Patent Application
20240183559
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Application No. 10-2022-0167814, filed in Korea on Dec. 5, 2022, whose entire disclosure are hereby incorporated by reference.
An air conditioner and a method for controlling an air conditioner are disclosed herein.
In general, an air conditioner uses a refrigerant cycle including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator, for example, to cool or heat a room or purify air in order to create a more comfortable indoor environment for users. In particular, an air conditioner for cooling and heating a large indoor space may include an air handling unit (AHU), which is an indoor unit, and an outdoor unit. The air handling unit is an air conditioning unit that mixes outdoor air with indoor air, heat-exchanges the mixed air in a heat exchanger, and then supplies the mixed air to a room, is installed in an air conditioning room, or machine room, for example, provided separately from the room in which the air is conditioned among buildings or houses in which the air conditioner is installed, and thus, it is possible to distribute a flow of air to each space through a duct.
The outdoor unit may supply refrigerant to a heat exchanger of an air handling unit using a refrigeration cycle and may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator, for example, forming a refrigeration cycle. In a conventional air conditioner, an outside air introduction duct is additionally installed in a return duct for the purpose of ventilation, and fresh outside air is introduced into the room through an air damper leading to the outside and contaminated air inside of the room is exhausted to perform ventilation.
However, as a certain amount of outside air introduced into the room from the outside through such an air damper is always continuously introduced during cooling and heating operations, excessive introduction of outside air increases a load on the air handling unit, and thus, there is a problem in that energy consumption is increased. Further, as a sirocco fan, which is a centrifugal fan, is applied to the conventional air handling unit, and a separate auxiliary fan is not operated when introducing outside air, when air volume is low, a differential pressure is not formed at front and rear ends of the damper, and thus, there was a problem in that the outside air was not introduced or it was difficult to control an amount of introduced outside air. Furthermore, an air conditioning device, such as a humidifier and/or a dehumidifier, may be additionally installed on the return duct according to the needs of the user. However, when such an air conditioning device is installed on a duct, inconvenience occurs in on-site construction, and when the duct is damaged, there is a problem in that flowing air leaks.
Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. However, embodiments are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit may easily propose other embodiments included within the scope of the same spirit by adding, deleting, changing, and supplementing components but it will be said that this is also included within the scope.
In adding reference numerals to components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components have the same numerals as much as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In addition, in describing an embodiment of the present disclosure, if it is determined that description of a related known configuration or function hinders understanding of the embodiment of the present disclosure, description thereof is omitted.
Also, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) or the like may be used herein when describing components of the embodiment. Each of these terminologies is not used to define an essence, order or sequence of a corresponding component but used merely to distinguish the corresponding component from other component(s). It should be noted that when a component is described as being “connected,” “coupled,” or “joined” to another component, that component may be directly connected or joined to the other component, but another component may be “connected”, “coupled” or “joined” between each component.
The air handling unit 10 may be connected to a plurality of air tubes. The air handling unit 10 may be connected to an exhaust duct 40 that is connected to the indoor space and extends to outside of a building to discharge air from the indoor space to the outside. The exhaust duct 40 may be provided with an exhaust fan (not illustrated) that generates a blowing force. An exhaust damper (not illustrated) controlled to open or close the exhaust duct 40 may be installed in the exhaust duct 40.
A return duct 20 branched from the exhaust duct 40 and extending to the air handling unit 10 may be connected to the air handling unit 10. At least some of the air flowing through the exhaust duct 40 of the air handling unit 10 may be bypassed in the return duct 20 and supplied to the air handling unit 10.
The air handling unit 10 may be connected to an outside air introduction duct 30 that introduces fresh outdoor air, that is, outside air into the room. The outside air introduction duct 30 may extend from an outer wall of a building and be connected to the return duct 20.
A damper module 100 controlled to open or close the return duct 20 and the outside air introduction duct 30 may be installed in a connection duct in which the return duct 20 and the outside air introduction duct 30 are connected to each other.
The air handling unit 10 may be connected to the outdoor unit, and refrigerant may circulate through the outdoor unit and the air handling unit 10.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The duct case 200 may include a ventilation inflow plate 201, an air discharge plate 202, an outside air inflow plate 203, a side plate 204, a front plate 205, and a rear plate 206. In the duct case 200, a ventilation inflow passage 210 in the form of an opening may be formed in the ventilation inflow plate 201 in which ventilation air of the return duct 20 flows, and an outside air inflow passage 220 in the form of an opening may be formed in the outside air inflow plate 203 in which outdoor air of the outside air introduction duct 30 flows.
The air discharge plate 202 may be disposed at a position at which the air passing through the ventilation introduction passage 210 and the outside air inflow passage 220 is discharged, and a ventilation discharge passage 215 and an outside air discharge passage 225 are in the form of openings and in which ventilation and outside air are discharged separately.
The air discharged through the ventilation discharge passage 215 and the outside air discharge passage 225 may be discharged along the return duct 20 or may be discharged in the form of mixed air in the return duct 20. An indoor circulation flow path 230 connected to the return duct 20 and an outside air introduction flow path 240 connected to the outside air introduction duct 30 are provided in the duct case 200.
The duct case 200 may include the ventilation inflow plate 201 having the ventilation inflow passage 210, the air discharge plate 202 having the ventilation discharge passage 215 and the outside air discharge passage 225 formed therein. The ventilation inflow plate 201 and the air discharge plate 202 may be disposed to face each other at upper and lower positions, respectively. For example, among the ventilation inflow plate 201 and the air discharge plate 202, the ventilation inflow plate 201 may be an upper plate, and the air discharge plate 202 may be a lower plate. However, embodiments are not necessarily limited thereto.
The outside air inflow plate 203 and the side plate 204 may cross each of the front plate 205 and the rear plate 206. In addition, the outside air inflow plate 203 and the side plate 204 may cross each of the ventilation inflow plate 201 and the air discharge plate 202.
The indoor circulation flow path 230 and the outside air introduction flow path 240 of the duct case 200 may be partitioned by partition walls 250 to prevent air flowing therein from the return duct 20 and the outside air introduction duct 30 from mixing with each other inside of the duct case 200.
Referring to the drawings, in this embodiment, the ventilation inflow passage 210 is formed larger than the outside air inflow passage 220. In other words, the ventilation inflow passage 210 is formed in a size corresponding to an entire area of the ventilation inflow plate 201, and the outside air inflow passage 220 is formed in a size that does not correspond to even a half of an area of the outside air inflow plate 203. Accordingly, the partition wall 250 that partitions the indoor circulation flow path 230 and the outside air introduction flow path 240 may be partitioned such that an amount of indoor air circulating is larger than an amount of introduced outside air.
The partition wall 250 may include first partition wall 251 that extends into the duct case 200 at an angle of about 45 degrees from a corner at which the ventilation inflow plate 201 and the outside air inflow plate 203 cross each other. In addition, the partition wall 250 may include a second partition wall 252 that extends vertically downward from the first partition wall 251 to separate the indoor circulation flow path 230 and the outside air introduction flow path 240 and guide ventilation air and outdoor air downward.
A damper mechanism 300 may be installed inside of the duct case 200 to adjust a discharge flow rate of air flowing along the indoor circulation flow path 230 and the outside air introduction flow path 240. The damper mechanism 300 may include a damper 310, a rotational shaft 320, a rotational wheel 330, a connection link 340, and a damper motor 350.
The damper 310 may include a square-shaped opening and closing control plate that opens or closes the indoor circulation flow path 230 and the outside air introduction flow path 240, and thus, may adjust a discharge flow rate of the inflow air flowing into the hexahedron-shaped duct case 200. The damper 310 may include a ventilation damper 311 that is formed in the indoor circulation flow path 230 and controls an introduction amount of ventilation air. In addition, the damper 310 may include an outdoor air damper 312 that is formed in the outside air introduction flow path 240 and controls an introduction amount of outdoor air.
As described above, as the amount of ventilation air flowing through the return duct 20 is greater than the amount of outside air flowing through the outside air introduction duct 30, a volume of the indoor circulation flow path 230 may be formed to be greater than a volume of the outside air introduction flow path 240. As illustrated in
In addition, as the ventilation discharge passage 215 connected to the ventilation inflow passage 210 of the indoor circulation flow path 230 is partitioned by the outside air discharge passage 225 of the outside air introduction flow path 240 and the partition wall 250, the ventilation discharge passage 215 may be reduced in width by that much. Thus, the ventilation discharge passage 215 may be formed to have a relatively larger width in comparison to the outside air discharge passage 225.
In this embodiment, the ventilation inflow passage 210 and the ventilation discharge passage 215 of the indoor circulation flow path 230, and the outside air inflow passage 220 and the outside air discharge passage 225 of the outside air introduction flow path 240 may be configured in various shapes and sizes according to an installation environment. However, it is natural that the volume of the indoor circulation flow path 230 is relatively larger than that of the outside air introduction flow path 240.
The damper 310 may include the ventilation damper 311 formed in the indoor circulation flow path 230 having a large volume of the duct case 200 and may include the outside air damper 312 formed in the outside air introduction flow path 240 having the relatively small volume compared to the indoor circulation flow path 230. A plurality of the ventilation damper 311 may be provided in the indoor circulation flow path 230, and a single outdoor air damper 312 may be provided in the outside air introduction flow path 240.
For example, the ventilation damper 311 may be a damper interlocked with the connection link 340 by the outdoor air damper 312, and the connection link 340 may be interlocked by a rotational operation of the outdoor air damper 312, and thus, a pair of ventilation dampers 311 may be provided to open and close the indoor circulation flow path 230.
In addition, as the indoor circulation flow path 230 has a large volume, a pair of ventilation dampers must be installed. Also, a width of the ventilation damper 311 may be relatively smaller than that of the outdoor air damper 312. That is, the outside air damper 312 may have a relatively larger width than the ventilation damper 311.
The damper mechanism 300 may include the rotational shaft 320 that is supported in a longitudinal direction of a center of the damper 310 and forms a rotational center of the damper 310. The rotational shaft 320 may protrude from one side of the damper 310, and the rotational shaft 320 that protrudes from the damper 310 may include the rotational wheel 330 which is inserted into the rotational shaft 320 to rotate together with the rotational shaft 320. The rotational wheel 330 may rotate in a forward and reverse direction.
The connection link 340 may be connected to each rotational shaft 320 of the damper 310. The connection link 340 may include one connection link connected to each rotational shaft 320 of the damper 310. Both sides of this connection link may include a two-section link formed with a rotatable joint formed by a hinge.
The damper motor 350 may be installed on one side of the damper 310, that is, the outside air damper 312. Accordingly, the damper motor 350 may provide rotational power to the outside air damper 312 and open or close the outside air introduction flow path 240. When the damper motor 350 provides rotational power to the outside air damper 312, the outside air damper 312 provides rotational power to the pair of ventilation dampers 311 connected through the connection link 340, and by enabling link rotation, may open and close the indoor circulation flow path 230. Therefore, the outside air damper 312 rotated by the damper motor 350 transmits rotational power to the ventilation damper 311 through the connection link 340 to rotate the ventilation damper 311 at various angles. In other words, an opening amount of the outside air damper 312 and the ventilation damper 311 may be adjusted according to an amount of rotation of the damper motor 350. Thus, the damper motor 350 may precisely control a rotational angle of the damper 310 through precise control.
The damper module 100 may independently control the ventilation damper 311 and the outdoor air damper 312. However, when the ventilation damper 311 and the outdoor air damper 312 are independently controlled, as controller 50 must separately control the amount of rotation of the damper motor 350, control performance and precision are reduced. As the damper motor 350 must be installed in the ventilation damper 311 and the outdoor air damper 312, respectively, a burden of having to increase a capacity of the damper motor 350 is created.
In the case of this embodiment, the ventilation dampers 311 of the indoor circulation flow path 230 are limited to a pair; however, embodiments are not necessarily limited thereto. That is, at least two or more of the ventilation dampers may be interlocked with each other through the connection link 340 while the indoor circulation passage 230 may be opened and closed.
An air conditioning device 500, such as a dehumidifier or humidifier selected according to user needs, may be installed in the duct case 200 of the damper module 100 to dehumidify or humidify ventilation or outdoor air. The duct case 200 may be provided and installed as an assembly of a plurality of members between the return duct 20 and the outside air introduction duct 30. Therefore, as the air conditioning device 500 is installed in the duct case 200, it is possible to prevent leaks due to duct damage or inconvenient workability problems that occur when constructing the air conditioning device in the conventional return duct or exhaust duct.
A filtration filter 430 that purifies outside air flowing therein from the outside may be installed in the outside air inflow passage 220 of the outside air introduction flow path 240 in the duct case 200 connected to the outside air introduction duct 30.
As illustrated in
The controller 50 may calculate enthalpy and absolute humidity using the temperature of ventilation air and outdoor air measured by the temperature sensor 410 and the relative humidity measured by the humidity sensor 415. In other words, when the temperature and relative humidity between ventilation air and outside air are known, absolute humidity and enthalpy may be calculated using the psychrometric chart of
In addition, at the inlet of the outdoor air inflow passage 220 and the outlet of the outdoor air discharge passage 225, a differential pressure sensor 420 may be installed to measure a difference in air pressure between the inlet of the outdoor air inflow passage 220 and an outlet of the outdoor air discharge passage 225. An amount of introduced outside air into the damper module 100 may be variably controlled according to the difference in air pressure measured by the differential pressure sensor 420 between the inlet of the outdoor air inflow passage 220 and the outlet of the outdoor air discharge passage 225.
In this way, conditions of temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and air pressure may be optimized by the controller 50 that determines an air amount for optimal indoor introduction and outside air introduction in real time in consideration of air temperature and thermal conditions.
Referring to the drawings, it can be seen that when the outside air damper 312 is 100% open, the ventilation damper 311 is 0% open, that is, 100% blocked. In the temperature and relative humidity control of the controller 50 applied to the air conditioner according to an embodiment, the opening amount of the outside air damper 312 is determined based on the outside air temperature in the outside air introduction mode.
As can be seen from the figure, it may be assumed that the outside air temperature is about 30° C. and the relative humidity is about 70%, and the ventilation temperature is about 17° C. and the relative humidity is about 50%. When the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than an indoor set temperature (about 28° C.), that is, when the outside air temperature is higher than a ventilation temperature, the introduction of outside air is blocked and only ventilation air is introduced. At this time, the opening amount of the outside air damper 312 may be set based on the indoor temperature.
On the other hand, when the outside air temperature is equal to or lower than the indoor set temperature (about 28° C.), that is, when the outside air temperature is lower than the ventilation air temperature, the introduction of ventilation air is blocked and outside air is introduced. At this time, the opening amount of the outside air damper 312 may be set based on the outside air temperature. In this way, when the opening amount of the outside air damper 312 is set and outside air is introduced, a dehumidification mode is implemented by operating an air circulation fan when the relative humidity of the outside air is high even if the outside air temperature is equal to or lower than the indoor set temperature.
When the dehumidification mode is performed, as a load on the air handling unit 10 increases, and thus, energy consumption increases, a maximum opening amount of the outside air damper 312 may be adjusted based on the relative humidity. At this time, the opening amount of the damper having a low opening amount is controlled by comparing the opening amount of the ventilation damper 311 with the opening amount of the outside air damper 312. Therefore, as the ventilation damper 311 and the outside air damper 312 are connected to each other, the amount of indoor circulation air (or the introduction amount of outside air) is reduced by the amount of outside air (or ventilation air) introduced, so a total air circulation amount matches an initial circulation amount.
In addition, the controller 50 may perform an enthalpy control mode by calculating the enthalpy of outside air flowing therein from the outside and calculating the enthalpy of ventilation air circulating inside of the building. In the enthalpy control mode, when the enthalpy of ventilation air is higher than the enthalpy of outdoor air, the outdoor air damper 312 is opened and the ventilation damper 311 is closed, thereby reducing energy consumption.
Even if the ventilation air enthalpy is higher than the outdoor air enthalpy by comparing the enthalpy of ventilation air with the enthalpy of the outdoor air, when the relative humidity of the outdoor air is high, the load on the air handling unit 10 increases. As a result, as energy consumption increases, the maximum opening amount of the outside air damper 312 may be adjusted.
When the differential pressure sensor 420 sets a ventilation introduction mode in a state in which the difference in air pressure is lowered, as the minimum required ventilation amount may be insufficient, it is important to increase the outside air introduction amount in order to secure the required introduction amount of ventilation air. Therefore, the controller 50 may increase the introduction amount of outside air by adjusting the opening amount of the outside air damper 312.
In general, in the related art, when the outside air temperature is high or low, in a case in which the opening amount of the damper 310 is large, the load of the air handling unit 10 increases, resulting in an increase in energy consumption for comfortably controlling a room. Therefore, the air conditioner according to an embodiment may adjust the opening amount of the ventilation damper 311 and the outdoor air damper 312 based on the measured value and the set value of the detector on the damper module 100.
In addition, energy consumption may be reduced by reducing the load of the air handling unit 10 by adjusting the opening amount of the damper 310 of the damper module 100. In other words, the detector transmits the measured values of the temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and air pressure to the controller 50. Accordingly, the controller 50 compares the measured values measured by the detector with preset or predetermined set values and adjusts the outside air damper 312 to control the opening amount of the indoor circulation flow path 230 and the outside air introduction flow path 240. Therefore, by controlling the opening amount of the damper 310 according to conditions, such as temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and air pressure, the amount of air introduced into the air handling unit 10, that is, the load is reduced, thereby reducing energy consumption in the air conditioner and maximizing energy efficiency.
Pollutants, such as dust, are filtered by the filtration filter 430 installed at the inlet of the outside air inflow passage 220 due to the introduction of outside air by the outside air introduction duct 30. The differential pressure sensor 420 measures the difference in air pressure caused by pollutants filtered by the filtration filter 430 and transmits it to the controller 50. The controller 50 may replace the contaminated filtration filter 430 by determining that the pressure difference indicates that it is time to replace the filter when the difference in air pressure received from the differential pressure sensor 420 is outside of a preset or predetermined value.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Therefore, energy consumption may be controlled by adjusting the outside air flowing therein through the outside air introduction duct 30. In addition, the required introduction amount of ventilation air may be controlled by adjusting the ventilation air flowing therein through the return duct 20.
The air conditioner according to embodiments disclosed herein may reduce energy consumption by measuring temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and differential pressure, for example, and adjusting an amount of air flowing therein through the outside air introduction duct 30.
Further, embodiments disclosed herein may reduce the load on the air handling unit 10 side of the air conditioner by reducing the increase in pressure generated inside of the return duct 20 by optimizing the amount of air circulating into the room by variably controlling the introduction amount of outside air.
Furthermore, in embodiments disclosed herein, damper module 100 including damper 310 in the return duct 20 and the outside air introduction duct 30, and connection link 340 for rotation by connecting the damper 310 is connected between the return duct 20 and the outside air introduction duct 30, and thus, the indoor air circulated through the air handling unit 10 may be optimally maintained by optimizing an air ratio between indoor introduction and outside air introduction.
In addition, in a state in which the difference in air pressure measured by the differential pressure sensor 420 located at the inlet of the outdoor air inflow passage 220 and the outlet of the outdoor air discharge passage 225 of the damper module 100 is not large, when setting the ventilation air introduction mode, in order to secure a required amount of ventilation air, the introduction amount of outside air may be increased by adjusting the opening amount of the damper 310.
Further, by allowing the air conditioning device 500, such as a dehumidifier or humidifier selected according to the user's needs, to be installed in the damper module 100, inconvenience of constructing the air conditioning device on the duct or leakage problem due to damage to the duct may be solved.
Therefore, embodiments disclosed herein have been made to solve at least the above problems, and embodiments disclosed herein provide an air conditioner which may reduce energy consumption by measuring temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and differential pressure, for example, to adjust the amount of air flowing therein through the outside air introduction duct, and a method for controlling an air conditioner.
Embodiments disclosed herein further provide an air conditioner that connects a plurality of dampers in the return duct and the outside air introduction duct and a connection link that connects the dampers to rotate between the return duct and the outside air introduction duct, thereby optimizing an air ratio of ventilation air and outside air introduction, and thus, the amount of air circulated to the air handling unit may be constantly controlled, and a method for controlling an air conditioner.
Embodiments disclosed herein provide an air conditioner capable of increasing the introduction amount of outside air by adjusting the opening amount of a damper in order to secure a required amount of ventilation air when setting the ventilation air introduction mode in a state in which the difference in air pressure measured by the differential pressure sensor located at the inlet of the outside air inflow passage and the outlet of the outside air discharge passage of the damper module is not large, and a method for controlling an air conditioner.
Embodiments disclosed herein also provide an air conditioner which mounts air conditioning devices, such as dehumidifiers and humidifiers selected according to the user's needs, in the damper module, thereby being capable of solving problems of inconvenience in constructing the air conditioning device on the duct or leakage due to damage to the duct, and a method for controlling an air conditioner.
Embodiments disclosed herein provides an air conditioner that may include an air handling unit, a return duct connected to the air handling unit to supply ventilation air to the air handling unit, and an outside air introduction duct which is connected to the air handling unit to introduce outside air into a room, and a damper module installed at a position at which the return duct and the outside air introduction duct are connected to each other and including a damper that opens or blocks or closes the return duct and the outside air introduction duct. By measuring humidity, enthalpy, and differential pressure, for example, an amount of air flowing therein through the outside air introduction duct may be adjusted to reduce energy consumption. In addition, embodiments disclosed herein may reduce a load on the air handling unit side of the air conditioner by reducing the increase in pressure generated inside of the duct by variably controlling the introduction amount of outside air to optimally maintain the amount of air circulating into the room.
The damper module may include a duct case, which is a flow path space for air flowing through the return duct and the outside air introduction duct, and a damper mechanism that adjusts a discharge flow rate of air flowing along the flow path space of the duct case. The duct case may include a ventilation inflow plate in which ventilation air from the return duct flows and which is formed with a ventilation inflow passage made of openings, and an outside air inflow plate in which the outside air from the outside air introduction duct flows and which is formed with an outside air inflow passage made of openings, and may include an air discharge plate disposed at a position at which air passing through the ventilation inflow passage and the outside air inflow passage is discharged, and formed with a ventilation discharge passage and an outside air discharge passage which are made of opening and through which ventilation air and outside air are separately discharged.
In addition, an indoor circulation flow path connected to the return duct and an outside air introduction flow path connected to the outside air introduction duct may be further provided inside of the duct case. The ventilation inflow passage may be formed to have a same width as that of the return duct so that the amount of ventilation air flowing through the return duct is provided to the indoor circulation flow path as it is.
Further, the indoor circulation flow path and the outside air introduction flow path may be partitioned by a partition wall so that air flowing from the return duct and the outside air introduction duct is not mixed with each other inside of the duct case.
The partition wall may include a first partition wall that extends into the duct case at an angle from a corner at which the ventilation inflow plate and the outside air inflow plate cross each other, and a second partition wall that extends from the first partition wall to the air discharge plate to separate the indoor circulation flow path and the outside air introduction flow path.
According to embodiments disclosed herein, the damper mechanism may include a plurality of dampers installed in the indoor circulation flow path and the outside air introduction flow path to adjust a discharge flow rate of the inflow air, a rotational shaft and a rotational wheel supported by the damper to form a center of rotation of the damper and, a damper motor interlocked between, among the plurality of dampers, an outdoor air damper which controls the introduction amount of outside air and a ventilation damper which controls the introduction amount of ventilation air to provide rotational power and installed in the connection link that enables rotation of the link and outdoor air damper to provide rotational power to the outdoor air damper.
A single outdoor air damper may be provided in the outside air introduction flow path, and a pair of ventilation dampers may be provided to open and close the indoor circulation flow path by interlocking with the outdoor air damper.
The controller may include a ventilation introduction mode for preventing the introduction of outdoor air by blocking the outside air introduction flow path and opening the indoor circulation flow path when the temperature of the outdoor air flowing into the room is high and the temperature of the circulating ventilation is low. The controller may further include an outside air introduction mode for securing outside air introduction by opening the outside air introduction flow path and blocking the indoor circulation flow path when the temperature of the outdoor air flowing into the room is low and the temperature of the circulating ventilation air is high. The controller may furthermore include a mixed air introduction mode which compares the temperature of the outside air at the inlet of the outdoor air inflow passage with the temperature of the ventilation at the inlet of the ventilation inflow passage, and the temperature of the mixed air mixed at the outlet of the ventilation discharge passage and the outdoor air discharge passage to control the opening amount of the outside air introduction flow path.
In addition, embodiments disclosed herein may implement a method for controlling an air conditioner including measuring a temperature and relative humidity of an inlet of a ventilation inflow passage and an inlet of an outdoor air inflow passage and measuring an air pressure at the inlet of the outdoor air inflow passage and an outlet of the outdoor air discharge passage, calculating absolute humidity and enthalpy in the temperature and relative humidity, and controlling an opening amount of the outside air introduction flow path based on the temperature, relative humidity, absolute humidity, and enthalpy.
Embodiments disclosed herein may include, when the temperature of the outdoor air flowing into the room through the outdoor air inflow passage is high and the temperature of the ventilation air flowing into the room through the ventilation inflow passage is low, performing a ventilation air introduction mode in which the outside air introduction flow path is blocked to prevent the introduction of outdoor air and the indoor circulation flow path is opened.
In addition, embodiments disclosed herein may include when the temperature of the outdoor air flowing into the room through the outdoor air inflow passage is low and the temperature of the ventilation flowing into the room through the ventilation air inflow passage is high, performing an outside air introduction mode in which the outside air introduction flow path is opened to secure the introduction of outdoor air, and the indoor circulation flow path is blocked.
In addition, embodiments disclosed herein may include performing a mixed air introduction mode which controls the opening amount of the outside air introduction flow path by comparing the temperature of the outside air at the inlet of the outdoor air inflow passage, the temperature of the ventilation at the inlet of the ventilation inflow passage, and the temperature of the mixed air mixed at the outlet of the ventilation discharge passage and the outdoor air discharge passage.
According to the air conditioner and a method for controlling an air conditioner according to embodiments disclosed herein configured as described above, there is an effect of reducing energy consumption by measuring the temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and differential pressure, for example, and adjusting the amount of air flowing therein through the outside air introduction duct.
There is an effect of reducing the increase in pressure generated inside of the duct, and thus, reducing the load on the air handling unit side of the air conditioner, by variably controlling the introduction amount of outside air into the outside air introduction duct to optimally maintain the amount of air circulating into the room.
There is an effect in that an indoor introduction and outside air introduction air ratio is optimally controlled, and thus, indoor air may be optimally maintained by providing a damper module including a plurality of dampers in the return duct and the outside air introduction duct and a connection link which connects the dampers to rotate between the return duct and the outside air introduction duct.
In a state in which the difference in air pressure measured by the differential pressure sensor located at the inlet of the outside air inflow passage and the outlet of the outside air discharge passage of the damper module is not large, when setting the ventilation air introduction mode, the opening amount of the damper is adjusted to secure the required ventilation amount, and thus, there is an effect of increasing the introduction amount of outdoor air.
By allowing air conditioning devices, such as dehumidifiers and humidifiers selected according to user needs, to be mounted in the damper module, there is an effect of solving the inconvenience of constructing an air conditioning device on the duct or the leakage problem of the duct.
The above description of embodiments is for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in the art can understand that it can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features. Therefore, embodiments described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not limiting. The scope is indicated by the following claims, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and equivalent concepts should be interpreted as being included in the scope.
It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on” another element or layer, the element or layer can be directly on another element or layer or intervening elements or layers. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
Spatially relative terms, such as “lower”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe the relationship of one element or feature to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation, in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “lower” relative to other elements or features would then be oriented “upper” relative to the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “lower” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Embodiments are described herein with reference to cross-section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments (and intermediate structures). As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.
Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2022-0167814 | Dec 2022 | KR | national |
