Patent Grant
9657968
This disclosure is related to a compressor apparatus, which compresses a low pressure refrigerant to supply a high pressure refrigerant to a cryogenic refrigerator. The disclosure is also related to a refrigerator apparatus that includes the compressor apparatus and the cryogenic refrigerator.
A refrigerator apparatus that includes a compressor apparatus for compressing a refrigerant such as a helium and a cryogenic refrigerator is known. According to the refrigerator apparatus, a gas heat exchanger is used and a plurality of cooling fans are provided such that a fan with a lower cooling capability is allocated to a heat exchanger pipe for a high pressure helium gas and a fan with a higher cooling capability is allocated to a heat exchanger pipe for a refrigerator oil, thereby increasing cooling efficiency.
However, according to such a compressor apparatus, because there are a plurality of cooling fans, mechanical and electrical losses are increased such that more electric power is required for cooling with, respect to a configuration in which a single fan is used. In particular, with respect to a configuration in which a single large fan is provided in a space for the fans, a total volume of air is reduced, which reduces cooling efficiency.
Further, a pressure loss characteristic curve under a condition of a static pressure becomes greater in the case of using the fans instead of a single large fan, which reduces the volume of air and thus the cooling efficiency. Further, in the case of using the fans, a number of parts is increased, and a cost is increased due to an increase in a failure rate as well as running cost.
According to one aspect of the embodiments, a compressor apparatus for supplying a compressed refrigerant to a cryogenic refrigerator is disclosed which includes:
a heat exchanger group that includes a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger whose heat exchanging amount is greater than the first heat exchanger; and
an axial-flow fan that cools the heat exchanger group, wherein
the first heat exchanger is disposed closer to a rotational axis of the axial-flow fan with respect to the second heat exchanger.
In the following, embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A compressor apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment includes a compressor 2, an oil cooler 3, an orifice 4, a gas cooler 5, an oil separator 6, a compressor 7, an oil cooler 8, an orifice 9, a gas cooler 10, an oil separator 11, an adsorber 12, pipes for connecting these, if necessary, and a valve unit including a solenoid valve and a check valve necessary for an operation, as illustrated in
The compressor apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment includes the compressor 2 on a lower stage side and the compressor 7 on a higher stage side such that the compression is performed in two stages. A cryogenic refrigerator includes a J-T refrigerator F1, a pre-cooling refrigerator F2 and a shield refrigerator F3 that are connected in parallel to a refrigerant gas supply line S illustrated at a right and upper side in
It is noted that, in
In the J-T refrigerator F1, the high pressure refrigerant gas is subject to Joule-Thomson expansion with a J-T valve (not illustrated) to generate a cold of a cryogenic temperature at a cryogenic temperature cooling portion inside a thermal shield plate thereof so that a target to be cooled can be cooled. The J-T refrigerator F1 returns the low pressure refrigerant gas to an inlet side of the compressor 2 via a gas return line R1 illustrated at a right and lower side in
The pre-cooling refrigerator F2 is of a GM (Gifford-MacMahon) type that expands an expansion space based on a reciprocating motion of a displacer thereof (not illustrated) to pre-cool the high pressure refrigerant gas before the Joule-Thomson expansion at the J-T refrigerator F1. The pre-cooling refrigerator F2 returns the expanded middle pressure refrigerant gas to an inlet side of the compressor 7 via a gas return line R2 illustrated at a right and middle side in
The shield refrigerator F3 expands an expansion space based on a reciprocating motion of a displacer (not illustrated) that is driven by the high pressure refrigerant gas to cool a thermal shield plate. The expanded gas in the expansion space is returned, as the middle pressure refrigerant gas, to the inlet side of the compressor 7 via the gas return line R2 illustrated in
The oil cooler 3 includes tubes and fins. The tubes are formed by a material with a high thermal conductivity, such as an aluminum condenser tube. The tubes are disposed side by side in a width direction of the oil cooler 3 such that a heat radiation area becomes as great as possible for cooling the oil of the compressor 2.
The fins are formed of laminated or wave-shaped aluminum plates, for example. The fins are secured to the tube by welding or the like. The fins are formed with distances therebetwen in an extension direction of the tube such that a heat radiation area becomes as great as possible for increasing a cooling effect of the oil.
The oil cooler 8 for cooling the oils of the compressor 7 has substantially the same configuration as the oil cooler 3 described above. The gas cooler 7 and the gas cooler 10 also have substantially the same configuration as the oil cooler 3 described above, and dimensions of their outlines are determined according to heat exchanging amount required to cool the refrigerant gas, if necessary. The orifice 4 is provided for limiting a flow rate of the oil flew into the oil cooler 3, and the orifice 9 is provided for limiting a flow rate of the oil flew into the oil cooler 8.
The oil separator 6 separates the oil included in the refrigerant gas from the gas cooler 5. The oil separator 11 separates the oil included in the refrigerant gas from the gas cooler 10. The adsorber 12 adsorbs the oil left in the separated refrigerant gas.
The oil cooler 3, the gas cooler 5, the oil cooler 8 and the gas cooler 10 are heat exchangers of an air cooling type included in a heat exchanger group of the compressor apparatus 1. The gas cooler 5 and the gas cooler 10 are heat exchangers (gas heat exchangers) used for gas and the oil cooler 3 and the oil cooler 8 are heat exchangers (fluid heat exchangers) used for a fluid. Further, as illustrated in
Here, because a specific heat of the oil is higher than that of the refrigerant gas, a heat exchanging amount of the fluid heat exchanger is greater than that of the gas heat exchanger. Further, because a compression ratio of the refrigerant gas at the higher stage side is higher than that at the lower stage side, a heat exchanging amount of the fluid heat exchanger at the higher stage side is greater than that of the gas heat exchanger at the lower stage side. In the compressor apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the heat exchanging amount of the oil cooler 8 is higher than that of the gas cooler 10 which in turn is higher than that of the oil cooler 3 which in turn is higher than that of the gas cooler 5.
According to the first embodiment, based on this relationship of the heat exchanging amounts, the oil cooler 8, the gas cooler 10, the oil cooler 3 and the gas cooler 5 included in the heat exchanger group are disposed intensively with respect to a single axial-flow fan 13 for cooling.
As illustrated in
Specifically, in
In
Here, the gas coolers 5 and 10, which are the gas heat exchangers, are concentrated on one side of the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13, on the left side in
According to the first embodiment, a boundary between the oil coolers 8 and 3 is at the midpoint in a radial direction or near the midpoint in a radial direction. With respect to the gas coolers, as is the case with the oil coolers, a boundary between the gas coolers 10 and 5 is set such that the outer region in a radial direction, in which the air velocity is higher, is allocated, to the heat exchanger whose heat exchanging amount is greater, and the inner region in a radial direction, in which the air velocity is lower, is allocated to the heat exchanger whose heat exchanging amount is smaller.
An appearance of the compressor apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, and a three-dimensional layout of the components described above including the compressor 1 are such as illustrated in
In
As illustrated in
According to the compressor apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, the following advantageous effects can be obtained. According to the prior art described above, a plurality of fans for cooling are provided. In contrast, according to the first embodiment, the single axial-flow fan 13 can cool the heat exchanger group including a plurality of heat exchangers. For this reason, it becomes possible to avoid such a situation where mechanical and electrical losses are increased due to a plurality of cooling fans and thus more electric power is required. Furthermore, it becomes possible to prevent an overall reduction in a volume of air that would be occur in the case of using a plurality of cooling fans, thereby increasing cooling efficiency.
Further, a pressure loss characteristic curve under a condition of a static pressure becomes smaller in the case of using the single large fan 13 instead of the fans, which also increases the cooling efficiency. Further, it becomes possible to reduce a number of parts and cost by reducing a failure rate as well as running cost.
Further, according to the first embodiment, the axial-flow fan 13 is disposed, utilising the air velocity distribution W illustrated in
Further, according to the first, embodiment, the fact that in general an oil cooler has a greater heat exchanging amount than a gas cooler is considered such that the oil coolers 8 and 3 are concentrated on one side of the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13 and the gas coolers 10 and 5 are concentrated on the other side of the rotational axis. As a result of this, it becomes possible to avoid thermal interference between the oil coolers 8 and 3 and the gas coolers 10 and 5. In particular, it becomes possible to prevent an increase in the temperature of the gas coolers 10 and 5 due to thermal conduction and radiation of waste heat of the oil coolers 8 and 3.
According to the first embodiment, the fundamental shape of the heat exchanger is a rectangular parallelepiped shape; however, the heat exchanger may have a circular arc cross-section that extends in a circumferential direction of the axial-flow fan 13. This configuration is described hereinafter as a second embodiment.
Basic components of a compressor apparatus 21 according to the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus differences therebetween are mainly described in detail hereinafter. The differences with respect to the first embodiment are that heat exchangers have circular arc cross-sections in a view along the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13.
As illustrated in
Similarly, according to the second embodiment, the oil coolers 8 and 3 are disposed such that a boundary between the oil coolers 8 and 3 is at the midpoint in a radial direction or near the midpoint in a radial direction. The gas coolers 10 and 5 are disposed such that a boundary between the gas coolers 10 and 5 is at the midpoint in a radial direction or near the midpoint in a radial direction.
Specifically, according to the second embodiment, as illustrated in
According to the compressor apparatus 21 of the second embodiment, the following advantageous effects can be obtained, as is the case with the first embodiment. Specifically, it becomes possible to avoid such a situation according to the prior art where mechanical and electrical losses are increased due to the increased number of the cooling fans and the fan motors and thus more electric power is required. Furthermore, it becomes possible to prevent an overall reduction in a volume of air and increase cooling efficiency. Further, it becomes possible to reduce a number of parts and cost by reducing a failure rate as well as running cost.
Furthermore, according to the second embodiment, the heat exchanger with a higher heat exchanging amount, among neighboring heat exchangers in a radial direction, is disposed to more precisely correspond to the air velocity distribution W of the axial-flow fan 13 in the circumferential direction. The air velocity distribution W is such that the air velocity increases linearly as the position moves outward in a radial direction as illustrated in
Further, also according to the second embodiment, the oil coolers 8 and 3 are concentrated on one side of the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13 and the gas coolers 10 and 5 are concentrated on the other side of the rotational axis. As a result of this, it becomes possible to avoid thermal interference between the oil coolers 8 and 3 and the gas coolers 10 and 5.
Further, according to the compressor apparatus 21 of the second embodiment, because the heat exchangers extend, in the circumferential direction of the axial-flow fan 13, the heat exchanging amount, of the heat exchanger at the outward position in a radial direction can be more easily adjusted by adjusting not only the width with respect to the extension direction, but also the length in the extension direction than that of the heat exchanger at the inward position in a radial direction.
Specifically, because the heat exchanger at the outward position in a radial direction can be longer in the extension direction than the heat exchanger at the inward position in a radial direction, the width (dimension in the radial direction) of the heat exchanger at the outward position in a radial direction can be made smaller, in particular. As a result of this, it becomes possible to increase a volumetric efficiency of the heat exchanger group 8, 3, 5 and 10 as a whole, a volumetric efficiency and the mounting efficiency of the compressor apparatus 21 itself.
According to the first and second embodiments, the refrigerator is of a two-stage type; however, the embodiments can be applied to a refrigerator of a single-stage type. This configuration is described hereinafter as a third embodiment.
The system configuration of the compressor apparatuses 1 and 21 according to the first and second embodiments is such as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Basic components of a compressor apparatus 31 according to the third embodiment are the same as those in the first and second embodiments, and thus differences are mainly described in detail hereinafter. The differences with respect to the first and second embodiments are that heat exchangers have ring shapes in a view along the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13 such that the opposite ends of the ring shape are adjacent and opposed to each other in a circumferential direction.
As illustrated in
In the third embodiment, it is assumed that the heat exchanging amount of the gas cooler 5 is greater than that of the oil cooler 3. This is because the flow rate of the helium gas (an example of the refrigerant gas) at the gas cooler 5 is substantially greater than that at the oil cooler 3, for example. For this reason, the gas cooler 5 with a higher heat exchanging amount, among the oil cooler 3 and the gas cooler 5, which are neighboring neat exchangers in a radial direction, is allocated an outward region in a radial direction of the air velocity distribution W in which the air velocity is higher such as illustrated in
According to the compressor apparatus 31 of the third embodiment, it becomes possible to avoid such a situation where mechanical and electrical losses are increased due to the increased number of the cooling fans and the fan motors and thus more electric power is required. Furthermore, it becomes possible to prevent an overall reduction in a volume of air and increase cooling efficiency. Further, it becomes possible to reduce a number of parts and cost by reducing a failure rate as well as running cost.
Further, according to the third embodiment, with respect to the air velocity distribution W illustrated in
According to the third embodiment, as is the case with the second embodiment, the heat exchangers extend in the circumferential, direction of the axial-flow fan 13. Thus, because the heat exchanger at the outward position in a radial direction can be longer in the extension direction than the heat exchanger at the inward position in a radial direction, the width (dimension in the radial direction) of the heat exchanger at the outward position in a radial direction, can be made smaller.
It is noted that the heat exchangers may partially extend in the circumferential direction of the axial-flow fan 13. This configuration, is described hereinafter as a fourth embodiment.
Basic components of a compressor apparatus 41 according to the fourth embodiment are the same as those in the third embodiment, and thus differences therebetween are mainly described, in detail hereinafter. The fourth embodiment differs from the third embodiment in that the ends of the neat exchangers at the inlets thereof and the outlets thereof are straight-shaped and intermediate portions between the ends at the inlets and the outlets extend in the circumferential direction to form, a U-shape.
As illustrated in
In the fourth embodiment, the gas cooler 5 with higher heat exchanging amount, among the oil cooler 3 and the gas cooler 5, which are neighboring heat exchangers in a radial direction, is allocated an outward region in a radial direction of the air velocity distribution W in which the air velocity is higher such as illustrated in
Similarly, according to the compressor apparatus 41 of the fourth embodiment, with respect to the air velocity distribution W illustrated, in
According to the fourth embodiment, as is the case with the third embodiment, because the heat exchangers partially extend in the circumferential direction of the axial-flow fan 13, the width (dimension in the radial direction) of the heat exchanger at the outward position in a radial direction can be made smaller.
A compressor apparatus 51 of a single-stage type according to the fifth embodiment is configured such that it includes a single refrigerator 17 of a GM type as described above, for example. Components themselves are basically not different from those illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the fifth embodiment, it is assumed that the heat exchanging amount of the gas cooler 5 is greater than that of the oil cooler 3. This is because the flow rate of the helium gas at the gas cooler 5 is substantially greater than that at the oil cooler 3, for example. For this reason, the gas cooler 5 with a higher heat exchanging amount, among the oil cooler 3 and the gas cooler 5, which are neighboring heat exchangers in a radial direction, is allocated an outward region in a radial direction of the air velocity distribution W such as illustrated in
Specifically, in
The oil cooler 3 extends at a center (immediately below the rotational axis) such that it intersects with the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13 in a view along the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13. The gas cooler elements 500 and 502 of the gas cooler 5 extend on the opposite sides of the oil cooler 3. Then, the oil cooler 3 may be disposed such that a boundary between the oil cooler 3 and the gas cooler elements 500 and 502 of the gas cooler 5 is at the midpoint in a radial direction or near the midpoint in a radial direction.
According to the compressor apparatus 51 of the fifth embodiment, it becomes possible to avoid such a situation where mechanical and electrical losses are increased due to the increased number of the cooling fans and the fan motors and thus more electric power is required. Furthermore, it becomes possible to prevent an overall reduction in a volume of air and increase cooling efficiency. Further, it becomes possible to reduce a number of parts and cost by reducing a failure rate as well as running cost.
Furthermore, according to the fifth embodiment, by dividing the gas cooler 5 into the gas cooler elements 500 and 502, the gas cooler elements 500 and 502 each can be allocated an outward region in a radial direction of the air velocity distribution W. As a result of this, more efficient cooling can be implemented, and energy-saving can be enhanced.
In the fifth embodiment, the gas cooler 5 is formed by two gas cooler elements (heat exchanger elements) 500 and 502; however, the gas cooler 5 may be divided into three or more gas cooler elements. When the gas cooler elements extends on the opposite sides of the oil cooler and the outward region in a radial direction of the air velocity distribution W can be allocated to the respective gas cooler elements, the same effects can be obtained.
The present invention is disclosed with reference to the preferred embodiments. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, the embodiments described above, the fan motor 14 is disposed in the casing such that the fan motor 14 is located on the inner side with respect to the axial-flow fan 13; however, the fan motor 14 may be located on the outer side with respect to the axial-flow fan 13. Further, the direction of air flow along the rotational axis of the axial-flow fan 13 may be reversed. In other words, the axial-flow fan 13 may be of an air suction type. Further, the layout illustrated in
The present application is based on Japanese Priority Application No. 2011-184991, filed on Aug. 26, 2011, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
This disclosure is related to a compressor apparatus that is applied to a cryogenic refrigerator as well as a refrigerator apparatus that includes a compressor apparatus and a cryogenic refrigerator. According to the embodiments, the cooling efficiency of the compressor apparatus is increased due to the design ideas of the arrangement of the heat exchangers, which does not lead to the increase in the cost. Thus, the embodiments are suited for various facilities in which the compressor apparatus or the refrigerator apparatus that includes a compressor apparatus is applied. Further, according to the embodiments, the installation density of the motors and the heat exchangers in a compressor apparatus can be increased.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-184991 | Aug 2011 | JP | national |
This is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/JP2012/068119, filed on Jul. 17, 2012, which is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-184991, filed on Aug. 26, 2011, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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| International Search Report mailed on Oct. 23. 2012. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140157820 A1 | Jun 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2012/068119 | Jul 2012 | US |
| Child | 14180534 | US |
