WO2018084459A1

WO2018084459A1 - Air conditioner

Info

Publication number: WO2018084459A1
Application number: PCT/KR2017/011453
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김경록; 김선태; 이동규; 진동식
Original assignee: 삼성전자 주식회사
Priority date: 2016-11-02
Filing date: 2017-10-17
Publication date: 2018-05-11
Also published as: KR102517272B1; KR20180048129A

Abstract

An air conditioner is disclosed. The disclosed air conditioner, in which an indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor expansion device, an outdoor heat exchanger, an accumulator, a compressor, and an oil separator are connected in sequence, comprises a heat generating device for heating a refrigerant flowing from the outdoor expansion device to the compressor, wherein the heat generating device includes: an adsorbent for generating heat by the physical adsorption of the refrigerant thereto; a tank including the adsorbent charged therein; and a heat transfer pipe for transferring heat to the adsorbent to regenerate the adsorbent.

Description

Air conditioner

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner having a heat generator for heating a refrigerant flowing into a compressor during defrosting.

In general, an air conditioner is a device including an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, and a refrigerant circulating therebetween, by using a property of releasing heat to the surroundings when the refrigerant liquefies and absorbing the surrounding heat when the refrigerant is liquefied, It is a device for heating.

Such an air conditioner has a problem in that when the outside temperature is very low in winter or when the heating operation is performed for a predetermined time, moisture is implanted in the outdoor heat exchanger so that heat exchange with the outdoor air is not performed smoothly.

The air conditioner performs a defrosting operation to remove frost formed on the outdoor heat exchanger. The defrosting operation may be performed by a reverse cycle method in which the circulation direction of the refrigerant is reversed and a hot gas bypass method through which the refrigerant from the compressor flows to the outdoor heat exchanger.

In this case, in order to effectively perform the defrosting operation, a heat storage tank may be provided during the heating operation, and a heat storage tank using the heat as an auxiliary heat source during the defrosting operation. However, a conventional air conditioner may store heat required during the defrosting operation. A large amount of heat storage material was needed for this purpose. Therefore, the heat storage tank is increased in size to contain a large amount of heat storage material, which is a factor to increase the overall size of the air conditioner.

An object of the present invention is to control the refrigerant to pass through the heat generating device during the defrosting operation, and by supplying a refrigerant whose temperature is increased by the adsorption heat generated while the adsorbent and the refrigerant is physically adsorbed to reduce the defrost time, defrost efficiency The height is to provide an air conditioner.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention controls the refrigerant to pass through the heat generating device during the defrosting operation, by supplying a refrigerant with increased temperature to the compressor by the heat of adsorption generated during the physical adsorption of the adsorbent and the refrigerant, defrost time It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner that reduces and increases defrosting efficiency.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an air conditioner in which an indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor expansion device, an outdoor heat exchanger, an accumulator, a compressor, and an oil separator are sequentially connected, the refrigerant flowing from the outdoor expansion device to the compressor. A heat generating device for heating the heat generating device, the heat generating device comprising: an adsorbent for generating heat by physical adsorption with the refrigerant; A tank filled with the adsorbent; And a heat transfer pipe transferring heat to the adsorbent to regenerate the adsorbent.

The heat transfer tube may pass through the tank so that the adsorbent is in contact with the outer circumferential surface.

The heat pipes may be branched from a section within the tank to form a plurality of pipes, and the plurality of pipes may be connected in parallel to each other.

The heat transfer pipe may be formed in a zigzag shape in a section within the tank.

The adsorbent may be any one of activated carbon, zeolite, silica gel, and activated alumina.

A first bypass pipe for guiding the refrigerant discharged from the indoor heat exchanger to the heat generating device; And a second bypass tube for guiding the heated refrigerant through the heat generator to the accumulator.

The first bypass pipe may be connected to an inlet of the tank such that a refrigerant reacts with the adsorbent, and the second bypass pipe may be connected to an outlet of the tank where the heated refrigerant is discharged by reacting with the adsorbent. .

The first and second bypass pipes may branch in some sections of the flow path where the refrigerant flows in a low pressure state during the defrosting operation.

The heat transfer tube may be disposed on a flow path through which the oil separated from the oil separator is returned to the compressor.

The tank may be formed to surround the heat transfer pipe.

A first opening and closing valve disposed in the first bypass pipe to control the flow of the refrigerant to be transferred to the tank; may further include a.

And a second on / off valve disposed on a flow path connecting the oil separator and the inlet of the heat transfer tube to control the flow of oil transferred to the heat transfer tube.

A third bypass pipe for guiding the refrigerant discharged from the compressor and moving to an indoor heat exchanger to the heat transfer pipe; And a fourth bypass pipe for guiding the refrigerant passing through the heat transfer pipe to the outdoor heat exchanger.

The outdoor heat exchanger may be provided in plurality, and may include a plurality of connection pipes branched from the compressor to the four-way valve and connected to the outdoor heat exchanger, respectively.

The plurality of connection pipes may be disposed on and off valves to selectively open and close the plurality of connection pipes.

1 is a view showing an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the heat generator shown in FIG. 1.

2B and 2C are cross-sectional views illustrating a modified example of the heat generator illustrated in FIG. 2A.

3 is a view for explaining a defrosting operation of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a view for explaining the heating operation of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view showing an air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a view showing an air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below will be described based on the embodiments best suited for understanding the technical features of the present invention, and the technical features of the present invention are not limited by the described embodiments. Illustrates that the present invention can be implemented as in the following embodiments.

Accordingly, the present invention may be modified in various ways within the technical scope of the present invention through the embodiments described below, and such modified embodiments fall within the technical scope of the present invention. And in order to help the understanding of the embodiments described below, in the reference numerals described in the accompanying drawings, among the components that work the same in each embodiment, the related components are denoted by the same or extension number.

The air conditioner according to the present embodiment is described by taking a heater as an example, but is not limited thereto. The air conditioner may be an air conditioner that serves both cooling and heating. In addition, the heat generating device applied to the air conditioner according to the present embodiment described below can be obtained in a small size and high efficiency compared to the conventional heat storage tank. Hereinafter, according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings After examining the schematic configuration of the air conditioner, the structure of the heat generating device will be described in detail.

Referring to FIG. 1, the air conditioner 1 is largely comprised of an indoor unit 10 and an outdoor unit 20. The indoor unit 10 includes an indoor heat exchanger 13 through which the refrigerant is heat exchanged, and an indoor expansion device 11 through which the refrigerant is expanded under reduced pressure.

The outdoor unit 20 includes a compressor 21 for compressing a refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger 23 for exchanging refrigerant, and four-way valves 25 and 4- arranged on the discharge side of the compressor 21 to switch the flow path of the refrigerant. a way valve, an accumulator 27 connected to the suction side of the compressor 21 and providing a refrigerant in a gaseous state to the compressor 21, and disposed between the indoor heat exchanger 13 and the outdoor heat exchanger 23. And an outdoor expansion device 29 for expanding the refrigerant under reduced pressure.

An oil separator 31 is provided at the discharge side of the compressor 21 to separate oil, and a circulation passage 33 is formed at the oil separator 31 so that the separated oil can be returned to the compressor 21 again. do. Downstream of the circulation passage 33 may be a capillary tube 35 for decompression. A portion of the circulation passage 33 may be a heat transfer tube 130 of the heat generating device 100 to be described later.

The downstream valve 25 is connected to the downstream side of the oil separator 31. An outdoor heat exchanger 20, an accumulator 27, and an inflow refrigerant pipe 51 into which a refrigerant flows through the indoor unit 10 during defrosting are connected to the outflow side of the four-way valve 25.

On the other hand, the outflow side refrigerant pipe 53 is connected to the outlet side of the outdoor expansion device 29 along the flow direction of the refrigerant during defrosting so that the refrigerant can flow to the indoor unit 10.

The

service valves

41 and 43 are provided in the inflow side refrigerant pipe 51 and the outflow side refrigerant pipe 53, respectively.

In addition, the outdoor unit 20 includes a heat generator 100 for heating the refrigerant by physical adsorption of the refrigerant downstream of the outdoor expansion device 29 along the flow direction of the refrigerant during defrosting. do. The structure of the heat generating device 100 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2A below.

The flow path of the air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a main pipe 60 and first and

second bypass pipes

61 and 62.

The main pipe 60 is connected to the flow path from the outlet side of the outdoor expansion device 29 to the intake side of the accumulator 27 through the outdoor heat exchanger 23 and the four-way valve 25 along the flow direction of the refrigerant during heating. Corresponding.

The

bypass pipes

61 and 62 are branched from the starting point P1 of the main pipe 60 and connected to the heat generating device 100 and the

main pipe

61 and 62 again from the heat generating device 100. And a second bypass tube 62 connected to the tube 60. The first bypass pipe 61 transfers the refrigerant flowing through the main pipe 60 to the heat generator 100, and the second bypass pipe 62 passes the refrigerant heated through the heat generator 100. The heat generator 100 is transferred back to the main pipe (60).

The heat generator 100 may be connected in parallel to the main pipe 60 by the first bypass pipe 61 and the second bypass pipe 62. At this time, the main pipe 60 corresponds to the low pressure region of the refrigerant during heating.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 1, the first bypass pipe 61 is formed to branch from the flow path from the outlet side of the four-way valve 25 to the suction side of the accumulator 27 along the flow direction of the refrigerant during heating. The second bypass pipe 62 is formed to be connected to the suction side of the accumulator 27 again.

The first bypass pipe 61 for introducing the refrigerant into the heat generator 100 is connected to the main pipe 60 so that the refrigerant flowing through the main pipe 60 can be bypassed during defrosting. The second bypass pipe 62 is connected to the main pipe 60 to allow the refrigerant discharged from the heat generator 100 to flow into the accumulator 27. In this case, the point where the 2nd bypass pipe 62 is connected with the main pipe 60 is located downstream from the 1st bypass pipe 61.

A first opening of the first bypass pipe 61 in the inlet region of the first bypass pipe 61 to move a portion of the refrigerant flowing to the accumulator 27 to the first bypass pipe 61 when defrosting. On-off valve V1 is provided.

2A is a cross-sectional view of the heat generating device. Referring to FIG. 2A, the heat generator 100 regenerates an adsorbent 120 that generates heat by physical adsorption with a refrigerant, a tank 110 filled with the adsorbent 120, and an adsorbent 120. In order to transfer the heat to the adsorbent 120 is composed of a heat pipe (130).

The heat generating apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention uses physical adsorption in which the refrigerant is contacted with and adsorbed to the adsorbent 120 to heat the refrigerant. Physical adsorption is always an exothermic reaction, and the refrigerant can be heated using heat generated by physical adsorption. The heat generator 100 may adsorb the refrigerant to the adsorbent 120 and heat the refrigerant with the generated adsorption heat to discharge the high temperature refrigerant.

The adsorbent 120 may mainly be a solid adsorbent such as silica or zeolite. For example, the adsorbent 120 may be activated carbon, meropolar silica, zeolite, silica gel, clay mineral, or the like. Adsorption occurs at a solid interface of the adsorbent 120, so that the adsorbent 120 is porous to increase the interface of the adsorbent 120.

The adsorbent 120 is filled in the tank 110, and one side of the tank 110 is formed with an inlet 111 through which the refrigerant is introduced and an outlet 113 through which a high temperature refrigerant heated by adsorption heat is discharged. The refrigerant introduced into the heat generating device 100 through the inlet 111 is discharged to the outlet 113 by the pressure difference, and the inlet 111 and the outlet 113 are inlet bypass pipe 63 and outlet bypass, respectively. The pass pipe 65 is connected in mutual communication. The refrigerant flowing in the inlet bypass pipe 63 is in direct contact with the adsorbent 120 in the tank 110 through the inlet 111 and is physically adsorbed, and the refrigerant is introduced into the tank 110 by the adsorption heat generated by the physical adsorption. Is heated, and the heated refrigerant is discharged to the discharge bypass pipe 65 through the discharge port 113.

Conventionally, there was a problem that the size of the heat storage tank is increased by increasing the amount of heat storage material in order to accumulate necessary heat amount, but the heat generating device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention uses the adsorbent 120 to exothermicly react with the refrigerant. The compact heat generator 100 can be provided to provide an outdoor unit having a small size, and if the heat generator 100 and the conventional heat storage tank are the same size, an auxiliary heat source having higher efficiency can be provided. There is this.

In the defrosting operation, the air conditioner 1 allows the refrigerant compressed from the compressor 21 to flow to the outdoor heat exchanger 23 so that the outdoor heat exchanger 23 may be defrosted. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 21 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 via the four-way valve 25 to perform defrosting.

In this case, the refrigerant introduced from the indoor unit 10 through the inlet refrigerant pipe 51 flows to the heat generating device 100 to heat the refrigerant through the heat generating device 100 to lower the amount of heat supplied from the compressor. It can be carried out efficient defrosting.

The refrigerant introduced through the inlet refrigerant pipe 51 and sucked into the accumulator 27 is allowed to flow into the bypass pipe 61. Some of the refrigerant introduced into the inlet bypass pipe 63 is physically adsorbed with the adsorbent 120 in the heat generating device 100, and the remaining refrigerant is heated by the adsorption heat and discharged into the discharge bypass pipe 65. The high temperature refrigerant discharged from the heat generator 100 is sucked into the compressor 21 via the accumulator 27, compressed and discharged to perform defrosting in the outdoor heat exchanger 23. The heat generating device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention functions as an auxiliary heat source during defrosting operation, thereby increasing defrosting performance and enabling rapid heating return. In addition, the amount of heat supplied from the compressor 21 is lowered to obtain the energy saving effect of the air conditioner 1.

Regeneration of the adsorbent refers to removing the refrigerant adsorbed to the adsorbent 120 from the surface of the adsorbent 120. Desorption of the adsorbed refrigerant off the surface of the adsorbent 120 due to the reverse reaction of adsorption is called desorption, which includes a process of desorption in the regeneration process. Desorption occurs when the temperature of the surface of the adsorbent 120 increases. When heat is applied to the adsorbent 120, the adsorbed refrigerant is separated from the surface of the adsorbent 120, and the adsorbent 120 is regenerated to be physically adsorbed again.

The heat transfer tube 130 is for regeneration of the adsorbent 120 and may be formed to penetrate the inside of the tank 110 to be in direct contact with the adsorbent 120. The heat transfer tube 130 may be formed of a conductive material so as to transfer heat of the oil or refrigerant flowing inside the heat transfer tube 130 to the adsorbent 120.

Referring to FIG. 1, the heat transfer tube 130 of the heat generator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be disposed in a flow path in which oil separated from the oil separator 31 is returned to the compressor. The heat transfer tube 130 may be connected to communicate with the circulation passage 33.

The high temperature oil flowing in the circulation passage 33 in the oil separator 31 flows to the heat transfer tube 130, so that the adsorbent 120 surrounding the heat transfer tube 130 absorbs heat of the oil to desorb the adsorbed medium. At this time, the adsorbent 120 is regenerated and the refrigerant can be adsorbed again with the adsorbent.

By such a configuration, the oil separated in the oil separator 31 during the heating operation is allowed to flow to the heat transfer tube 130 to regenerate the adsorbent 120 using the heat of the oil circulated.

In the related art, a part of the heat required for heating is accumulated in the heat storage tank for use in defrosting, and thus, the heating performance is poor, resulting in a poor user experience. On the contrary, since the air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention uses heat of circulated oil that is not in use, the user's heating sensation performance can be improved, and the air conditioner is recycled by remaining heat. It can improve the energy efficiency.

The adsorbent 120 and the heat transfer tube 130 are disposed in direct contact with each other so as to absorb heat required for regeneration of the adsorbent. In addition, in order to increase the contact area between the heat transfer tube 130 and the adsorbent 120, the heat transfer tube may be formed in various forms.

2B and 2C show a modified example of the heat pipe shown in FIG. 2A.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the heat transfer tube 131 may be formed of two or

more tubes

133 and 135 branched in the tank 110 and connected in parallel to increase the contact area with the adsorbent 120.

Referring to FIG. 2C, the heat transfer tube 139 may have a zigzag shape in a section located in the tank 110 to have an extended contact area to efficiently transfer heat to the adsorbent 120.

Referring to FIG. 3, during the defrosting operation of the air conditioner 1 (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3), the refrigerant is supplied to the compressor 21, the oil separator 31, the four-way valve 25, and the outdoor heat exchanger 23. , Outdoor expansion device (29), indoor heat exchanger (13), four-way valve (25), first bypass pipe (61), heat generator (100), second bypass pipe (62), accumulator (27) The refrigerant cycle circulated in the compressor 21 is repeated.

That is, during the defrosting operation, the refrigerant supplied from the inflow refrigerant pipe 51 is circulated to the accumulator 27 via the heat generating device 100.

Specifically, the high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant flowing out of the compressor 21 during the defrosting operation flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 to remove frost formed. At this time, the refrigerant flowing into the first bypass pipe 61 from the inlet refrigerant pipe 51 is physically adsorbed by the heat generating device 100 to generate heat. The refrigerant heated by the heat of adsorption of the heat generator 100 is discharged to the second bypass pipe 62.

In the defrosting operation, the heat generating device 100 converts the refrigerant into a high temperature refrigerant by heating an exothermic reaction according to physical adsorption of the adsorbent 120 and the refrigerant as an auxiliary heat source. The refrigerant discharged into the second bypass pipe 62 may be converted into high temperature and high pressure gas through the accumulator 27 and the compressor 21 to remove the frost formed on the outdoor heat exchanger 23. At this time, the first opening / closing valve V1 formed in the first bypass pipe 61 is opened, and a part of the refrigerant flowing through the main pipe 60 flows into the heat generating device 100. In FIG. 3, a part of the refrigerant flowing in the main pipe 60 is introduced into the heat generating device 100, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It also includes a case where all of the refrigerant flowing through the pipe 60 is sucked into the accumulator 27 via the heat generator 100.

Air conditioning while repeating the process of circulating the refrigerant cycle flowing through the heat generating device 100 through the heat generating device 100 through the first and

second bypass pipes

61 and 62 The machine 1 performs a defrost function.

Meanwhile, in order to prevent desorption of the refrigerant to the adsorbent 120 from the heat generator 100 at the time of defrosting, the circulating flow path does not flow the oil separated from the oil separator 31 to the heat transfer pipe 130 of the heat generator 100. 60 is closed by the 2nd open / close valve V2.

On the other hand, when the defrost is completed, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 flows to the indoor heat exchanger 13 to perform the heating operation.

Referring to FIG. 4, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 21 during the heating operation of the air conditioner 1 (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4) is passed through the oil separator 31 to the indoor heat exchanger by the four-way valve 25. (13), the outdoor expansion device (29), the outdoor heat exchanger (23), the four-way valve (25), the accumulator (27), the compressor cycle circulated in the order of the compressor 21 is repeated.

Specifically, during the heating operation, the low-temperature, low-pressure gas refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 21 into the high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant, and the compressed refrigerant is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 13 by the four-way valve 25. The heat exchanger passes through the indoor heat exchanger 13 at a high temperature and high pressure while being heat-exchanged with the indoor air. At this time, as the indoor fan (not shown) installed on one side of the indoor heat exchanger 13 rotates and flows the air, the cold air of the room is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 13 and flows through the indoor heat exchanger 13. The hot air is converted into hot air by heat exchange with a high-temperature, high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The hot air is then discharged into the room as the indoor fan (not shown) continues to rotate, thereby heating the room.

In addition, the refrigerant in the liquid state, which has been supercooled while passing through the indoor heat exchanger 13, rapidly passes through the outdoor expansion device 29, so that the pressure and temperature drop rapidly, and the refrigerant is changed into a refrigerant having a low temperature and low pressure gas-liquid mixture, and then the outdoor heat exchanger ( 23, the refrigerant introduced into the outdoor heat exchanger (23) absorbs the surrounding heat while passing through the outdoor heat exchanger (23) and is converted into a gas state of low temperature and low pressure.

At the time of heating, the bypass pipe 61 is closed by the first opening / closing valve V1 so as to flow to the accumulator 27 without passing through the heat generating device 100.

In order to regenerate the adsorbent 120 of the heat generator 100 during the heating operation of the air conditioner 1, the circulation passage 33 connected to the outlet side of the oil separator 31 is connected to the second on / off valve V2. By opening. High temperature oil flows through the heat transfer tube 130 in communication with the circulation passage 33, and transfers heat of the oil to the adsorbent 120 through the heat transfer tube 130. The refrigerant adsorbed by the heat is separated from the surface of the adsorbent 120, and the adsorbent 120 is in a state capable of being adsorbed again.

5, an air conditioner 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In describing the configuration of another embodiment, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same outdoor unit 20 and indoor unit 10 as those of the embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 1, and detailed descriptions of the same configuration will be omitted. Only the operation of the endothermic regeneration during heating and the position of the heat generating device 200 different from the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described.

The heat generator 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention is the first bypass pipe 61 for introducing the refrigerant into the same adsorbent 120 as in the embodiment 1 and the second bypass for discharging the heated refrigerant It has a pass pipe 62.

The heat transfer pipe 230 for regenerating the adsorbent 120 of the heat generator 200 is disposed to allow a material such as a high temperature refrigerant or oil to pass therethrough. If a high temperature material passes through the heat pipe 230, the flow path arrangement of the heat pipe 230 is not limited.

Unlike the heat generating device 200 of the embodiment of FIG. 1 having the heat transfer tube 230 connected in communication with the circulation passage 33 where the oil separated from the oil separator 31 is returned to the compressor again, the other The heat generator 200 according to the embodiment has an outdoor expansion disposed in the third bypass pipe 63 and the outlet refrigerant pipe 53 branching from the inlet refrigerant pipe 51 through which high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant is discharged during heating. And a fourth bypass tube 64 connected downstream of the device 29. One end into which the refrigerant of the heat transfer tube 230 flows is connected to the third bypass tube 63, and the other end from which the refrigerant from the heat transfer tube 230 is discharged is connected to the fourth bypass tube 64. do.

At a heating operation, a high temperature refrigerant flows through the heat transfer tube 230 for regeneration of the adsorbent 120. The compressor 21 is compressed into a gas refrigerant having a high temperature and a high pressure, and the compressed refrigerant is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 13 through the four-way valve 25. At this time, some of the high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant passing through the four-way valve 25 connected to the indoor heat exchanger 13 flows to the third bypass pipe 63. The high temperature refrigerant flows through the heat transfer tube 230 which is in communication with the third bypass tube 63, and transfers the heat of the refrigerant to the adsorbent 120 through the heat transfer tube 230. The refrigerant adsorbed by the heat is separated from the surface of the adsorbent 120, and the adsorbent 120 is in a state capable of being adsorbed again. The refrigerant that has transferred heat through the heat transfer pipe 230 is discharged through the fourth bypass pipe 64 and flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23.

At the time of heating, a third bypass pipe (in the inflow region of the third bypass pipe 63 so that a part of the refrigerant flows into the third bypass pipe 63 from the inflow refrigerant pipe 51 along the flow direction of the refrigerant) A third open / close valve 215 is arranged to leave 63 open.

At the time of defrosting, the third bypass pipe 63 is closed by the third opening / closing valve 215, and no refrigerant flows through the heat transfer pipe 230 of the heat generating device 200.

6, an air conditioner 1 according to still another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In describing the configuration of another embodiment, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same outdoor unit 20 and indoor unit 10 as those of the embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 1, and detailed descriptions of the same configuration will be omitted. Only a plurality of outdoor heat exchangers 23 and connection flow paths different from those of the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described.

The air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of FIG. 1 has a single outdoor heat exchanger 23, but as shown in FIG. 6, the air conditioner 1 includes a plurality of

outdoor heat exchangers

23A and 23B. It can be configured to have). Coupling

pipes

70A and 70B are provided corresponding to the

outdoor heat exchangers

23A and 23B. In FIG. 6, two

outdoor heat exchangers

23A and 23B are illustrated. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and two or more outdoor heat exchangers may be provided.

Specifically, the air conditioner 1 includes a first outdoor heat exchanger 23A and a second outdoor heat exchanger 23B, and the first and

second connection pipes

70A and 70B are oil separators 31. Branched between the outlet region of the and the inlet region of the four-way valve 25 is connected to the first and second outdoor heat exchanger (23), respectively. The first and

second connection pipes

70A and 70B may be branched into a plurality of branch points P2 provided between the oil separator 31 and the four-way valve 25.

The first open / close valve 73A is installed in the first connecting pipe 70A, and the second open / close valve 73B is installed in the second connecting pipe 70B. Instead of performing defrosting operation on the plurality of outdoor heat exchangers 23 at the same time, defrosting operation may be performed sequentially or only on an outdoor heat exchanger requiring defrosting. For example, to remove the frost of the first outdoor heat exchanger 23, the first connection pipe 70A connected to the first outdoor heat exchanger 23 is opened by the first opening / closing valve 73A to open a high temperature and high pressure. Coolant may flow in the first outdoor heat exchanger (23). At this time, the second connecting pipe 70B is closed by the second opening / closing valve 73B, and the second outdoor heat exchanger 23 performs heating operation as an evaporator.

Accordingly, when the defrosting operation is performed in one outdoor heat exchanger (23A, 23B) to remove frost, the other outdoor heat exchanger (23B, 23A) can function as an evaporator, so that the deterioration of the heating capacity during the defrosting operation can be suppressed. have.

The arrow shown in FIG. 6 shows the flow of the refrigerant in the defrosting operation on the second outdoor heat exchanger 23 during the heating operation. The solid arrow direction in FIG. 6 indicates heating operation, and the dotted arrow direction indicates defrosting operation.

In the heating operation of the air conditioner 1 (in the solid arrow direction in FIG. 6), the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 21 passes through the oil separator 31 and the first indoor heat exchanger 13 by the four-way valve 25. The refrigerant cycle circulated in the outdoor expansion device 29, the outdoor heat exchanger 23, the four-way valve 25, the accumulator 27, and the compressor 21 is repeated.

In the heating operation, hot oil separated from the oil separator 31 flows in the heat transfer tube 130 to regenerate the adsorbent 120 of the heat generator 100. When regeneration of the adsorbent 120 is required, the second open / close valve V2 provided on the circulation passage 33 is opened.

During the defrosting operation of the air conditioner 1 (in the direction of the dashed arrow in FIG. 6), the refrigerant is supplied to the compressor 21, the oil separator 31, the second connecting pipe 70B, the second outdoor heat exchanger 23, The refrigerant cycle circulated in the order of the heat generator 100, the accumulator 27, and the compressor 21 is repeated. In the defrosting operation, the heat generator 100 heats the refrigerant through physical adsorption.

While the above has been shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, it is usually in the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

Claims

In an air conditioner in which an indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor expansion device, an outdoor heat exchanger, an accumulator, a compressor, and an oil separator are sequentially connected,

And a heat generator for heating the refrigerant flowing from the outdoor expansion device to the compressor.

The heat generating device,

An adsorbent that generates heat by physical adsorption with the refrigerant;

A tank filled with the adsorbent; And

And a heat transfer pipe transferring heat to the adsorbent to regenerate the adsorbent.
The method of claim 1,

The heat pipe is an air conditioner, passing through the tank so that the adsorbent contacts the outer peripheral surface.
The method of claim 2,

The heat pipe is branched in the section in the tank to form a plurality of pipes, the plurality of pipes are connected to each other in parallel.
The method of claim 2,

The heat pipe is formed in a zigzag shape in the section in the tank, air conditioner.
The method of claim 1,

The adsorbent is any one of activated carbon, zeolite, silica gel, and activated alumina.
The method of claim 1,

A first bypass pipe for guiding the refrigerant discharged from the indoor heat exchanger to the heat generating device; And

And a second bypass tube for guiding the heated refrigerant through the heat generating device to the accumulator.
The method of claim 6,

The first bypass pipe is connected to the inlet of the tank so that the refrigerant reacts with the adsorbent,

And the second bypass tube is connected to an outlet of the tank in which the heated refrigerant is discharged in response to the adsorbent.
The method of claim 6,

The first and second bypass pipes branch in some sections of the flow path where the refrigerant flows in a low pressure state during defrosting operation.
The method of claim 1,

The heat pipe is disposed on the flow path for the oil separated in the oil separator is returned to the compressor.
The method of claim 1,

The tank is formed to surround the heat pipe.
The method of claim 6,

And a first opening / closing valve disposed in the first bypass pipe to control a flow of the refrigerant transferred to the tank.
The method of claim 11,

And a second on / off valve disposed on a flow path connecting the oil separator and the inlet of the heat transfer pipe to control the flow of oil transferred to the heat transfer pipe.
The method of claim 1,

A third bypass pipe for guiding the refrigerant discharged from the compressor and moving to an indoor heat exchanger to the heat transfer pipe; And

And a fourth bypass pipe for guiding the refrigerant passing through the heat transfer pipe to the outdoor heat exchanger.
The method of claim 1,

The outdoor heat exchanger is provided in plurality,

And a plurality of connecting pipes branched from the compressor to the four-way valve and connected to the outdoor heat exchanger, respectively.
The method of claim 13,

The plurality of connection pipes are air conditioners, each of which is arranged on and off valves for selectively opening and closing the plurality of connection pipes.