide 58 connected to the other one of the pair of straight pipe portions 54 and 55.

The first condensed water guide 57 and the second condensed water guide 58 may guide the condensed water W to the pair of straight pipe portions 54 and 55.

The first condensation guide 57 and the second condensation guide 58 may be inclined closer to each other toward the lower side.

The condensate can fall directly on the pair of straight pipes 54, 55, and the condensed water thus dropped can hit the pair of straight pipes 54, 55 and then circulate around. The first condensation guide 57 and the second condensation guide 58 may guide the condensate splashed around the pair of straight pipe sections 54 and 55 back to the pair of straight pipe sections 54 and 55. In addition, the condensed water dropped from the evaporator 3 may be dropped into the drain flow path D after contacting the pair of straight pipes 54 and 55 as much as possible.

A gap 59 may be formed between the lower end of the first condensation guide 57 and the lower end of the second condensation guide 58 to allow the condensed water W to fall into the drain pan 1.

The fan 8 can be arranged facing the condenser 2. The fan 8 may be after the condenser 2 in the direction of flow of air.

The compressor 7 may be connected to the evaporator 3 and a compressor suction tube (not shown), and may be connected to the condenser 2 and the compressor outlet tube (not shown).

The fan 8 may include a motor 82 and a blower 84 which is connected to the motor 82 and rotated. The fan 8 may further include a fan housing 86 that rotatably receives the blower 84.

The fan housing 86 may have a suction hole 87 through which air passing through the evaporator 3 and the condenser 2 is sucked into the blower 84. The fan housing 86 may include a discharge unit 88 for blowing air to the air discharge port 93 described later. The fan 8 may be mounted to a fan mount 11 extending from the drain pan 1.

The drain pan 1 and the condenser 2, the evaporator 3, the expansion mechanism 4, the compressor 7, the fan 8 and the bucket 10 can be arranged inside the case 9. have.

The case 9 may include a suction body 92 in which an air suction port 91 is formed. The suction body 92 may be arranged to face the condenser 2.

The case 9 may include a discharge body 94 in which an air discharge port 93 is formed. The case 9 may include a base 95 forming a bottom appearance of the dehumidifier. The case 9 may further include an outer cover 96 which covers the sides of the condenser 2 and the evaporator 3.

In the case 9, a barrier 97 may be disposed to divide the lower side of the drain pan 1 into a compressor accommodating space in which the compressor 7 is accommodated and a bucket accommodating space in which the water tank 19 is located. Barrier 97 may be erected perpendicular to the upper side of the base 95,

The bucket 10 may have an opening through which condensed water dropped from the drain pan 1 passes. The opening may be formed at the top of the bucket 10. After being guided to the drain flow path D of the drain pan 1, the condensed water W dropped along the drain part 15 may fall into the bucket 10.

Figure 4 is a PH diagram of the dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is a view showing the condenser outlet temperature change and the condensate water temperature change in the bucket according to the subcooling change according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 6 Figure is a diagram showing the cooling capacity and subcooling heat exchange amount and dehumidification efficiency according to the change in subcooling degree according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the condensed water (W) dropped from the surface of the evaporator (3) is in contact with the subcooling tube portion 52 to make the subcooling tube portion 52 primary cooling (a-> b), the subcooling tube portion The condensed water W having cooled the 52 flows along the drain flow path D of the drain pan 1 in the longitudinal direction of the drain flow path D, thereby cooling the subcooled tube portion 52 secondarily (b-> c). You can. '

The dehumidifier of the present embodiment may supercool the refrigerant leaving the condenser 2 by 7 ° C. to 10 ° C. by the primary cooling and the secondary cooling of the subcooling tube part 52. The evaporation capacity is increased (d-> e).

L shown in FIG. 5 is a change of the condenser outlet temperature of the comparative example compared with the embodiment of the present invention, and the condenser when the condenser outlet tube 5 is not cooled by the condensate water W falling from the evaporator 3 It is a change in outlet temperature.

M shown in Figure 5 is a change in the condenser outlet temperature according to an embodiment of the present invention, it can be seen that the condenser outlet temperature of this embodiment is lower than the condenser outlet temperature of the comparative example.

N in FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a change in the condensate temperature in the bucket of the comparative example compared to the embodiment of the present invention, in which the condenser outlet tube 5 is cooled by condensate W falling from the evaporator 3. If not, change in condensate temperature in the bucket.

5 is a diagram showing a change in the condensate temperature in the bucket according to an embodiment of the present invention than when the condenser outlet tube 52 is not cooled by the condensate W falling from the evaporator 3. High can be confirmed.

Referring to FIG. 6, as the degree of subcooling increases, each of the subcooling heat exchange amount Qsub and the cooling capacity Qeva may increase, and the dehumidification efficiency (EF = dehumidification amount (L / hr) / compressor power consumption (KW)). Can be increased. For example, when the degree of subcooling is secured at 10 ° C., the dehumidification efficiency (EF) may be increased by 12.7%.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and changes without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.

Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto.

The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1: drain pan 2: condenser
3: evaporator 4: expansion mechanism
5: condenser outlet tube 6: evaporator inlet tube
51: condenser connection tube portion 52: subcooling tube portion

Claims (10)

A drain pan;
A condenser;
An evaporator disposed over said drain pan and directed towards said condenser;
An expansion mechanism connected to the condenser and a condenser outlet tube,
The condenser outlet tube
The condenser connection tube part connected to the condenser;
And a subcooling tube portion extending from the condenser connection tube portion between the bottom of the evaporator and the drain pan and positioned below the evaporator. The method of claim 1,
The evaporator comprises an evaporation tube through which the refrigerant passes,
At least a portion of the subcooling tube portion is a dehumidifier spaced apart from the evaporation tube in the vertical direction. The method of claim 1,
The evaporator includes a multi-row evaporation tube spaced apart in the air flow direction,
The supercooling tube part includes a plurality of straight pipe parts spaced apart in a direction parallel to the spacing direction of the plurality of rows of evaporation tube. The method of claim 1,
The supercooled tube portion
A pair of straight pipes long in the width direction of the evaporator and spaced apart in the air flow direction;
Dehumidifier comprising a curved pipe connecting the pair of straight pipe. The method of claim 1,
And an outer diameter of the subcooling tube portion is smaller than a gap between a lower end of the evaporator and an inner bottom surface of the drain pan portion. The method of claim 1,
The drain pan is a dehumidifier including a plurality of walls surrounding the outside of the subcooled tube portion. The method of claim 1
A dehumidifier coupled to the subcooling tube part, the at least one condensate guide for guiding condensate dropped from the evaporator to the subcooling tube part. The method of claim 7, wherein
The subcooled tube portion includes a pair of spaced straight pipe portion
The at least one condensate guide
A first condensation guide connected to any one of the pair of straight pipes,
A dehumidifier comprising a second condensation guide connected to the other of the pair of straight pipe. The method of claim 8,
The first condensation guide and the second condensation guide is inclined closer to each other toward the lower side dehumidifier. The method of claim 8,
A dehumidifier formed with a gap between the lower end of the first condensation guide and the lower end of the second condensation guide, the condensate falling into the drain pan.

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