The present invention relates to an air compressor.
JP-A-2005-83219 discloses a conventional oil-cooled air compressor. In this technique, in an air compressor including: an oil-cooled compressor body that compresses air; an oil separator and collector that separates and collects oil accompanying compressed air discharged from the oil-cooled compressor body; an air cooling section that cools the compressed air sent out from the oil separator and collector; a dehumidifying section that cools the compressed air cooled by the air cooling section to its dew point in an evaporation process in a refrigeration circuit that continuously circulates a refrigerant, and precipitates drain water from the compressed air; and an oil cooler interposed in an oil flow passage for returning the collected oil to the oil-cooled compressor body for injection of the oil, only the compressed air passing through the dehumidifying section is used as a cooling medium in the air cooling section, whereby a volumetric flow rate of air supplied to the outside of the air compressor is increased. Further, this document also discloses a technique of incorporating the oil cooler directly under a capillary tube of the refrigeration circuit, using the refrigerant in the evaporation process as the cooling medium to simplify oil cooling by blowing, and reducing power for oil cooling.
PATENT LITERATURE 1: JP-A-2005-83219
Incidentally, it has been generally well known that when low temperature lubricating oil to be supplied during compression is supplied and the compressed air is cooled, power consumption of the air compressor can be suppressed. On the other hand, temperature of the compressed air rises as pressure rises, but in a case where moisture is contained in the compressed air, dew point temperature at which moisture in the air condenses also rises. For example, a dew point temperature of air, at a temperature of 25° C. and at a relative humidity of 55%, is about 15° C., while in a case where the air is compressed to a pressure of 430 kPa, the dew point temperature becomes 40° C., and in a case where the air is compressed to 800 kPa, the dew point temperature becomes 52° C. For this reason, if low temperature lubricating oil having the dew point temperature or lower is supplied during compression, moisture in the compressed air condenses, which is a cause of remarkably decreasing reliability of the lubricating oil. Therefore, a temperature of the lubricating oil supplied during compression is limited by the dew point temperature.
In Patent Literature 1, the power for cooling the lubricating oil can be reduced by using a refrigeration cycle, but the change in the dew point temperature during compression described above is not taken into consideration. For this reason, supply temperature of the lubricating oil is limited to the dew point temperature or more. For this reason, the reduction effect of the compression power for compressing the air has been restricted.
To solve the above-described problem, in an air compressor being an oil-cooled air compressor including: an oil-cooled air compressor that compresses intake air and discharges the air; an oil separator that separates compressed air discharged from the air compressor body and lubricating oil from each other; an oil cooler that cools the lubricating oil discharged from the oil separator with outside air; an oil supply pipeline for supplying the lubricating oil discharged from the oil cooler to a bearing of the air compressor body and an intermediate part of the air compressor during compression; and an aftercooler that cools the air discharged from the oil separator with the outside air, in which the air compressor, the oil separator, the oil cooler, and the aftercooler are connected together to supply high pressure air outside the compressor, the air compressor includes a refrigeration cycle of a vapor compression type, in which the refrigeration cycle is constructed by annularly connecting a refrigerant compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, a first evaporator, and a second evaporator together, and cooling and dehumidification of the intake air of the air compressor and cooling of the lubricating oil are performed simultaneously by causing the intake air taken into the air compressor to flow through a primary side of the first evaporator, causing the refrigerant to flow through a secondary side of the first evaporator, causing the lubricating oil to flow through a primary side of the second evaporator, and causing the refrigerant to flow through a secondary side of the second evaporator.
As described above, according to the present invention, condensation does not occur in the compressor even in a case where the low temperature lubricating oil is supplied to the air during compression. As a result, an air compressor can be provided that reduces the power related to air compression, and is excellent in energy saving and reliability, without impairing the reliability of the lubricating oil of the air compressor and the air compressor body.
Preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following is merely an example of implementation, and the contents of the invention is not limited to the following specific embodiments. It goes without saying that the present invention can be modified into various aspects including the following aspects.
An outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment will be described below with reference to
The air taken into the air compression unit A is cooled and dehumidified by the refrigerant that is a cooling medium in the first evaporator 15, and then flows into the air compressor 1, is compressed by the air compressor 1 with the lubricating oil supplied from an intermediate oil supply part 102 and a bearing oil supply part 101 to become high temperature and high pressure air, and is discharged from the air compressor 1. The compressed air discharged from the air compressor 1 is separated from the lubricating oil by the oil separator 3 and flows into the aftercooler 4. The compressed air flowing into the aftercooler exchanges heat with the atmosphere blown to the aftercooler by the blower 6, decreases the temperature to the operating temperature range, and is discharged to the outside of the air compression unit A and is used as compressed air.
The lubricating oil separated from the compressed air by the oil separator 3 flows into the oil cooler 5. Similarly to the compressed air, the lubricating oil flowing into the oil cooler exchanges heat with the atmosphere blown to the oil cooler 5 by the blower 6, and decreases the temperature and flows out from the oil cooler 5. Part of the lubricating oil flowing out from the oil cooler 5 flows into the second evaporator 16, exchanges heat with the refrigerant in the second evaporator 16, and decreases the temperature to a cooling temperature at which the compressed air of the intermediate oil supply part 102 is cooled. The lubricating oil flowing out from the second evaporator 16 returns to the air compressor 1 from the intermediate oil supply part 102 to cool the air during compression. On the other hand, part of the lubricating oil not flowing into the second evaporator 16 is supplied to a bearing of the air compressor 1 from the bearing oil supply part 101 of the air compressor, and then returns to the intake part of the air compressor 1. A circulating oil amount of the lubricating oil is controlled by the oil supply control valve 9.
During operation of the air compression section, the refrigerant operates as follows in the refrigeration cycle section. The refrigerant flowing into the refrigerant compressor 11 is compressed by the refrigerant compressor 11 to become a high temperature and high pressure gas and is discharged from the refrigerant compressor 11. The gas refrigerant discharged from the refrigerant compressor 11 flows into the condenser 12. In the condenser 12, the refrigerant exchanges heat with the atmosphere blown to the condenser 12 by the blower 13, and radiates heat to the atmosphere to be condensed and liquefied. The condensed and liquefied refrigerant flows into the expansion valve 14, adiabatically expands at the expansion valve 14 to become a low temperature two-phase state, and flows out from the expansion valve 14. At this time, a throttle amount (or opening degree) of the expansion valve 14 is controlled such that an evaporation pressure is achieved at which the temperature of the refrigerant is at least lower than the dew point temperature of the atmosphere (intake air that is taken into the air compression unit A and flows into the air compressor 1). The low temperature two-phase state refrigerant flows into the first evaporator 15, and exchanges heat with the atmosphere taken into the air compression unit A to be heated. At this time, the atmosphere exchanging heat with the refrigerant is cooled and dehumidified, and reaches predetermined intake temperature and humidity. The refrigerant flowing out from the first evaporator 15 flows into the second evaporator 16. In the second evaporator 16, the refrigerant exchanges heat with the lubricating oil flowing out from the oil cooler 5 to be heated. At this time, the lubricating oil is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the refrigerant. The refrigerant flowing out from the second evaporator 16 is returned to the refrigerant compressor 11 to construct a refrigeration cycle.
The air compression unit A is constructed by the air compression section and the refrigeration cycle section, whereby the air taken into the air compressor 1 can be cooled and dehumidified. As a result, the dew point temperature of the compressed air in the intermediate oil supply part 102 can be made lower than the dew point temperature of a case where the atmosphere is taken in as it is.
Further, in the refrigeration cycle section, the first evaporator 15 that cools and dehumidifies the intake air and the second evaporator 16 that cools the lubricating oil are arranged such that the refrigerant flows through the first evaporator 15 and the second evaporator 16 in this order.
Further, in the present embodiment, the number of revolutions of the refrigerant compressor 11 is controlled in accordance with the intake air temperature and humidity, and the opening degree of the expansion valve is controlled in accordance with the number of revolutions of the refrigerant compressor 11 and the intake air temperature and humidity. As a result, the temperature of the lubricating oil supplied to the intermediate oil supply part 102 can be controlled to a temperature corresponding to the intake air flowing into the air compressor 1 for air. From the above, the air compression unit A provided according to the present embodiment can be made to be highly reliable, and energy saving of the system can also be improved.
In the present embodiment, the intermediate oil supply part 102 is described by a single point; however, a similar effect can be obtained also in a case where a plurality of intermediate oil supply parts 102 is provided. Also in the case of pressure, a similar effect can be exerted even in a case where the plurality of intermediate oil supply parts 102 is provided at several stages of pressure points to supply oil.
The refrigerant flowing into the refrigerant compressor 11 is compressed by the refrigerant compressor 11 to become a high temperature and high pressure gas and is discharged from the refrigerant compressor 11. The gas refrigerant discharged from the refrigerant compressor 11 flows into the condenser 12. In the condenser 12, the refrigerant exchanges heat with the atmosphere blown to the condenser 12 by the blower 13, and radiates heat to the atmosphere to be condensed and liquefied. The condensed and liquefied refrigerant flows into the expansion valve 14, adiabatically expands at the expansion valve 14 to become a low temperature two-phase state, and flows out from the expansion valve 14. At this time, a throttle amount (or opening degree) of the expansion valve 14 is controlled such that an evaporation pressure is achieved at which the temperature of the refrigerant is at least lower than the dew point temperature of the atmosphere (intake air that is taken into the air compression unit A and flows into the refrigerant compressor 11). Part of the refrigerant flowing out from the expansion valve 14 flows into the first evaporator 15 via the refrigerant flow regulating valve 19, and exchanges heat with the atmosphere taken into the air compression unit A to be heated. At this time, the atmosphere exchanging heat with the refrigerant is cooled and dehumidified, and reaches predetermined intake temperature and humidity. On the other hand, the refrigerant other than the refrigerant flowing into the first evaporator 15 flows into the second evaporator 16. In the second evaporator 16, the refrigerant exchanges heat with the lubricating oil flowing out from the oil cooler 5 to be heated. At this time, the lubricating oil is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the refrigerant. The refrigerant flowing out from the first evaporator 15 and the second evaporator 16 joins and returns to the refrigerant compressor 11 to construct a refrigeration cycle.
As illustrated in
The blower 6 in the air compression section and the blower 13 in the refrigeration cycle section are illustrated as different blowers in the present embodiment; however, even if the aftercooler 4, the oil cooler 5, and the condenser 12 are arranged in the same air passage and the blowers are integrated together, a similar effect can be exerted.
To summarize the above, a vapor compression type refrigeration cycle is provided, in which the refrigeration cycle is constructed by annularly connecting a refrigerant compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, a first evaporator, and a second evaporator together, and the intake air taken into the air compressor is caused to flow through a primary side of the first evaporator, the refrigerant is caused to flow through a secondary side of the first evaporator, the lubricating oil is caused to flow through a primary side of the second evaporator, and the refrigerant is caused to flow through a secondary side of the second evaporator, whereby the refrigeration cycle can be provided in which cooling and dehumidification of the intake air of the air compressor and cooling of the lubricating oil are performed simultaneously.
In addition, the air taken into the air compressor can be cooled and dehumidified by the first evaporator, and as a result, the dew point temperature of the air during compression also decreases. As a result, the temperature of the lubricating oil supplied to the air during compression can be made lower than that of the air of a case of not being cooled or dehumidified. As a result, shaft power of the air compressor can be reduced, and energy saving can be improved.
Further, the primary side of the second evaporator is provided in the middle of the oil supply pipeline connecting the oil cooler with the intermediate part of the compressor. With such a configuration, the lubricating oil is cooled by the atmosphere in the oil cooler, and then cooled by low temperature refrigerant. A heat load for cooling the lubricating oil in the refrigeration cycle can be reduced. For this reason, the energy consumed in the refrigeration cycle can be kept low.
Further, a discharge part on the secondary side of the first evaporator and an intake part on the secondary side of the second evaporator are connected together. With such a configuration of the pipeline, the refrigerant can be circulated through the secondary side pipeline of the evaporator sequentially in the order of the expansion valve, the first evaporator, and the second evaporator. Therefore, regarding the state of the refrigerant flowing through the secondary side of the first evaporator, since the two-phase region in which the temperature is stable can be used, the temperature and humidity of the intake air flowing into the air compressor can be controlled to a predetermined value.
Further, the first evaporator and the second evaporator are connected in parallel to the expansion valve and the intake part of the refrigerant compressor. In this case, it is possible to control the cooling and dehumidification capacity by the number of revolutions of the refrigerant compressor and control the dew point temperature of the intake air by the opening degree of the expansion valve, so that a similar effect as described above can be obtained even if the evaporators are connected in parallel. Further, since the first evaporator and the second evaporator are connected in parallel, the cooling amount of the lubricating oil and the dehumidifying amount of the intake air can be easily controlled by controlling the flow ratio of the refrigerant flowing through the secondary side of the evaporator.
Further, the flow directions of the lubricating oil flowing through the primary side of the second evaporator and the refrigerant flowing through the secondary side of the second evaporator are made to be opposite to each other. With such a configuration of the pipeline, even in a case where the state of the refrigerant flowing in the secondary side of the second evaporator changes from the two-phase region to the gas region, a temperature difference can be kept between the secondary side and the primary side, and even in a case where the temperature difference is relatively small, heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger can be maintained. For this reason, the energy consumed in the refrigeration cycle can be kept low.
Further, a control valve for controlling a circulating amount of the lubricating oil is provided in the middle of the oil supply pipeline connecting the oil cooler with the second evaporator. As a result, the flow rate and temperature of the lubricating oil can be controlled to those at which the air during compression can be cooled to the optimum temperature.
Further, the number of revolutions of the refrigerant compressor is controlled by the temperature and humidity of the intake air, the opening degree of the control valve is controlled in accordance with the number of revolutions of the refrigerant compressor and the dehumidifying amount of the intake air, and the lubricating oil supply amount is controlled by the control valve. With this configuration, the flow rate and temperature of the lubricating oil can be controlled to values corresponding to the dew point temperature of the compressed air.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-252810 | Dec 2015 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2016/080891 | 10/19/2016 | WO | 00 |