The present invention relates to a condenser cylinder used for an air-conditioning circuit, for example the air-conditioning circuit of an automobile. More specifically, the present invention relates to a condenser cylinder that makes it possible to improve the process of cooling a liquid used in the cold loop of the air-conditioning system.
The use of an air-conditioning system is known in the automotive industry. An air-conditioning system makes it possible to significantly improve comfort in an automobile interior. The air-conditioning system may be used in order to regulate the temperature of the automobile interior and in order to dehydrate the ambient air inside said automobile. The air-conditioning system may therefore be used in particular with the aim of preventing condensation on the insides of the windows of an automobile.
In a cold loop which is generally used in an air-conditioning system, the stages of evaporation, compression, condensation and expansion take place one after another by using a suitable fluid such as a fluid of the R134 or 1234YF type. After the condensation stage, the fluid is maintained in a liquid state inside a reservoir. This reservoir may be integrated into a condenser or may stand alone and be connected to the outlet of said condenser.
When the fluid is condensed in the condenser, said fluid circulates at the saturation temperature of said fluid towards a reservoir such as a condenser cylinder. A condenser cylinder has the function of separating the liquid and gas phases in a fluid in order to allow only the fluid to exit in its liquid state. At the same time, the condenser cylinder may be used with the aim of sub-cooling the fluid, i.e. of reducing the temperature of the fluid used in the cold loop to below the saturation temperature corresponding to the defined condensation pressure.
This process of sub-cooling is a process which is known in the prior art for a system of cooling by means of compression. The technical effect of this process lies in improving the efficiency of said system of cooling by means of compression, by virtue of a modification of the enthalpy of the fluid used in the cold loop.
According to the prior art, the condenser cylinder has a first function of maintaining the fluid used in the cold loop. Additional functionality consists, for example, in absorbing humidity by virtue of the presence of a material such as a suitable gel. The condenser cylinder may also serve to filter the fluid present in the cold thus preventing particles having a larger size than a set threshold value from circulating within the air-conditioning system.
According to the prior art, the function of sub-cooling the fluid present within a condenser cylinder is not optimal.
There appears to be a need for modifications enabling the function of sub-cooling the fluid present within a condenser cylinder to be improved in order to optimize the efficiency of the air-conditioning system.
The present invention relates to a condenser cylinder intended to improve the possibilities of sub-cooling the fluid present inside the cold to of an air-conditioning system.
To this end, the present invention relates to a condenser cylinder adapted receive and contain a fluid used in a cold loop an air-conditioning system, the condenser cylinder comprising an external wall and an internal wall, said external and internal walls defining an intermediate space, said internal wall defining an interior space for containing the fluid, said intermediate space comprising a static component adapted to store and release a set quantity of heat in order to allow heat exchange between the static component and the fluid contained in the interior space.
According to a mode of embodiment of the present invention, the static component comprises a phase change material (PCM).
According to a mode of embodiment of the present invention the phase change temperature of the phase change material (PCM) is between 45 and 55° C.
According to a mode of embodiment of the present invention, the static component comprises a liquid.
According to a mode of embodiment of the present invention, the static component comprises graphite.
According to a mode of embodiment of the present invention, the external wall of said condenser cylinder is provided with a plurality of ribs adapted to increase the surface a of the external wall of the condenser cylinder.
The aims, objective and features of the present invention and also the advantages thereof will become clearer on reading the following description of preferred modes of embodiment of a condenser cylinder according to the invention, given with reference to the drawings in which:
The following detailed description aims to disclose the invention in a sufficiently clear and full manner, in particular with the aid of examples, but should in no case be regarded as limiting the scope of protection to the particular mode of embodiment and examples given hereinafter.
In order to receive the fluid and to allow the fluid to escape, the condenser cylinder 10 is provided with an inlet 20 and an outlet 30 at a lower end thereof.
As shown in
The presence of a set quantity of phase change material (PCM) has several technical effects. Specifically, the PCM is a material adapted to store and release a set quantity of heat. The presence of this material between the external wall 12 and the internal wall 13 of the condenser cylinder 10 may serve to stabilize the temperature of the liquid present in the interior space 15. This stability corresponds to a first positive technical effect on the efficiency of the condensing system in which the condenser cylinder 10 is used.
As shown in
As shown in
In
The value of the height “a” of the different ribs 21, according to
According to a preferred mode of embodiment of the present invention, the different walls as shown in cross section in
According to a preferred mode of embodiment of the present invention, the upper end of the condenser cylinder 10 as shown in
According to the present invention, the PCM used to fill the intermediate space 14 may be a PCM for which the phase change temperature is between 45 and 55° C.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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14 56823 | Jul 2014 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2015/066349 | 7/16/2015 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2016/009013 | 1/21/2016 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
20120240919 | Baumann | Sep 2012 | A1 |
20130284400 | Iino et al. | Oct 2013 | A1 |
20140360706 | Grist | Dec 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2000-257989 | Sep 2000 | JP |
2014044522 | Mar 2014 | WO |
Entry |
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International Search Report issued in PCT/EP2015/066349, dated Aug. 28, 2015 (2 pages). |
Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority issued in PCT/EP2015/066349, dated Aug. 28, 2015 (4 pages). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170211856 A1 | Jul 2017 | US |