JP6238202B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner having a function of collecting refrigerant on the outdoor unit side when operation is stopped.

  An air conditioner constituting a refrigeration cycle generally includes an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger or the like, an outdoor unit having an outdoor heat exchanger and a compressor, and the like. It functions as an air conditioner by connecting and configuring a refrigeration cycle.

  In order to function as an air conditioner, it is necessary to enclose an appropriate amount of refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle (refrigerant circuit), and either enclose the necessary amount of refrigerant in advance when the outdoor unit is assembled, The refrigerant is sealed in the refrigerant circuit at the time of pipe connection construction for connecting with the refrigerant pipe.

  The indoor unit has a built-in container that needs to be sealed, such as an evaporator (heat exchanger), but the sealing is insufficient or the pipe connection that connects the indoor unit to the outdoor unit is not sufficiently sealed Then, the refrigerant | coolant enclosed with the refrigerant circuit may leak into sealed spaces, such as a building (this refrigerant | coolant leakage is also called gas leakage).

The refrigerant has already been changed from HCFC refrigerant to HFC refrigerant with zero ozone depletion coefficient, but HFC refrigerant has a large global warming potential and adversely affects the environment. Therefore, HFC32, propane gas, etc. have been raised as next-generation refrigerant candidates with lower global warming impact coefficient, but there is a problem that it is flammable by itself compared with HFC410A, and if the gas leaks, it fills the room The refrigerated refrigerant may be a source of ignition. Other next-generation refrigerant candidates include CO ₂ refrigerant, which is also described in Fire Preliminary No. 193 and Fire Hazard No. 117 “Safety Measures for Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguishing Equipment”. Depending on the concentration, the human body may be greatly affected. Thus, when selecting a next-generation refrigerant, it is necessary to devise a method for reducing the amount of leakage to the indoor side as much as possible regardless of the type of refrigerant.

  On the other hand, in the heat pump type air conditioner, the gas refrigerant is condensed on the outdoor heat exchanger side during the cooling operation, and the gas refrigerant is condensed on the indoor heat exchanger side during the heating operation. In comparison with the outdoor unit, a relatively large amount of refrigerant is present. Therefore, when the refrigerant leaks after stopping the heating operation, there is a possibility that the amount of leakage to the indoor side also increases.

  In addition, a careful refrigerant leak inspection is performed after the air conditioner is installed. However, it is difficult to detect the minute leak of the refrigerant called slow leak because it is a minute leak. However, it is often not detected until the amount of refrigerant enclosed is significantly reduced.

  For this reason, in order to reduce the refrigerant | coolant leakage amount to room | chamber interior, the air conditioner provided with the safety valve of a refrigerant | coolant leakage countermeasure is proposed (for example, refer patent document 1). The air conditioner disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an air conditioner including a refrigerant circuit in which a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, and an outdoor heat exchanger are connected via a refrigerant pipe, and the refrigerant is circulated to perform a refrigeration cycle. A safety valve is provided between the indoor heat exchanger side and the outdoor heat exchanger side of the refrigerant circuit, and the safety valve is configured such that the refrigerant pressure on the indoor heat exchanger side is higher than the safety valve on the outdoor heat exchanger side. It is characterized by being closed when the pressure is lower than the refrigerant pressure. Here, the safety valve refers to a valve that opens between a certain width of both pressure differences and closes when the pressure difference exceeds a certain value. In the air conditioner of Patent Literature 1, when the refrigerant pressure on the indoor unit side is lower than the refrigerant pressure on the outdoor heat exchanger side with respect to the safety valve, the safety valve is closed. As a result, when a refrigerant leak occurs indoors due to a sudden accident or a slow leak, the refrigerant flow from the outside of the room is blocked to suppress the amount of refrigerant leaking into the room.

  On the other hand, in order to share an indoor unit between a pair-type air conditioner and a multi-type air conditioner, an indoor unit is proposed in which an indoor unit is provided with an electronic expansion valve that controls opening and closing by an outdoor unit control device ( For example, see Patent Document 2). The air conditioner disclosed in Patent Document 2 is composed of one outdoor unit having a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger, and one indoor unit having an electronic expansion valve and an indoor heat exchanger, When the operation mode of the indoor unit is cooling, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor condenses in the indoor heat exchanger, expands in the electronic expansion valve, evaporates in the outdoor heat exchanger, and forms a refrigeration cycle that returns to the compressor. On the other hand, when the operation mode of the indoor unit is heating, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor is condensed by the indoor heat exchanger, expanded by the electronic expansion valve, evaporated by the external heat exchanger, and returned to the compressor. An air conditioner that forms a refrigeration cycle, and a control unit that controls an electronic expansion valve of the indoor unit is provided in a dedicated outdoor unit to which only one indoor unit is connected.

JP 2008-170058 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-207741

  In the air conditioner of Patent Document 1, since a safety valve is provided between the indoor heat exchanger side and the outdoor heat exchanger side of the refrigerant circuit, the cost of the safety valve itself is added, and there is also a pressure loss of the safety valve. Therefore, the amount of circulating refrigerant decreases, and the performance as an air conditioner is impaired. Moreover, in the air conditioner of patent document 1, it is a refrigerating cycle in which a circulating refrigerant circulates from a compressor to a compressor through an outdoor heat exchanger and an indoor heat exchanger in the cooling operation. On the other hand, in the heating operation, the operation is performed in the reverse cycle which is the reverse order to the above. Therefore, since the pressure on the indoor heat exchanger side is higher than that on the outdoor heat exchanger, the safety valve does not work. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a safety valve between the compressor and the indoor heat exchanger, which further complicates the system.

  Further, in the cooling operation, if the safety valve operates, the outdoor heat exchanger side can be sealed while retaining the refrigerant, and the indoor heat exchanger can be reduced in refrigerant than the outdoor heat exchanger. For this reason, even if there is refrigerant leakage on the indoor unit side, the amount of refrigerant leakage into the room can be suppressed. However, in the heating operation, the movement of the refrigerant largely depends on the pressure equilibrium, and the amount of refrigerant in the outdoor unit and the indoor unit is about the same, so the amount of refrigerant leakage when the heating operation is stopped compared to when the cooling operation is stopped Is relatively large.

  On the other hand, there is an air conditioner provided with an expansion valve, although it is not used as a safety valve in advance as in the air conditioner disclosed in Patent Document 2.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of suppressing the amount of refrigerant leaking into the room even when refrigerant leakage occurs in the room where the indoor unit of the air conditioner is installed. It is.

  In order to solve the above problems, an air conditioner according to an aspect of the present invention includes an outdoor unit including a compressor that discharges refrigerant and a switching valve that switches a flow direction of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor. An indoor heat exchanger, an indoor expansion valve capable of controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant to the indoor heat exchanger, an indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit via a refrigerant pipe, the outdoor unit, and the And a control unit that controls a refrigeration cycle formed by the indoor unit. When the heating operation is stopped, the control unit switches the switching valve to switch the direction in which the refrigerant flows to the direction during cooling operation, and fully closes the indoor expansion valve.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a case where refrigerant | coolant leakage has generate | occur | produced in the room | chamber interior in which the indoor unit of the air conditioner was installed, the quantity of the refrigerant | coolant leaking indoors can be suppressed.

It is a refrigeration cycle system diagram of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the air conditioner 1 of the 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated based on drawing. FIG. 1 is a refrigeration cycle system diagram of the air conditioner 1. The refrigerant used in the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment is a slightly flammable R32 refrigerant, HFC32, propane gas, or CO ₂ that is a natural refrigerant.

  The air conditioner 1 includes an outdoor unit 10, an indoor unit 20, a gas connection pipe 2 and a liquid connection pipe 3 that connect the outdoor unit 10 and the indoor unit 20. In this embodiment, the outdoor unit 10 and the indoor unit 20 are connected on a one-to-one basis. However, a plurality of outdoor units may be connected to a single indoor unit, or a single outdoor unit may be connected. However, a plurality of indoor units may be connected.

  The outdoor unit 10 includes a compressor 11, a switching valve 12, an outdoor heat exchanger 13, an outdoor fan 14, an outdoor expansion valve 15, an outdoor temperature detector 16, a refrigerant temperature detector 17, and a pressure sensor 18. And a control device (control unit) 19.

  The compressor 11 is a variable capacity compressor whose operating frequency is controlled by an inverter. Moreover, the compressor 11 compresses a refrigerant | coolant to high temperature / high pressure, and discharges it to piping. The switching valve 12 is a valve that changes the flow of the refrigerant to switch between the cooling operation and the heating operation, and is a four-way valve in the present embodiment.

  The outdoor heat exchanger 13 is a fin-tube heat exchanger that includes a large number of fins juxtaposed at narrow intervals and a meandering refrigerant pipe that passes through the fins. In the outdoor heat exchanger 13, heat exchange is performed between the refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant pipe and the outside air (outdoor air) supplied by the outdoor fan 14. The outdoor expansion valve 15 is an electronic expansion valve for decompressing the refrigerant. The outside air temperature detector 16 is attached to the outer plate of the outdoor unit 10 and detects the outside air temperature. The refrigerant temperature detector 17 is attached to a pipe connected to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 in the vicinity of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and detects the temperature of the low-temperature and low-pressure gas-liquid mixed refrigerant decompressed by the outdoor heat exchanger 13. To do. The pressure sensor 18 detects the pressure of the refrigerant on the suction side (low pressure side) of the compressor 11.

  The control device 19 uses the outdoor unit 10 based on an operation command from a remote controller (not shown), the temperature detected by the outside air temperature detector 16 and the refrigerant temperature detector 17, and / or the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 18. And the equipment (compressor 11, switching valve 12, outdoor expansion valve 15, etc.) which constitutes indoor unit 20 is controlled.

  The outdoor unit 10 further includes a gas blocking valve 4 and a liquid blocking valve 5. The refrigerant filled in the outdoor unit 10 is sealed by the gas blocking valve 4 and the liquid blocking valve 5 before the air conditioner 1 is installed. After the air conditioner 1 is installed and the gas blocking valve 4 and the liquid blocking valve 5 are connected to the gas connecting pipe 2 and the liquid connecting pipe 3, the gas blocking valve 4 and the liquid blocking valve 5 are always open. State.

  The indoor unit 20 includes an indoor heat exchanger 21, an indoor expansion valve 22, and an indoor fan 23.

  The indoor heat exchanger 21 is a fin-tube heat exchanger similar to the outdoor heat exchanger 13. In the outdoor heat exchanger 13, heat exchange is performed between the refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant pipe and the indoor air supplied by the outdoor fan 23.

  The indoor expansion valve 22 is an electronic expansion valve for depressurizing the refrigerant flowing through the main circuit of the refrigeration cycle, and is installed between the indoor heat exchanger 21 and the liquid connection pipe 3.

  Next, the operation of the refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner 1 will be described.

  First, the heating operation in the air conditioner 1 will be described. The solid arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the flow of the refrigerant in the heating operation of the air conditioner 1. In the heating operation, the switching valve 12 causes the discharge side of the compressor 11 and the gas connection pipe 2 to communicate with each other, and the suction side of the compressor 11 and the outdoor heat exchanger 13 communicate with each other, as indicated by a solid line.

  The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 11 flows to the gas blocking valve 4 side by the switching valve 12 and flows into the indoor heat exchanger 21 of the indoor unit 20 through the gas connection pipe 2. The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed into the indoor heat exchanger 21 is condensed by exchanging heat with the indoor air supplied by the indoor fan 23 and becomes high-pressure liquid refrigerant. At this time, the room air is heated by the refrigerant, and the warm air is sent into the room. Thereafter, the liquefied refrigerant passes through the fully opened indoor expansion valve 22 and the liquid connection pipe 3 and is returned to the indoor unit 10.

  The liquid refrigerant returned to the outdoor unit 10 passes through the liquid blocking valve 5 and is decompressed by the outdoor expansion valve 15 to become a low-temperature and low-pressure gas-liquid mixed refrigerant. The decompressed refrigerant flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 13, exchanges heat with the outside air supplied by the outdoor fan 14, is evaporated, and becomes a low-pressure gas refrigerant. The gas refrigerant that has flowed out of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 passes through the switching valve 12, is sucked into the compressor 11, and is compressed again by the compressor 11, thereby forming a series of refrigeration cycles.

  Next, the cooling operation in the air conditioner 1 will be described. The dotted arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the refrigerant flow in the cooling operation of the air conditioner 1. In the cooling operation, the switching valve 12 causes the discharge side of the compressor 11 and the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to communicate with each other, and the suction side of the compressor 11 and the gas connection pipe 2 communicate with each other as indicated by a dotted line.

  The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 11 flows to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 side by the switching valve 12, flows into the indoor heat exchanger 13, and exchanges heat with the outside air supplied by the outdoor fan 14. It is condensed and becomes a liquid refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant passes through the fully-expanded outdoor expansion valve 15, the liquid blocking valve 5, and the gas connection pipe 3 and flows into the indoor unit 20. The liquid refrigerant flowing into the indoor unit 20 is decompressed by the indoor expansion valve 22 and becomes a low-temperature and low-pressure gas-liquid mixed refrigerant. This low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant flows into the indoor heat exchanger 21, exchanges heat with the indoor air supplied by the indoor fan 14, evaporates, and becomes a gas refrigerant. At this time, the indoor air is cooled by the latent heat of vaporization of the refrigerant, and the cool air is sent into the room. Thereafter, the gas refrigerant is returned to the outdoor unit 10 through the gas connection pipe 2.

  The gas refrigerant that has returned to the outdoor unit 10 passes through the gas blocking valve 4 and the switching valve 12, is sucked into the compressor 11, and is compressed again by the compressor 11, thereby forming a series of refrigeration cycles.

  Next, the defrosting operation in the air conditioner 1 will be described. In the air conditioner 1, frost may adhere to the surface of the outdoor heat exchanger 11 acting as an evaporator during heating operation. If the heating operation is continued for a predetermined time at such time, the air path is blocked by frost, the air volume gradually decreases, and the heating capacity decreases.

  Therefore, when the amount of frost formation becomes constant, a so-called defrosting operation is performed in which frost attached to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is melted. Here, the defrosting in the reverse cycle (cooling cycle) defrosting operation that is the reverse of the refrigerant cycle during the heating operation will be described.

  The defrosting operation is executed when the temperatures detected by the outside air temperature detector 16 and the refrigerant temperature detector 17 are equal to or lower than a predetermined determination value. During the defrosting operation, the outdoor fan 14 stops, avoids heat radiation to the outside air, and secures the amount of heat used for melting the frost. Moreover, the indoor fan 23 also stops.

  The refrigerant circulation during the defrosting operation is in the same direction as the refrigerant circulation during the cooling operation, and the switching valve 12 is switched to the state during the cooling operation. That is, during the defrosting operation, the refrigerant flows along the direction indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG. For this reason, the high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant compressed from the compressor 11 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 13 via the switching valve 12. The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed into the indoor heat exchanger 21 is melted by heating the frost adhering to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 by the heat of condensation of the refrigerant.

  The liquid refrigerant that has been used for melting frost in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and has a low specific enthalpy passes through the outdoor expansion valve 15 and the liquid connection pipe 3 and is sent to the indoor unit 20. The liquid refrigerant that has flowed into the indoor unit 20 is decompressed by the indoor expansion valve 22, is heated while consuming the heat capacity of the heat exchanger that has been heated during heating when passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21, and gas connection piping 2 is returned to the outdoor unit 10.

  The gas refrigerant that has returned to the outdoor unit 10 passes through the gas blocking valve 4 and the switching valve 12, is returned to the compressor 11, and is compressed again, thereby forming a series of refrigeration cycles.

  Next, the refrigerant | coolant collection | recovery operation | movement to the outdoor unit 10 at the time of stopping heating operation is demonstrated.

  When the heating operation is stopped by a remote controller (not shown), the control device 19 switches the switching valve 12 to connect the discharge side of the compressor 11 and the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and connects the suction side of the compressor 11 to the gas connection. The pipe 2 is connected. That is, the state of the switching valve 12 is set to the cooling operation state. In addition, the control device 19 fully closes the indoor expansion valve 22. The switching valve 12 is switched using the pressure difference between the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and the indoor heat exchanger 21 during heating operation. By switching the switching valve 12, the flow direction of the refrigerant becomes the same as the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling operation.

Since the heating operation is stopped, the indoor heat exchanger 21 (indoor unit 20) is on the high pressure side, and the outdoor heat exchanger 13 (outdoor unit 10) is on the low pressure side. Therefore, the refrigerant flows from the high pressure side indoor unit 20 into the low pressure side outdoor unit 10 through the gas connection pipe 2 due to pressure equilibrium. Since the indoor expansion valve 22 is in a fully closed state, the refrigerant does not flow into the indoor unit 20 from the outdoor unit 10 via the liquid connection pipe 3, and the refrigerant is retained in the outdoor unit 10 more than the indoor unit 20. Can do. Therefore, even if the refrigerant leaks into the room, the amount of the leaked refrigerant can be reduced. Since the refrigerant used in the present embodiment is a slightly flammable R32 refrigerant, HFC32, propane gas, or CO ₂ that is a natural refrigerant, the possibility of ignition due to refrigerant leakage is reduced and the influence on the human body is reduced. Can be reduced.

  Further, the compressor 11 may be continuously operated when the heating operation is stopped. Thereby, the refrigerant in the indoor unit 20 can be positively collected in the outdoor unit 10, and more refrigerant can be retained in the outdoor unit 10 than when the compressor 11 is stopped. If the compressor 11 is operated too much, the refrigerant on the low-pressure side of the compressor 11 decreases, and the compressor 11 may not operate well when starting the next operation. Therefore, the pressure sensor 18 detects the pressure on the suction side (low pressure side) of the compressor 11, and when the detected pressure reaches a predetermined pressure, the compressor 11 is stopped and the recovery of the refrigerant is finished.

  Next, the refrigerant | coolant collection | recovery operation | movement to the outdoor unit 10 at the time of a cooling operation stop is demonstrated.

  When the cooling operation is stopped by a remote controller (not shown), the control device 19 closes the indoor expansion valve 8. The refrigerant in the indoor unit 20 flows into the outdoor unit 10 while maintaining the flow during the cooling operation. Then, by closing the indoor expansion valve 8, the high-pressure liquid refrigerant possessed in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 can be sealed, and a relatively large amount of refrigerant is retained on the outdoor unit 10 side compared to the indoor unit 20. can do.

  Next, an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The air conditioner of the present embodiment and the air conditioner 1 of the second embodiment differ only in the operation after stopping the heating operation. Therefore, only the operation after stopping the heating operation in the present embodiment will be described below.

  When the heating operation is stopped by a remote controller (not shown), the control device 19 determines whether or not the temperatures detected by the outside air temperature detector 16 and the refrigerant temperature detector 17 are equal to or lower than a predetermined determination value. When the detected temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined determination value, the control device 19 performs the above-described defrosting operation. After completion of the defrosting operation, the indoor expansion valve 22 is closed and the compressor 11 is operated. Thereby, the refrigerant on the indoor unit 20 side can be positively collected on the outdoor unit 10 side, and more refrigerant can be retained in the outdoor unit 10. In addition, it is not necessary to operate the compressor 11 after completion | finish of a defrost operation.

  On the other hand, when the detected temperature is higher than the predetermined determination value, the control device 19 switches the switching valve 12 to fully close the indoor expansion valve 22. Thereby, similarly to 1st Embodiment, a refrigerant | coolant flows into the outdoor unit 10 of the low voltage | pressure side from the indoor unit 20 of the high voltage | pressure side, and can retain more refrigerant | coolants in the outdoor unit 10 rather than the indoor unit 20. FIG. At this time, the compressor 11 may be operated.

  The embodiments and examples of the present invention described above are examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those embodiments or examples. Those skilled in the art can implement the present invention in various other modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, when the heating operation is stopped, the indoor expansion valve 22 may be fully closed and the outdoor expansion valve 15 may be fully closed. In this case, it is preferable to close the indoor expansion valve 22 after the outdoor expansion valve 15 is closed and a predetermined time has elapsed. Here, the predetermined time is a time required for the refrigerant between the outdoor expansion valve 15 and the indoor expansion valve 22 to move into the indoor unit 20. By closing the outdoor expansion valve 15 and the indoor expansion valve 22, it is possible to further suppress the refrigerant from flowing from the outdoor unit 10 to the indoor unit 20 during operation stop. Moreover, the refrigerant in the liquid connection pipe 3 when the heating operation is stopped can also be collected in the outdoor unit 10. Therefore, since the liquid connection pipe 3 may be exposed to the room depending on the construction, even if the refrigerant leaks in the room, the amount of the leaked refrigerant can be suppressed.

  Depending on the refrigerant used in the air conditioner 1, the control device 19 may have a function of operating or stopping the compressor 11 when the air conditioning operation is stopped.

  The control device 19 is provided in the outdoor unit 10, but may be provided in the indoor unit 20.

1: air conditioner, 10: outdoor unit, 11: compressor, 12: switching valve, 13: outdoor heat exchanger, 15: outdoor expansion valve, 16: outdoor temperature detector, 17: refrigerant temperature detector, 19: Control device, 20: indoor unit, 21: indoor heat exchanger, 22: indoor expansion valve

Claims (4)

An outdoor unit having a compressor that discharges refrigerant, and a switching valve that switches a flow direction of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor;
An indoor heat exchanger, an indoor expansion valve capable of controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant to the indoor heat exchanger, and an indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit via a refrigerant pipe;
A controller that controls a refrigeration cycle formed by the outdoor unit and the indoor unit,
The control unit, when the heating operation is stopped, switches the switching valve to switch the flow direction of the refrigerant to the direction of the cooling operation, and makes the indoor expansion valve fully closed ,
The outdoor unit has an outdoor expansion valve provided between the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor expansion valve,
When the heating operation is stopped, the control unit fully closes the outdoor expansion valve, and then fully closes the indoor expansion valve.
Air conditioner. The control unit operates the compressor when the heating operation is stopped.
The air conditioner according to claim 1. The outdoor unit has a temperature detector for detecting temperature,
The controller determines whether the temperature detected by the temperature detector is equal to or lower than a predetermined determination value when the heating operation is stopped,
When the temperature detected by the temperature detector is equal to or lower than the predetermined determination value, the control unit performs a defrosting operation, and after the defrosting operation is finished, the indoor expansion valve is fully closed,
When the temperature detected by the temperature detector is greater than the predetermined determination value, the control unit switches the switching valve to switch the direction of the refrigerant flow to the direction during cooling operation, and the indoor expansion valve Fully closed,
The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2. The refrigerant is a combustible refrigerant, HFC32, propane gas, or CO ₂ which is a natural refrigerant.
The air conditioner as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3 .

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