Patent Application
20210222917
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of air conditioning, and in particular to an air conditioning system with two-stage compression.
As a kind of commonly used electrical appliance, air conditioners have become more widely used, and accordingly, requirements on their performances are becoming higher and higher. Taking commercial air conditioners as an example, in some special application scenarios, it is required to control an evaporation temperature of the air conditioning system to be very low. For example, the temperature in low-temperature devices such as large-sized cold storage or low-temperature box needs to be controlled at −30° C. to −40° C. or even lower. In this case, a single-stage compressor cannot meet the requirements since the compression ratio and pressure difference are limited to a certain extent. Generally, in this situation, a solution in which a two-stage compressor or a multi-stage compressor is used in cooperation with a low-temperature refrigerant is adopted. The refrigerant is compressed twice by the two-stage compressor so that an evaporation temperature of −65° C. to −75° C. or even lower may be obtained.
Although the two-stage compressor or the multi-stage compressor solves the above problem to some extent, the following problems also inevitably arise: firstly, the two-stage compressor is bulky and an internal structure thereof is complicated, resulting in high manufacturing cost and reduced product competitiveness; secondly, existing two-stage compressors have a low energy efficiency during operation.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new air conditioning system with two-stage compression to solve the above problems.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the related art, namely, to solve the problems of high cost and low energy efficiency of the existing multi-stage compressors, the present disclosure provides an air conditioning system with two-stage compression, wherein the air conditioning system includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element, and an evaporator connected in sequence; the air conditioning system further includes a pressurizing unit disposed between the compressor and the condenser, and the pressurizing unit is configured to be capable of converting natural energy into mechanical energy to pressurize refrigerant discharged from the compressor for a second time.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the pressurizing unit includes a receiver and a pressurizer, the pressurizer is connected to the receiver, and the receiver is capable of receiving the natural energy, converting the natural energy into mechanical energy and then transmitting the mechanical energy to the pressurizer so that the pressurizer pressurizes the refrigerant for a second time.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the pressurizer is an energy accumulation pressurizer, a rotating shaft of the energy accumulation pressurizer is connected to the receiver, a suction port of the energy accumulation pressurizer is in communication with an exhaust port of the compressor, and a discharge port of the energy accumulation pressurizer is in communication with an intake port of the condenser.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the natural energy is marine energy, the receiver is a hydro-turbine, and an impeller shaft of the hydro-turbine is connected to the pressurizer.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the natural energy is wind energy, the receiver is a wind turbine, and an impeller shaft of the wind turbine is connected to the pressurizer.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the receiver further includes a converter, and the pressurizer is connected to the receiver through the converter so that the converter transmits the mechanical energy obtained after the conversion by the receiver to the pressurizer.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the converter is a bevel-gear direction converter, an input shaft of the bevel-gear direction converter is connected to the receiver, and an output shaft of the bevel-gear direction converter is connected to the pressurizer.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the converter is a worm-and-gear direction converter, an input shaft of the worm-and-gear direction converter is connected to the receiver, and an output shaft of the worm-and-gear direction converter is connected to the pressurizer.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the air conditioning system further includes a sub-cooling unit, and the sub-cooling unit includes a sub-cooling inlet, a first sub-cooling outlet and a second sub-cooling outlet, wherein the sub-cooling inlet is in communication with a liquid outlet of the condenser, the first sub-cooling outlet is in communication with an inlet of the throttling element, and the second sub-cooling outlet is in communication with the intake port of the compressor.
In a preferred technical solution of the above air conditioning system with two-stage compression, the air conditioning system further includes an economizer, a flasher, or a subcooler.
It can be understood by those skilled in the art that in a preferred technical solution of the present disclosure, the air conditioning system with two-stage compression includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element, and an evaporator connected in sequence, and is characterized in that the air conditioning system further includes a pressurizing unit disposed between the compressor and the condenser, and the pressurizing unit is configured to be capable of converting natural energy into mechanical energy to pressurize refrigerant discharged from the compressor for a second time.
Since the pressurizing unit is configured to be capable of converting natural energy into mechanical energy to pressurize refrigerant discharged from the compressor for a second time, at the same time of utilizing a driving force provided by the natural energy to achieve two-stage compression, the air conditioning system with two-stage compression of the present disclosure can also improve the energy efficiency of the two-stage compression. Specifically, when the air conditioning system is operating, the compressor firstly pressurizes the refrigerant for a first time, and after the refrigerant that has been pressurized for the first-time is discharged from the compressor, the pressurizing unit utilizes the natural energy to provide a driving force for a second-time pressurizing to convert the natural energy into mechanical energy and utilize the mechanical energy to pressurize, for a second time, the refrigerant that has been pressurized for the first-time. The air conditioning system of the present disclosure can achieve a second-time pressurizing without additional energy consumption, which not only improves the performance of the air conditioning system, but also achieves zero energy consumption of the second-time pressurizing.
Further, by disposing a sub-cooling unit in the air conditioning system, the air conditioning system of the present disclosure can also achieve sub-cooling of the refrigerant, so that at the same time of lowering the evaporation temperature, a cooling capacity and a cooling efficiency are also improved. Specifically, by communicating a sub-cooling inlet of the sub-cooling unit with a liquid outlet of the condenser, communicating a first sub-cooling outlet of the sub-cooling unit with an inlet of the throttling element, and communicating a second sub-cooling outlet of the sub-cooling unit with an exhaust port of the compressor, when the air conditioning system is operating, the refrigerant discharged from the liquid outlet of the condenser is divided into two parts, wherein one part is cooled by being evaporated into a gaseous refrigerant due to throttling, so that the temperature of the other part is lowered and subcooled to reduce the refrigerant temperature. The subcooled liquid refrigerant flows out of the first sub-cooling outlet, passes through the throttling element and enters the evaporator for evaporation and refrigeration, thereby achieving lower evaporation temperature and compressor exhaust temperature; whereas the uncooled gaseous refrigerant is discharged to the exhaust port of the compressor through the second sub-cooling outlet, and then enters the pressurizing unit with the refrigerant discharged from the compressor for a second-time pressurizing to improve the cooling capacity and cooling efficiency.
The air conditioning system with two-stage compression of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in connection with a cooling mode. In the drawings:
1. compressor; 11. exhaust port; 2. condenser; 21. intake port; 22. liquid outlet; 3. throttling element; 4. evaporator; 51. receiver; 52. converter; 53. pressurizer; 531. suction port; 532. discharge port; 6. sub-cooling unit; 61. sub-cooling inlet; 62. first sub-cooling outlet; 63. second sub-cooling outlet.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. For example, although the present embodiments are described in connection with a cooling mode, the application scenarios of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and may be adjusted by those skilled in the art. For example, the present disclosure may also be applied to modes that require a compressor to participate in operation, such as a heating mode and a dehumidification mode of an air conditioning system.
It should be noted that in the description of the present disclosure, directional or positional relationships indicated by terms such as “center”, “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “inner” and “outer” are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings. They are merely used for the convenience of description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element involved must have a specific orientation, or be configured or operated in a specific orientation, and therefore they should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure. In addition, terms “first”, “second”, and “third” are only used for descriptive purposes, and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.
In addition, it should also be noted that in the description of the present disclosure, terms such as “install”, “connect” and “connection” should be understood in a broad sense, unless explicitly stated and defined otherwise; for example, they may indicate a fixed connection, a detachable connection or an integral connection, or may indicate a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; or may indicate a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or an internal communication between two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure may be interpreted according to the specific circumstances.
First, referring to
As shown in
As shown in
As can be seen from the above description, since the pressurizing unit is configured to be capable of converting natural energy into mechanical energy to pressurize refrigerant discharged from the compressor 1 for a second time, at the same time of utilizing the natural energy to achieve two-stage compression, the air conditioning system with two-stage compression of the present disclosure can also improve the energy efficiency of the two-stage compression. Specifically, when the air conditioning system is operating, the compressor 1 firstly pressurizes the refrigerant for a first time, and after the refrigerant that has been pressurized for the first-time is discharged from the compressor 1 and is mixed with a part of the refrigerant from the sub-cooling unit, the pressurizing unit utilizes the natural energy to provide a driving force for a second-time pressurizing to convert the natural energy into mechanical energy and utilize the mechanical energy to pressurize, for a second time, the refrigerant that has been pressurized for the first-time, so that the air conditioning system of the present disclosure can achieve a second-time pressurizing without additional energy consumption, which not only improves the performance of the air conditioning system, but also achieves zero energy consumption of the second-time pressurizing.
Further, by disposing a sub-cooling unit in the air conditioning system, the air conditioning system of the present disclosure can also achieve sub-cooling of the refrigerant, so that at the same time of lowering the evaporation temperature, a cooling capacity and a cooling efficiency are also improved. Specifically, by communicating the sub-cooling inlet 61 of the sub-cooling unit with the liquid outlet 22 of the condenser 2, communicating the first sub-cooling outlet 62 of the sub-cooling unit with the inlet of the throttling element 3, and communicating the second sub-cooling outlet 63 of the sub-cooling unit with the exhaust port 11 of the compressor 1, when the air conditioning system is operating, the refrigerant discharged from the liquid outlet 22 of the condenser 2 is divided into two parts by the sub-cooling unit, wherein one part is cooled by being evaporated into a gaseous refrigerant due to throttling, so that the temperature of the other part is lowered and subcooled to reduce the refrigerant temperature. The subcooled liquid refrigerant flows out of the first sub-cooling outlet 62, passes through the throttling element 3 and enters the evaporator 4 for evaporation and refrigeration, thereby achieving lower evaporation temperature and lower exhaust temperature of the compressor 1; whereas the uncooled gaseous refrigerant is discharged to the exhaust port 11 of the compressor 1 through the second sub-cooling outlet 63, and then enters the pressurizing unit with the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 1 for a second-time pressurizing to improve the cooling capacity and cooling efficiency.
The air conditioning system with dual-stage compression according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to
As shown in
With continued reference to
In the above preferred embodiment, by converting the marine energy into mechanical energy, that is, by using the marine energy to provide a driving force for the pressurizer 53, the air conditioner of the present disclosure can make full use of natural resources. Especially, the resource of flowing water in a seaside city can be used to perform a second-time pressurizing on the refrigerant. In this way, not only a significant pressurizing effect is achieved, but also the need for an external power source is eliminated during the pressurizing process, thereby also greatly saving energy consumption. In addition, as compared with the multi-stage compressor 1, all the components of the pressurizing unit of the present disclosure are standard parts, and the assembly method is simple and reliable, so the purchase cost is relatively reduced, and the competitiveness of the product is improved. Through the configuration of the economizer, the present disclosure can also achieve a lower evaporation temperature and a lower exhaust temperature of the compressor 1 to improve the cooling capacity and cooling efficiency of the air conditioning system. As compared with other compressors 1, since the energy accumulation pressurizer as selected has no reciprocating mechanism therein, and the pressurizing can be achieved merely by the rotation of the scroll, so its structure is simple, the volume is small, the weight is light, and the reliability is high. In addition, it has high efficiency and low noise in a range of cooling capacity in which the present disclosure is adapted, which can improve the user experience. The hydro-turbine and the bevel-gear direction converter not only each have a simple structure, but also have a high durability, which can improve the operating stability of the air conditioning system.
It should be noted that the above preferred embodiments are only used to explain the principle of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art can adjust the above arrangements without departing from the principle of the present disclosure so that the present disclosure can be applied to a more specific application scenario.
For example, in an alternative embodiment, there is not only one arrangement of the pressurizing unit. Those skilled in the art can adjust the arrangement of the pressurizing unit without departing from the principle of the present disclosure so that the present disclosure can be applied to a more specific application scenario. For example, the pressurizing unit may not include the converter 52, but includes the receiver 51 which is directly connected to the pressurizer 53.
As another example, in another alternative embodiment, the form of the pressurizer 53 is not invariable, as long as the pressurizer 53 is arranged such that the refrigerant can be effectively pressurized by using the driving force provided by the natural energy without the need for an external power supply. For example, a plunger structure may be adopted for the energy accumulation pressurizer, and the converter 52 drives the plunger to reciprocate to achieve the pressurizing of the refrigerant; or the pressurizer can also be realized by modifying the existing compressor. For example, it can be realized by modifying a scroll compressor in the following way: detaching its driving part and power part, leaving only a scroll chamber and a scroll, and connecting a rotating shaft of the scroll to an output shaft of the bevel-gear direction converter. Therefore, the purpose of using ocean energy to provide a driving force for the scroll is achieved so that the refrigerant is pressurized for a second time. Similarly, for the receiver 51, in addition to the hydro-turbine, any form of devices capable of converting a marine energy into mechanical energy can be applied to the present disclosure.
For another example, in another alternative embodiment, in addition to the bevel-gear direction converter, a worm-and-gear direction converter may also be used for the converter 52. In this case, the input shaft of the worm-and-gear direction converter is connected to the impeller shaft of the hydro-turbine, and the output shaft of the worm- and-gear direction converter is connected to the rotating shaft of the energy accumulation pressurizer.
For still another example, in another alternative embodiment, the arrangement of the sub-cooling unit may also be adjusted. For example, the sub-cooling unit may also be a flasher, a subcooler, or the like. Alternatively, the sub-cooling unit may be omitted in the air conditioning system. All these changes do not deviate from the principle of the present disclosure, and therefore should fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
For still another example, in another alternative embodiment, in addition to the ocean energy, the natural energy may also be other energies that can be collected in nature, such as wind energy. Correspondingly, when the natural energy is wind energy, the receiver 51 can be a wind turbine, and an impeller shaft of the wind turbine may be directly connected to the rotating shaft of the energy accumulation pressurizer or connected to the rotating shaft through the converter 52, etc., which can also achieve purpose of providing a driving force for the pressurizer 53 without the need for an external power source so that the refrigerant can be pressurized for a second time.
The use of wind energy as the natural energy greatly expands the application scenarios of the present disclosure, so that the air conditioning system of the present disclosure can be applied to areas rich in wind energy in addition to marine energy, thereby improving the competitiveness of the products of the present disclosure.
Heretofore, the technical solutions of the present disclosure have been described in connection with the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings, but it can be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of the present disclosure is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or replacements to the related technical features without departing from the principle of the present disclosure. The technical solutions after the modification or replacement will fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201811627012.1 | Dec 2018 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2019/079659 | 3/26/2019 | WO | 00 |
