EP3734167B1

EP3734167B1 - Air conditioner system

Info

Publication number: EP3734167B1
Application number: EP18893462.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Fei Wang; Yu Fu; Rongbang LUO; Wenming XU
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner Gen Corp Ltd; Chongqing Haier Air Conditioner Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner Gen Corp Ltd; Chongqing Haier Air Conditioner Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-29
Filing date: 2018-11-15
Publication date: 2023-01-25
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-15
Also published as: WO2019128516A1; DK3734167T3; ES2939186T3; JP7175985B2; EP3734167A4; CN108332285B; FI3734167T3; CN108332285A; EP3734167A1; JP2021509945A; PL3734167T3

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention belongs to the technical field of air conditioners, and more particularly relates to an air conditioner system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An existing air conditioner system generally uses a condenser, a throttle device, an evaporator and a compressor to form a refrigeration/heating cycle circuit. A high-temperature high-pressure gaseous refrigerant discharged by the compressor is condensed into low-temperature high-pressure liquid in the condenser, is throttled into low-temperature low-pressure liquid through the throttle device, and then enters the evaporator to absorb heat and evaporate to finish a refrigeration/heating cycle.
During heating operation of the air conditioner, a low-temperature high-pressure liquid refrigerant is formed after the high-temperature high-pressure gaseous refrigerant exchanges heat through the condenser, and then, through throttling and pressure reduction by the throttle device, a low-temperature low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase region refrigerant is formed, and enters the evaporator for heat exchange. The greater the evaporation area is, the higher the relative evaporation capacity is. If the low-temperature high-pressure liquid refrigerant continues to release heat, the degree of supercooling will be increased, so that refrigerating and heating capacities of a system cycle are increased. When the refrigerant is exchanging heat, more than 95% heat exchange quantity comes from a vaporization latent heat quantity in its two-phase region. The isobaric specific heat capacity in a one-phase region (pure liquid or pure gas) is relatively small, and a proportion of the heat exchange quantity in the total system cycle is small. Additionally, the pressure drop of the gaseous refrigerant in a pipeline is great, is a main source of system cycle pressure loss, and will increase the cycle work amount, that is, the energy consumption of the system cycle is increased.
Additionally, referring to Figure 3, Figure 3 is a schematic cycle diagram of a conventional air conditioner during heating operation. As shown in Figure 3, actual operation temperature points of the heating operation of the air conditioner are generally as follows: from a point A, a high-temperature gaseous refrigerant being 70°C enters an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor environment being 20°C for heat exchange to lower the temperature to 30°C, and enters the throttle device after flowing through an on-line pipe, wherein the temperature (about 30°C) between a point B and the throttle device is much higher than an outdoor environment temperature being 7°C, and afterheat is wasted. If the afterheat is absorbed and used, the degree of supercooling of the system cycle can also be increased.
JP 2016 106211 A describes an air conditioner, which is an air exchanger provided with a main pipe for connecting an indoor unit and an outdoor unit so that a refrigerant circulates.
In WO 2016/189739 A1 an air conditioner is disclosed that performs air conditioning by heating and cooling using a refrigeration cycle.
Finally, EP 2 378 215 A1 discloses an air conditioner system that can perform simultaneous defrosting and heating. The air conditioner system comprises a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a first throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger connected in series in a main circuit, wherein the main circuit is also provided with a heat exchanger and a first gas-liquid separator, wherein a bypass defrosting circuit is disposed between the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger, wherein one side of the heat exchanger is connected to a first pipeline between the first throttle device and the indoor heat exchanger, and the other side of the heat exchanger is connected to a second pipeline between the first throttle device and the outdoor heat exchanger, so that a refrigerant passing through the first pipeline and a refrigerant passing through the second pipeline can exchange heat in the heat exchanger, wherein the first gas-liquid separator is positioned in a second pipeline section between the heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger, and a bypass pipeline is disposed between the first gas-liquid separator and the compressor, and wherein the bypass defrosting circuit performs defrosting operation on the outdoor heat exchanger in a heating process of an air conditioner.
Based on the above, the present invention is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, i.e., in order to improve a heating cycle effect of an air conditioner, an air conditioner system according to claim 1 is provided.
In an exemplary implementation of the air conditioner system, the air conditioner system also includes a four-way valve. The four-way valve is configured to switch the air conditioner system between a refrigeration mode and a heating mode.
In the technical schemes of the present invention, the heat exchanger is added to the air conditioner system, and the two sides of the heat exchanger are respectively connected to the first pipeline and the second pipeline. Therefore, the refrigerant in the first pipeline and the refrigerant in the second pipeline can exchange heat in the heat exchanger. Not only is the degree of supercooling of the refrigerant in the first pipeline effectively increased, but also the evaporation of the refrigerant in the second pipeline can be promoted, so that a heating capacity of the system is improved. In addition, the bypass pipeline is disposed between the first gas-liquid separator and the compressor, and the gaseous refrigerant passing through the gas-liquid separator can enter an air suction opening of the compressor through this bypass pipeline, so that the pressure loss of this part of the gaseous refrigerant in a heating cycle is reduced, which is equivalent to that the pressure of the air suction opening of the compressor is increased, the power consumption of the compressor is further reduced, the circulation volume of the refrigerant during the heating cycle of the air conditioner system is increased, and the purpose of improving the heating capacity is achieved. According to the present invention, the bypass defrosting circuit is also added. In a defrosting process of the air conditioner, the refrigerant will continue to enter the indoor heat exchanger for heating, that is, the air conditioner can still be maintained in a heating work condition so as to achieve the purpose of defrosting without being turned off. Additionally, the air conditioner of the present invention is also provided with the third throttle device, so that when the air conditioner is switched to the refrigeration mode, the third throttle device is used to replace the first throttle device (at the moment, the first throttle device is in the fully open state) to throttle the refrigerant. Therefore, the occurrence of a phenomenon that a refrigeration capacity is reduced in a refrigeration cycle is avoided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a schematic structure diagram of an embodiment 1 of an air conditioner system of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a schematic structure diagram of an embodiment 2 of the air conditioner system of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a schematic cycle diagram of a conventional air conditioner during heating operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purpose of making embodiments, technical schemes and advantages of the present invention more clear, clear and complete description will be made to the technical schemes of the present invention in conjunction with drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely a part of the embodiments of the present invention and not all the embodiments. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these implementations are merely intended to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention, which is defined in the claims.
Firstly, referring to Figure 1, Figure 1 is a schematic structure diagram of an embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the air conditioner system of the present invention includes a compressor 1, an indoor heat exchanger 2, a first throttle device 3, and an outdoor heat exchanger 4 connected in series in a main circuit. The main circuit is also provided with a heat exchanger 5. For illustration purposes, a pipeline between the first throttle device 3 and the indoor heat exchanger 2 is used as a first pipeline M, and a pipeline between the first throttle device 3 and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 is used as a second pipeline N. One side of the heat exchanger 5 is connected to the first pipeline M, and the other side of the heat exchanger 5 is connected to the second pipeline N. According to a connection mode as shown in Figure 1, the first pipeline M passes through one side of the heat exchanger 5, and the second pipeline N passes through the other side of the heat exchanger N. In addition, a refrigerant passing through the first pipeline M and a refrigerant passing through the second pipeline N can exchange heat in the heat exchanger 5. Additionally, the main circuit is also provided with a first gas-liquid separator 6. The first gas-liquid separator 6 is positioned in a second pipeline N section between the heat exchanger 5 and the outdoor heat exchanger 4, and a bypass pipeline L is disposed between the first gas-liquid separator 6 and the compressor 1. In addition, in the air conditioner system of an air conditioner of the present invention, a bypass defrosting circuit P is also disposed between the compressor 1 and the outdoor heat exchanger 4. The bypass defrosting circuit P is configured to perform defrosting operation on the outdoor heat exchanger 4 in a heating cycle process of the air conditioner.
As shown in Figure 1, a throttle valve 9 is disposed on the bypass defrosting circuit P. When the outdoor heat exchanger 4 needs to be defrosted, the throttle valve 9 is opened, so that the refrigerant performs the defrosting operation on the outdoor heat exchanger 4 through the bypass defrosting circuit P. When the outdoor heat exchanger 4 does not need to be defrosted, the throttle valve 9 is closed. Through addition of the bypass defrosting circuit P, in a defrosting process of the air conditioner, the refrigerant will continue to enter the indoor heat exchanger 2 for heating, that is, the air conditioner can still be maintained in a heating work condition so as to achieve the purpose of defrosting without being turned off.
In the heating cycle process of the air conditioner, a high-temperature high-pressure gaseous refrigerant discharged by the compressor 1 flows to the indoor heat exchanger 2, and exchanges heat in the indoor heat exchanger 2 to become a low-temperature high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The refrigerant reaches a point C through the first pipeline M. At the moment, the temperature of the refrigerant is about 20°C (heat here is waste heat which is not sufficiently utilized). Then, the refrigerant enters the second pipeline N after being throttled by the first throttle device 3, and at the moment, the temperature of the refrigerant (throttled refrigerant) at a point D is about 5°C. The refrigerant in the first pipeline M and the refrigerant in the second pipeline N have temperature differences, and both pass through the heat exchanger 5, so that the refrigerant in the first pipeline M and the refrigerant in the second pipeline N exchange heat in the heat exchanger 5. Not only is the degree of supercooling of the refrigerant in the first pipeline M effectively increased (i.e., the part of refrigerant from the point C to the first throttle 3 continues to release heat to lower the temperature), but also the evaporation of the refrigerant in the second pipeline N can be promoted (i.e., the low-temperature refrigerant at the point D can perform evaporation heat absorption on afterheat at the point C, which is equivalent to that the evaporation area is increased, and the heat exchange capability is effectively improved), so that a heating capacity is improved.
Then, the refrigerant exchanging heat through the heat exchanger 5 enters the first gas-liquid separator 6. The gaseous refrigerant separated by the first gas-liquid separator 6 directly flows back into the compressor 1 along the bypass pipeline L, so that the pressure loss of this part of the gaseous refrigerant in a heating cycle is reduced, which is equivalent to that the pressure of an air suction opening of the compressor 1 is increased, the power consumption of the compressor 1 is further reduced, the circulation volume of the refrigerant during the heating cycle of the air conditioner system is increased, and the purpose of improving the heating capacity is achieved. The liquid refrigerant passing through the first gas-liquid separator 6 flows back into the compressor 1 through the outdoor heat exchanger 4. Through the design, in a heating operation process of the air conditioner, not only can the waste heat be reused, but also the power consumption of the system may be reduced, and the circulation volume of the refrigerant during the heating cycle of the air conditioner system is increased, so that the heating capacity of the whole system is improved.
As an example, a second throttle device 7 is disposed on the bypass pipeline L. During heating operation of the air conditioner, the second throttle device 7 is configured to control the flow rate of the gaseous refrigerant, that is, an open degree of the second throttle device 7 may be regulated according to the actual operation work conditions so as to flexibly control the passing quantity of the gaseous refrigerant. During a refrigeration cycle, the second throttle device 7 may be closed, so that the bypass pipeline L does not participate in the refrigeration cycle.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned heat exchanger 5 may be a water tank containing water or may be in any other suitable form, provided that the refrigerants at the upstream and downstream of the first throttle device 3 can exchange heat. Additionally, the design can effectively improve the heating capacity for the heating cycle and reduce a refrigeration capacity for the refrigeration cycle.
As an example, the air conditioner system of the present invention further includes a mode switching device (e.g., a four-way valve Q in Figure 1). The mode switching device is configured to switch the air conditioner system between a refrigeration mode and a heating mode.
As an example, referring to Figure 2, Figure 2 is a schematic structure diagram of an embodiment 2 of the air conditioner system of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, a third throttle device 8 is also disposed in the main circuit of the air conditioner system of the present invention. The third throttle device 8 is positioned in a first pipeline M section between the heat exchanger 5 and the indoor heat exchanger 2. During the heating operation of the air conditioner, the third throttle device 8 is in a fully open state. The first throttle device 3 is configured to throttle the refrigerant. At the moment, a principle is identical to that of the air conditioner system in the embodiment 1. When the air conditioner system is switched to refrigeration operation through the four-way valve Q, the first throttle device 3 is in a fully open state, the third throttle device 8 is configured to throttle the refrigerant, and meanwhile, the second throttle device 7 is closed. At the moment, the refrigerants at the two sides of the heat exchanger 5 basically have no temperature difference, that is, the heat exchanger 5 does not function in a process of the refrigeration cycle, and the whole refrigeration cycle is a conventional refrigeration cycle. Therefore, the reduction of refrigeration capacity during the refrigeration operation is avoided.
Preferably, referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2, the compressor 1 is provided with a gas-liquid separator 11, the gaseous refrigerant entering the compressor 1 firstly passes through the gas-liquid separator 11 and is then sucked in by the compressor 1, so that a next cycle is started. The bypass pipeline L is connected to the upstream of the second gas-liquid separator 11.
Based on the above, the heat exchanger is added to the air conditioner system of the present invention, and the two sides of the heat exchanger are respectively connected to the first pipeline and the second pipeline. Therefore, the refrigerant in the first pipeline and the refrigerant in the second pipeline can exchange heat in the heat exchanger. Not only is the degree of supercooling of the refrigerant in the first pipeline effectively increased, but also the evaporation of the refrigerant in the second pipeline can be promoted, so that the heating capacity of the system is improved. In addition, the bypass pipeline is disposed between the first gas-liquid separator and the compressor, and the gaseous refrigerant passing through the first gas-liquid separator can enter the air suction opening of the compressor through this bypass pipeline, so that the pressure loss of this part of the gaseous refrigerant in the heating cycle is reduced, which is equivalent to that the pressure of the air suction opening of the compressor is increased, the power consumption of the compressor is further reduced, the circulation volume of the refrigerant during the heating cycle of the air conditioner system is increased, and the purpose of increasing the heating capacity is achieved. According to the present invention, the bypass defrosting circuit is also added. In the defrosting process of the air conditioner, the refrigerant will continue to enter the indoor heat exchanger for heating, that is, the air conditioner can still be maintained in the heating work condition so as to achieve the purpose of defrosting without being turned off. Additionally, the air conditioner of the present invention is also provided with the third throttle device, so that when the air conditioner is switched to the refrigeration mode, the third throttle device is used to replace the first throttle device (at the moment, the first throttle device is in the fully open state) to throttle the refrigerant. Therefore, the occurrence of a phenomenon that the refrigeration capacity is reduced in the refrigeration cycle is avoided.
So far, the technical schemes of the present invention have been described in conjunction with the exemplary implementations shown in the drawings, but it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the protection scope of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific implementations.

Claims

An air conditioner system, comprising a compressor (1), an indoor heat exchanger (2), a first throttle device (3), and an outdoor heat exchanger (4) connected in series in a main circuit, the air conditioner system further comprising a bypass pipeline (L), a bypass defrosting circuit (P) and a throttle valve (9),
wherein the main circuit is also provided with a first pipeline (M), a second pipeline (L), a heat exchanger (5), a first gas-liquid separator (6) and a second gas-liquid separator (11), the bypass defrosting circuit (P) is disposed between the compressor (1) and the outdoor heat exchanger (4), one side of the heat exchanger (5) is connected to the first pipeline (M) between the first throttle device (3) and the indoor heat exchanger (2), and the other side of the heat exchanger (5) is connected to the second pipeline (N) between the first throttle device (3) and the outdoor heat exchanger (4), so that a refrigerant passing through the first pipeline (M) and a refrigerant passing through the second pipeline (N) can exchange heat in the heat exchanger (5); and

the first gas-liquid separator (6) is positioned in the second pipeline (N) section between the heat exchanger (5) and the indoor heat exchanger (2), and the bypass pipeline (L) is disposed between the first gas-liquid separator (6) and the compressor (1); and

the bypass defrosting circuit (P) is configured to perform defrosting operation on the outdoor heat exchanger (4) in a heating process of an air conditioner wherein the throttle valve (9) is disposed in the bypass defrosting circuit (P),

when the outdoor heat exchanger (4) needs to be defrosted, the throttle valve (9) is configured to be opened, so that the refrigerant flowing out from the compressor (1) performs the defrosting operation on the outdoor heat exchanger (4) through the bypass defrosting circuit (P); and

when the outdoor heat exchanger (4) does not need to be defrosted, the throttle valve (9) is configured to be closed, wherein the compressor (1) is provided with the second gas-liquid separator (11), and the refrigerant flows back into the compressor (1) after passing through the second gas-liquid separator (11), wherein the bypass pipeline (L) is connected to an upstream of the second gas-liquid separator (11).
The air conditioner system according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioner system also comprises a four-way valve (Q), and the four-way valve (Q) is configured to switch the air conditioner system between a refrigeration mode and a heating mode.