KR20200065674A - Method and Apparatus for Removing Condensate and Frost in Unit Cooler for Cold Storage - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a condensate and frost removal method of a unit cooler for cold storage and a device thereof, which can re-evaporate a condensate formed on the surface of a heat transfer pipe of a unit cooler for cold storage without applying heat in order to suppress generation of frost, thereby maintaining the uniform temperature and humidity in a storeroom and preventing deterioration in product quality of an object to be stored. To this end, the condensate and frost removal method of a unit cooler for cold storage is characterized by comprising: a step (S10) that a refrigerator system (20) is operated to cool the inside of a storeroom (50) by using a unit cooler (10); a step (S20) that the temperature of the surface of a heat transfer pipe (11) provided at a unit cooler (10) is detected; a step (S30) that, when the temperature of the surface of the heat transfer pipe (11) drops to a sub-zero temperature, the refrigerator system (20) is halted such that a refrigerant may be discharged and the temperature of the surface of the heat transfer pipe (11) may reach the temperature in the storeroom; a step (S40) that a condensate on the surface of the heat transfer pipe (11) is evaporated by operating a blower (12) of the unit cooler (10); and a step (S60) that the refrigerator system (20) is re-operated when the condensate is evaporated.

Description

Method and Apparatus for Removing Condensate and Frost in Unit Cooler for Cold Storage

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing condensate and defrosting of a unit cooler for refrigeration storage, and more specifically, to generate condensate by re-evaporating the condensate generated on the surface of the heat pipe of the unit cooler without applying heat. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing condensate and defrosting of a unit cooler for refrigerated storage, which is controlled to maintain a constant temperature and humidity in a storage room and prevent deterioration of storage quality.

In general, the cold storage is a facility for stabilizing the supply and demand of agricultural products and maintaining the freshness of agricultural products even for long-term storage by controlling the temperature inside the storage room where agricultural products and the like are stored using a freezer, in the range of approximately 0 to 15°C. Agricultural products, etc. are stored refrigerated.

In order to keep the inside temperature of the low temperature storage unit constant, when the temperature inside the storage unit rises above the upper limit of the set temperature, the freezer system is operated to lower the inside temperature, and when the temperature inside the storage unit reaches the lower limit of the set temperature, the freezer system It is stopped and the cycle which causes the inside temperature to rise gradually is repeated.

The refrigerator system lowers the internal temperature of the refrigerator by flowing a coolant having a temperature of 5 to 15°C lower than the internal temperature inside the heat pipe of the unit cooler. That is, when the inside temperature is 0°C, a refrigerant of -5 to -15°C passes through the unit cooler. As such, as the coolant at a low temperature passes through the unit cooler, the surface temperature of the heat transfer tube of the unit cooler is lowered. At this time, since the blower located at the rear of the heat transfer pipe blows toward the heat transfer pipe, the air in the storage chamber is blown by the blower and is cooled by heat exchange while passing through the surface of the heat transfer pipe.

In this process, when the surface temperature of the heat pipe reaches the dew point temperature of air, moisture in the air condenses in the form of water droplets on the surface of the heat pipe. And when the surface temperature of the heat pipe is below zero, condensed water droplets freeze to form frost.

As described above, when the freezer system is operated, condensate or frost generated on the surface of the heat pipe of the unit cooler greatly affects the performance of the freezer system and the humidity environment of the cold storage. Specifically, when frost is generated on the surface of the heat transfer tube of the unit cooler, the heat exchange efficiency is lowered and the frost is accumulated and thickened, which further deteriorates the heat exchange efficiency and takes longer to cool the inside air. Accordingly, the operation time of the refrigerator system is prolonged, and energy consumption is increased. In addition, the more condensate and frost generated on the surface of the unit cooler, the more the air in the shed takes away moisture and becomes dry air. When the blasted air is dried, the increase in moisture from the storage increases, resulting in drying of the storage. Quality deteriorates.

Therefore, it is desirable to quickly remove condensate or frost generated on the surface of the heat transfer tube of the unit cooler. However, in order to remove condensate and frost on the surface of the heat pipe, there is a problem that the operation of the refrigerator system must be stopped. Accordingly, in a general freezer system, the defrosting operation is performed by allowing the frost to accumulate on the surface of the heat pipe of the unit cooler and then applying heat to melt at an appropriate time. In some cases, a defrosting operation is performed to circulate the refrigerant of the refrigerator system in the opposite direction to remove frost.

However, such a defrosting operation cannot fundamentally solve problems such as a decrease in the efficiency of the unit cooler or an increase in moisture loss of the storage by dry air, and an increase in temperature fluctuation inside the storage during heating is also unavoidable.

On the other hand, as a result of investigating prior art related to the present invention, a number of patent documents have been searched and some of them are as follows.

Patent Document 1, the step of discharging the defrosting waste heat of the evaporator to the outside of the room in controlling the operation of the refrigeration cycle applied to the cold storage, and measures the current change acting on the blower and analyzes the data already obtained and the optimum defrosting time Disclosed is a method for controlling the operation of a small and medium-sized low temperature storage, which improves the performance and energy consumption efficiency of a low temperature storage by applying an algorithm that includes determining the end time and controlling the defrosting operation.

Patent Document 2, the storage space is provided in the interior to store the concentrated aquatic products at a low temperature, the roof is provided to be drawn at least more than 100 ~ 500mm or more is provided with an uncovered eaves integrally, the control means or wireless control on the outside A body provided with a means, provided with at least one or more air pressure adjusting devices to control air pressure and humidity, and having a door; A unit cooler provided with a heater for drying and storing the concentrated aquatic product stored in the main body and maintaining a set temperature, and having a defrost heater overheating prevention sensor; And an outdoor unit provided outside the main body and provided to drive the unit cooler to a set temperature. Composed of, rainwater does not flow, and when the agricultural products stored in the cold storage are set by the user's settings, the temperature of the storage is increased by a heater over a certain temperature to achieve drying of the agricultural products, and the air is automatically blown and defrosted after the set time. , Refrigerated and heater driven to store the concentrated aquatic products at low temperature, and automatically maintains the freshness of the stored agricultural products by automatically blowing, defrosting, refrigerating, and defrosting the heater according to the set temperature, and is humidified and stored by the condensed water generated by itself without a separate humidifier. Disclosed is a low-temperature storage facility capable of storing agricultural products for a long time and a control method thereof.

Patent Document 3, by using the defrosted water in a vaporized state without discharging to the outside of the cold storage, it is possible to more easily maintain a constant humidity in the cold storage, and, of course, food such as fruits stored in the cold storage Disclosed is a defrosting device for cold storage that can maintain the optimized humidity and more easily prevent the deterioration of product value and freshness of food.

Patent Document 4, by installing a frost detection camera to measure the change in the area in which the freezing proceeds, detects a more accurate defrosting operation time point to improve the cooling efficiency of the evaporator, thereby preventing temperature rise and energy waste in the cold storage room, and excessive In addition to preventing power consumption, it is possible to more easily maintain the humidity in the low temperature storage by using the defrosted water in a vaporized state without discharging it to the outside of the low temperature storage, whereby fruits stored in the low temperature storage, etc. Disclosed is a defrosting system for low-temperature storage that can more easily prevent food products from being deteriorated and freshness from being reduced because food can maintain an optimized humidity.

Patent Document 1: KR10-1269068 B1 Patent Document 2: KR10-2015-0098339 A Patent Document 3: KR10-1529623 B1 Patent Document 4: KR10-2017-0021534 A

According to the present invention, by re-evaporating the condensate generated on the surface of the heat pipe of the unit cooler without applying heat, it is possible to suppress the formation of frost and keep the temperature and humidity in the reservoir constant and prevent the deterioration of the quality of the storage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for removing condensate and frost from a unit cooler for refrigeration storage.

The condensate and defrosting method of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of: operating a refrigerator system to cool the interior of the storage unit using the unit cooler; Sensing a surface temperature of the heat transfer tube provided in the unit cooler; Stopping the refrigerator system when the surface temperature of the heat pipe falls below zero, so that the refrigerant is discharged and the surface temperature of the heat pipe rises to the inside temperature; Operating the blower of the unit cooler to evaporate condensate on the surface of the heat pipe; Restarting the freezer system when the condensate is evaporated; It characterized in that it comprises.

In addition, according to the method for removing condensate and frost in the refrigerated storage unit cooler of the present invention, the method further comprises stopping the operation of the blower when the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe reaches a set temperature.

In addition, according to the method for removing condensate and frost in the refrigerated storage unit cooler of the present invention, it is further characterized in that it further comprises stopping the operation of the blower when the relative humidity in the reservoir reaches a certain humidity.

And the condensate and defroster of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage according to the present invention includes a unit cooler including a heat transfer pipe through which a refrigerant supplied from a refrigerator system passes, and a blower and a blower control unit; A main control unit for controlling the operation of the refrigerator system; A temperature sensor that senses the surface temperature of the heat pipe and transmits a signal to the main control unit; The main control unit is characterized in that when the surface temperature of the heat pipe sensed by the temperature sensor reaches below zero, the operation of the refrigerator system is stopped and the blower is operated through the blower control unit.

In addition, according to the condensate and defroster of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage of the present invention, the surface temperature of the heat pipe sensed by the temperature sensor is compared with the set temperature, and when the surface temperature of the heat pipe reaches the set temperature, a signal is sent to the blower control unit. It characterized in that it further comprises a temperature controller to stop the operation of the blower.

In addition, according to the condensate and defroster of the refrigerated storage unit cooler of the present invention, the blower control unit is characterized by having a timer to stop the operation of the blower after a certain time after the operation of the blower starts.

In addition, according to the condensate and defrosting device of the unit cooler for refrigerated storage of the present invention, a humidity sensor for sensing the relative humidity in the storage and a humidity controller for stopping the operation of the blower when the relative humidity in the storage reaches a set humidity It is characterized by.

In addition, according to the condensate and defroster of the refrigerating storage unit cooler of the present invention, the blower control unit further comprises a speed control unit for adjusting the rotational speed of the blower.

In addition, according to the condensate and defrosting device of the unit cooler for refrigerating storage of the present invention, the step of detecting the surface temperature of the heat transfer tube provided in the unit cooler can be replaced with the step of detecting the inside temperature of the cold storage. It is characterized by.

The method and apparatus for removing condensate and frost in the unit cooler for refrigerating storage according to the present invention, when the temperature of the heat pipe falls below zero in the state in which water droplets are formed on the heat pipe of the unit cooler, when the condensate starts to freeze, the freezing system is stopped to increase the temperature of the heat pipe By dissolving frost, the air is blown using a blower to increase the rate of evaporation of water droplets and quickly evaporate. Therefore, condensed water and frost can be removed without applying heat to the heat transfer pipe. There is an effect of preventing the deterioration of efficiency of the unit cooler and maintaining the relative humidity in the storage above a certain level, thereby preventing deterioration in quality due to drying of the storage.

In addition, according to the method and apparatus for removing condensate and frost in the refrigerated storage unit cooler of the present invention, as the stop time of the blower operated for removal of condensate and frost is set, the power consumption due to the operation of the blower is reduced and stored This has the effect of being able to prevent exposure to a lot of wind.

In addition, according to the method and apparatus for removing condensation and defrosting of the unit cooler for refrigerated storage of the present invention, the relative humidity in the storage can be controlled by allowing the blower to be stopped based on the humidity in the storage.

In addition, according to the method and apparatus for removing condensate and frost in the refrigerated storage unit cooler of the present invention, the rotational speed of the blower can be adjusted, thereby reducing power consumption and maintaining an adequate amount of air.

1 is a flow chart illustrating a method of removing condensate and frost in a unit cooler for refrigerating storage according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the condensate and defroster of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage according to the present invention.
Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the control path of the condensate removal device of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a method and apparatus for removing condensate of the unit cooler for refrigerated storage of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a flow chart showing a condensate and defrosting method of a unit cooler for refrigerating storage according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a condensate and defrosting device of a unit cooler for refrigerating storage according to the present invention. , Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the control path of the condensate removal device of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage of the present invention.

The condensate and defrosting method of the unit cooler for refrigerating storage according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, operates the freezer system 20 to cool the interior of the reservoir 50 using the unit cooler 10 To supply the refrigerant to the unit cooler 10 (S10); A step (S20) of sensing the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 provided in the unit cooler 10; When the surface temperature of the heat pipe (11) falls below zero, the refrigerator system (20) is stopped to discharge refrigerant, and the surface temperature of the heat pipe (11) rises to a high temperature (S30); Operating the blower 12 of the unit cooler 10 to evaporate condensate on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11 (S40); Stopping the operation of the blower 12 when the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 reaches a set temperature (S50); When the condensed water is evaporated, operating the refrigerator system 20 again (S60); It is made including.

Here, instead of the step (S50) of stopping the operation of the blower 12 based on the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11, the relative humidity in the reservoir 50 is measured, and when the relative humidity reaches a certain humidity, the blower 12 Step S55 of stopping the operation may be performed.

The condensate and defroster of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage of the present invention for this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the unit cooler 10, the freezer system 20, the main control unit 25, the temperature sensor 30 ).

The unit cooler 10 is installed inside the storage 50 to cool the storage 50, the heat transfer pipe 11 through which the refrigerant supplied from the refrigerator system 20 passes, and air for circulation of the air in the interior It includes a blower 12 for circulating and a blower control unit 13 for controlling the operation of the blower 12, a temperature sensor 30 is provided on one side to detect the surface temperature of the heat pipe (11).

The refrigerator system 20 supplies cold refrigerant to the unit cooler 10 using a refrigeration circuit, and supplies refrigerant having a temperature of about 5 to 15°C lower than the inside temperature to the unit cooler 10.

The main control unit 25 controls the operation of the refrigerator system 20 according to the internal temperature of the reservoir 50 or the surface temperature of the heat transfer tube 11 sensed by the temperature sensor 30, and the temperature sensor 30 When the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 sensed by reaching zero, the operation of the refrigerator system 20 is stopped and the blower 12 is operated through the blower control unit 13.

Then, the surface temperature of the heat pipe 11 detected by the temperature sensor 30 is compared with the set temperature, and when the surface temperature of the heat pipe 11 reaches the set temperature, a signal is sent to the blower control unit 13 to send the blower 12 Temperature controller 35 to stop the operation may be further installed. At this time, it is natural that the set temperature for stopping the operation of the blower 12 should be the temperature of the image.

In addition, the blower controller 13 may include a timer 15 to automatically stop the operation of the blower 12 after a certain period of time after the operation of the blower 12 is started. In addition, the blower control unit 13 is preferably provided with a speed control unit 14 for adjusting the number of revolutions of the blower 12 to reduce power consumption and maintain the air volume appropriately.

In addition, the humidity sensor 40 for detecting the relative humidity in the reservoir 50 and the humidity controller 45 to stop the operation of the blower 12 when the relative humidity in the reservoir 50 reaches a set humidity may be further included have. Accordingly, the relative humidity in the reservoir 50 can be adjusted to a certain level.

The operation of the method and apparatus for removing condensate and defrosting of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage of the present invention configured as described above will be described as follows.

To control the temperature in the reservoir 50, when the refrigerator system 20 is operated, the refrigerant of the refrigerator system 20 is supplied to the heat transfer pipe 11 of the unit cooler 10 to cool the inside of the reservoir 50. At this time, the blower 12 of the unit cooler 10 blows air in the reservoir 50 so that heat is exchanged on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11, and in this process, the heat transfer pipe 11 lower than the dew point temperature of the air Due to the surface temperature, moisture in the air condenses and condenses as water droplets on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11.

Subsequently, when the surface temperature of the heat exchanger tube 11 is continuously lowered to drop below zero, water droplets formed on the surface of the heat exchanger tube are frozen to generate frost. At this time, since the temperature sensor 30 detects the temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 and falls below zero, it sends a signal to the main control unit 25, so that the main control unit 25 stops the refrigerator system 20. Accordingly, the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 rises to change to water droplets while melting frost. At the same time, since the blower 12 is operated by the blower control unit 13 to blow air to the heat exchanger pipe 11, the rate of increase of the water droplets formed on the heat exchanger pipe 11 increases and evaporates quickly.

Through the above process, when both the water droplets and frost on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11 are removed, the main control unit 25 restarts the refrigerator system 20 to maintain the temperature of the reservoir 50 below a certain level. .

Here, the condensed water and the defrosting method using the refrigerator system 20 and the blower 12 will be described as follows.

During the operation of the refrigerator system 20, since the refrigerant passes through the heat transfer pipe 11, the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 is continuously lowered to drop below zero. However, when the refrigerator system 20 is stopped and the refrigerant escapes from the heat transfer pipe 11, within a few seconds, the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 becomes equal to the internal temperature of the reservoir 50. Then, as the internal temperature of the reservoir 50 gradually increases until the refrigerator system 20 is operated again, the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 also increases.

When the freezer system 20 is stopped and the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 rises as an image, the frost of the heat transfer pipe 11 is melted and changed into water droplets, but the freezer system 20 is not removed quickly. When it works again, the water droplets freeze into the frost, creating a thicker frost.

Accordingly, in the present invention, the condensate on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11 is quickly evaporated using the blower 12 so that it does not freeze again. Generally, when the freezer system is stopped, the blower provided in the unit cooler is also stopped, but in the present invention, even if the freezer system 20 is stopped, the blower 12 of the unit cooler 10 is continuously operated through the blower control unit 13 As much as possible. Therefore, water droplets formed on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11 are rapidly evaporated by air blown by the blower 12. Thereafter, when the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 rises as an image, condensed water on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11 evaporates completely, so that even if the refrigerator system 20 is restarted, cumulative generation of frost is eliminated.

In addition, if the blower 12 of the unit cooler 10 is continuously operated, power consumption increases and the quality of the stored product is deteriorated due to exposure to the wind, so the temperature controller 35 senses the temperature sensor 30. When the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 is compared to the set temperature set as an image, the blower 12 is stopped when the surface temperature is higher than the set temperature. At this time, by using the timer 15, the blower 12 may be automatically stopped after being operated for a certain period of time.

In addition, the humidity sensor 40 and the humidity controller 45 may be used to control the stop point of the blower 12. That is, when the relative humidity in the reservoir 50 reaches a certain humidity due to the re-evaporation of condensate, the blower 12 is stopped. Accordingly, it is possible to adjust the relative humidity in the reservoir 50.

Further, instead of sensing the surface temperature of the heat pipe of the unit cooler, it is also possible to achieve the object of the present invention by sensing the inside temperature of the cold storage.

Although described and illustrated in connection with an embodiment for illustrating the technical idea of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as described above, and deviates from the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications to the present invention are possible without this. Accordingly, all such suitable modifications and modifications and equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

10...unit cooler
11...heat pipe
12... blower
13... Blower control
14...speed control
15...Timer
20... chiller system
25...Main control
30...temperature sensor
35...temperature controller
40...humidity sensor
45...humidity controller
50...store

Claims (8)

Operating the refrigerator system 20 to cool the inside of the reservoir 50 using the unit cooler 10 (S10);
A step (S20) of sensing the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 provided in the unit cooler 10;
When the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe (11) falls below zero, the refrigerant system (20) is stopped to discharge refrigerant, and the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe (11) rises to a high temperature (S30);
Operating the blower 12 of the unit cooler 10 to evaporate condensate on the surface of the heat transfer pipe 11 (S40);
When the condensed water evaporates, re-operating the refrigerator system 20 (S60); Method of removing condensate and frost in the unit cooler for refrigeration storage, comprising a. The method according to claim 1,
Method of removing condensate and frost of the unit cooler for refrigerating storage further comprising the step of stopping the operation of the blower 21 when the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 reaches a set temperature. The method according to claim 1,
Method of removing condensate and frost in the unit cooler for refrigerating storage further comprising the step of stopping the operation of the blower 21 when the relative humidity in the reservoir 50 reaches a certain humidity. A unit cooler 10 including a heat transfer pipe 11 through which the refrigerant supplied from the refrigerator system 20 passes, a blower 12 and a blower control unit 13;
A main control unit 25 for controlling the operation of the refrigerator system 20;
A temperature sensor 30 that senses the surface temperature of the heat transfer tube 11 and transmits a signal to the main control unit 25;
Including,
The main control unit 25 stops the operation of the refrigerator system 20 when the surface temperature of the heat transfer tube 11 sensed by the temperature sensor 30 reaches zero, and blows the blower 12 through the blower control unit 13 Condensate and defroster of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage, characterized in that it operates. The method according to claim 4,
The surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 sensed by the temperature sensor 30 is compared with the set temperature, and when the surface temperature of the heat transfer pipe 11 reaches the set temperature, a signal is sent to the blower control unit 13 to transmit the signal to the blower 12. Condensate and defroster of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage further comprising a temperature controller 35 to stop the operation. The method according to claim 4,
The blower control unit 13 is equipped with a timer 15 to stop the operation of the blower 12 after a certain period of time after the operation of the blower 12 is started. Removal device. The method according to claim 4,
Characterized in that it further comprises a humidity sensor (40) for detecting the relative humidity in the reservoir (50) and a humidity controller (45) for stopping the operation of the blower (12) when the relative humidity in the reservoir (50) reaches a set humidity. Condensate and defroster of the unit cooler for cold storage. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7,
The blower control unit 13 further includes a speed control unit 14 for adjusting the number of revolutions of the blower 12, the apparatus for removing condensation and defrosting of the unit cooler for refrigeration storage.

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