Patent Grant
11306948
The present invention relates to a liquefaction promoting apparatus for promoting fluid liquefaction by stirring which is disposed on a pipeline of a heat pump system. It relates, more specifically, to an apparatus equipped with a spring capable of vibration and oscillation for an enhanced mixture of fluids.
Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerating cycle equipped with a gas-liquid mixing device, which is designed to improve operating efficiency. The gas-liquid mixing device employs a decompression device for adjusting dryness, a refrigerant conduit and a U-tube.
Patent Document 2 discloses an apparatus for recombining impurities contained in refrigerant. It has a cylindrical housing formed with a helical groove on its inner wall which shears impurities and allows the impurities to be recombined.
Patent Document 3 discloses a heat pump system equipped with a stirring device. The stirring device has a cylindrical housing and an axially movable coil spring accommodated in the housing.
Patent Document 4 discloses a heat pump system equipped with a liquefaction promoting apparatus. The liquefaction promoting apparatus has a cylindrical housing with a pair of end panels and a conical spring having a base part disposed adjacent to one of the end plates.
Patent Document 5 discloses refrigeration and air-conditioning system equipped with a refrigerant processing unit. The refrigerant processing unit has a cylindrical housing formed with an internal helical groove and accommodates a conduit formed with a helical groove on its outer wall.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Published No. 3055854.
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2014-161812.
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2015-212601.
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Published No. 5945377.
Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Published No. 2017-142061.
In the refrigerating cycle shown in Patent Document 1, fluid consisting of the mixture of gas and liquid is circulated. The operating efficiency of the cycle is improved by promoting liquefaction of the mixture of gas and liquid.
Shown in Patent Documents 2 to 5 are stirring devices which are typically composed of a cylindrical housing formed with an internal helical groove or accommodating an internal coil spring.
As a result of thorough studies on the internal structure of this type of stirring devices in order to further improve the operating efficiency, the inventor has come up with the idea of employing a coil spring which is capable of vibration and oscillation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquefaction promoting apparatus designed to improve the operating efficiency of heat pump cycles.
According to the present invention, there is provided a liquefaction promoting apparatus to be disposed on a pipeline of a heat pump system for the purpose of stirring and uniformly mixing fluid containing refrigerant and refrigerator oil circulating therein. The subject apparatus comprises: a cylindrical housing having a body part, and an upper and a lower dome-shaped end plates each sealing the upper and the lower end of said body part; an upper tube having one end connectable to the pipeline and the other end penetrating said upper dome-shaped end plate at a distant position from the central axis and extending to the periphery of the upper end of said body part, allowing the fluid to flow therethrough; a lower tube having one end connectable to the pipeline and the other end penetrating said lower dome-shaped end plate in the vicinity of the central axis and extending to the periphery of the upper end of said body part, allowing the fluid to flow therethrough; a large coil spring with a diameter 1 to 10 mm smaller than the inner diameter of said body part which is accommodated coaxially in said body part, the large coil spring having its upper and lower ends fixed thereon and its middle part unfixed for vibration and oscillation. The middle part of said large coil spring is allowed to vibrate and oscillate by kinetic energy of the flowing fluid, thereby stirring the fluid. The apparatus enables it to stir and uniformly mix the fluid containing refrigerant and refrigerator oil circulating the pipeline, thereby improving the operating efficiency of the heat pump system.
The liquefaction promoting apparatus is characterized in that it further comprises at least one small coil spring with a diameter 1 to 30 mm larger than the outer diameter of said lower tube which is accommodated in said body part and around said lower tube, said at least one small coil spring having its upper end fixed on the upper end of said lower tube and its lower end extending to the periphery of said lower dome-shaped end plate; wherein said at least one small coil spring vibrates and oscillates without colliding with said large coil spring. The apparatus enables the large and small coil springs to cooperatively vibrate and oscillate so as to stir and uniformly mix the fluid containing refrigerant and refrigerator oil circulating along the pipeline, thereby improving the operating efficiency of the heat pump system.
The liquefaction promoting apparatus is characterized in that said large coil spring is unequally pitched in such a manner that its upper part has a wide pitch size, its middle part has a narrow pitch size and its lower part has a wide pitch size. Alternatively, the upper part of the large coil spring has a narrow pitch size, its middle part has a wide pitch size and its lower part has a narrow pitch size. The liquefaction promoting apparatus is characterized in that said at least one small coil spring is unequally pitched in such a manner that its upper part has a wide pitch size, its middle part has a narrow pitch size and its lower part has a wide pitch size, or that its upper part has a narrow pitch size, its middle part has a wide pitch size and its lower part has a narrow pitch size. The apparatus enables the large and small coil springs to flexibly vibrate and oscillate, thereby improving the effectiveness of stirring and mixing.
The liquefaction promoting apparatus is characterized in that said other end of said upper tube is inclined upward in the radial direction away from the axis. The apparatus enables it to vary the direction of the fluid exiting from the upper tube and colliding with the coil springs, thereby improving the effectiveness of stirring and mixing.
The liquefaction promoting apparatus is characterized in that it further comprises at least three coil springs each being either of said large coil spring and said at least one small coil spring. The apparatus can be used for a high power heat pump system.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method for promoting liquefaction of the fluid by stirring and uniformly mixing it using the liquefaction promoting apparatus comprising the steps of: (a) in the cooling mode of operation, entering the fluid containing refrigerant and refrigerator oil through said upper tube from a condenser, or an outdoor unit disposed on the pipeline; (b) stirring and uniformly mixing the fluid by the action of vibration and oscillation of said large coil spring and said at least one small coil spring; and (c) expelling the fluid through said lower tube. This method enables it to improve the operating efficiency of the heat pump system.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method for promoting liquefaction of the fluid by stirring and uniformly mixing it using the liquefaction promoting apparatus comprising the steps of: (a) in the heating mode of operation, entering the fluid containing refrigerant and refrigerator oil through said lower tube; (b) stirring and uniformly mixing the fluid by the action of vibration and oscillation of said large coil spring and said at least one small coil spring; and (c) expelling the fluid through said upper tube to an evaporator, or an outdoor unit disposed on the pipeline. This method enables it to improve the operating efficiency of the heat pump system.
As described above, the present invention provides a liquefaction promoting apparatus for stirring and mixing refrigerant and refrigerator oil, thereby improving the operating efficiency of heat pump cycles. Accordingly, the liquefaction promoting apparatus disposed on a pipeline of a heat cycle will effectively reduce the energy consumption.
Described hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings are detailed embodiments of the apparatus according to the present invention. In the figures, like reference numerals refer to like members which have similar basic composition and operation.
<First Embodiment>
<Configuration>
A heat pump system takes heat from a low temperature object and gives heat to a high temperature object for the purpose of cooling the low temperature object and/or warming the high temperature object. An air-conditioner switching between cooling operation and heating operation is also a heat pump system.
The term “fluid” used herein refers to that circulated through a heat pump cycle. It includes refrigerant and refrigerator oil. It can be either in a liquid, gas or gas-liquid-mixture state in a heat pump cycle. For the refrigerant, CFC substitute is employed.
The heat pump cycle in its cooling operation consists of a compressor 83, a condenser (outdoor unit) 84, an expander 81 and an evaporator (indoor unit) 82. The heat pump cycle in its heating operation consists of a compressor 83, a condenser (indoor unit) 82, an expander 81 and an evaporator (outdoor unit) 84. These components together with pipelines form an enclosed conduit in which fluid circulates. The arrows in
<<Heat Pump Cycle in Cooling Operation>>
In the heat pump cycle in its cooling operation shown in
While the refrigerant is liquefied in the condenser (outdoor unit) 84, there remains refrigerator oil which have not been mixed with or dissolved in the refrigerant or which have been fused to form oil phases enveloping liquefied refrigerant. There also remains refrigerator oil in the form of high-pressure gas even after passing the condenser (outdoor unit) 84. Thus, the liquefied fluid discharged from the condenser (outdoor unit) 84 possibly contains unmixed refrigerator oil, refrigerant enveloped in the oil phases of the refrigerator oil and/or gaseous refrigerant.
As shown in
Thus, the refrigerator oil having been unmixed is uniformly mixed with the liquefied refrigerant, refrigerant having been enveloped in the oil phases of the refrigerator oil is released and the residual gaseous refrigerant is liquefied. The fluid flows from the liquefaction promoting apparatus 1 to the expander 81.
The expander 81 has an expansion valve or a capillary tube. The liquid fluid with low temperature and low pressure passes through small tubes or pores to have further lower temperature and lower pressure and released to the evaporator (indoor unit) 82. The low-temperature low-pressure liquid fluid absorbs heat from the outside so as to evaporate into a high-temperature gaseous fluid. This causes the indoor air to be cooled. The gaseous fluid flows into the compressor 83.
<<Heat Pump Cycle in Heating Operation>>
In the heat pump cycle in its heating operation shown in
Similar to the case in the above described cooling operation shown in
As shown in
In the heating operation, the evaporator (outdoor unit) 84 conducts heat exchange by having the incoming low-temperature low-pressure liquid fluid to absorb heat from the outside and to be heated and vaporized. The vaporized fluid flows into the compressor 83.
As shown in
Described above is an embodiment of the liquefaction promoting apparatus 1 adapted to a basic-type heat pump system according to the present invention. The liquefaction promoting apparatus 1 can also be adapted to different types of heat pump system equipped with various additional components. It can be adapted to, for example, a heat pump system equipped with a gas-liquid separator. It can also be adapted to a heat pump system having an ejector and a gas-liquid separator in place of an expander.
The liquefaction promoting apparatus 1 further comprises an upper tube 60 and a lower tube 70 for letting fluid in and out of the cylindrical housing 10.
The upper tube 60 lets in fluid from the condenser 84 (outdoor unit) in cooling operation, and lets out fluid to the evaporator 84 (outdoor unit) fluid in heating operation.
The upper tube 60 penetrates the upper end plate 12 in the axial direction at a distant position from the central axis. The upper tube 60 extends to the periphery of the upper end of the body part 11, with its lower end 60a open. As shown in
The lower tube 70 lets out fluid to the expander 81 in cooling operation, and lets in fluid from expander 81 in heating operation. The lower tube 70 penetrates the lower end plate 13 in the axial direction in the vicinity of the central axis. The lower tube 70 extends to the periphery of the upper end of the body part 11, with its upper end 70a open.
The large coil spring 20 is disposed in and coaxially with the body part 11 with its outer surface distant in 1 to 10 mm from the inner wall thereof. The large coil spring 20 has four fixing parts 21, 22, 23 and 24. These fixing parts of the large coil spring 20 each firmly fixes its upper or lower end onto the inner wall of the body part 11 while leaving its middle part unfixed so to vibrate and oscillate. The term “oscillate” herein describes the coil spring 20 oscillating in its extending and shrinking direction, and the term “vibrate” herein describes the coil spring 20 vibrating in directions different from its extending and shrinking direction. The large coil spring 20 may have more than two fixing parts each on its upper or lower end.
The large coil spring 20 has its upper and lower parts narrowly pitched and its middle part widely pitched, as shown in
The cylindrical housing 10, the upper tube 60, the lower tube 70, the large coil spring 20 and the small coil spring 30 are made of materials which are suitable for the components of a pressure vessel, such as steel.
The small coil spring 30 has four fixing parts 31, 32, 33 and 34. These fixing parts of the small coil spring 30 each firmly fixes its upper or lower end onto the outer wall of the lower tube while leaving its middle part unfixed to vibrate and oscillate. The small coil spring 30 may have more than two fixing parts each on its upper or lower end. The small coil spring 30 preferably has its upper and lower parts narrowly pitched and its middle part widely pitched.
The large coil spring 20 is unequally pitched in a gradually widening manner from each end toward the middle part. Suppose that the large coil spring 20 has nine parts, p1, p2, p3 . . . and p9. The pitch size of each part is defined as the length of a gap between two adjacent wires. In this example, p1 and p9 each has a pitch size of 0.8 mm, p2 and p8 1.2 mm, p3 and p7 1.6 mm, p4 and p6 2.0 mm, and p5 2.5 mm. In any other example of the liquefaction promoting apparatus according of this embodiment, the pitch sizes of nine parts of the large coil spring 20 are determined so as to satisfy the following condition.
p1<p2<p3<p4<p5>p6>p7>p8>p9 p1=p9,p2=p8,p3=p7,p4=p6
Each part of the large coil spring 20 (p1, p2, p3 . . . ) may have a constant pitch size, or may have gradually narrowing or widening sizes.
The flow of refrigerant and refrigerator oil through the liquefaction promoting apparatus 1 causes the large coil spring 20 to vibrate and oscillate so as to shear the fluid. Surface roughness of the large coil spring 20 also promotes the shearing effect. The fluid is micronized and is uniform, and thus is liquefied. The large coil spring 20 is disposed so as to be 1 to 10 mm spaced apart from the inner wall of the body part 11 of the cylindrical housing 10. While its upper and lower ends are fixed onto the cylindrical housing 10, other parts freely vibrate and oscillate.
As shown in
The small coil spring 30 has its upper end fixed on the upper end of the lower tube 70 and its lower end fixed on the outer wall of the lower tube 70, by welding or other methods.
The small coil spring 30 is disposed so as to surround the lower tube 70 to vibrate and oscillate at a position 1 to 30 mm distant from the outer wall thereof. The upper end 70a of the lower tube 70 may be made of a flange, which is formed with the fixing parts 31 and 32.
<In-Flow of Fluid Through Upper Tube 60>
Fluid flows into the cylindrical housing 10 through the upper tube 60. The fluid flows down to collide with the lower dome-shaped end plates 13 and shifts its flowing direction upward (U-turn). The fluid then flows up to collide with the upper dome-shaped end plates 12 and shifts its flowing direction downward (U-turn). These actions enhance the flow of the fluid in the vertical direction, effectively stirring and mixing the fluid in the cylindrical housing 10. Since the upper tube 60 is positioned distant from the central axis of the cylindrical housing 10 and its lower end is inclined upward in the radial direction away from the axis, it effectively angles the vertical flow of the fluid. This vertical flow of the fluid causes the large coil spring 20 and a small coil spring 30 to vibrate and oscillate. Collision of the fluid with the vibrating and oscillating coil springs causes effective shearing and mixing of the fluid.
<In-Flow of Fluid Through Lower Tube 70>
Fluid flows into the cylindrical housing 10 through the lower tube 70. The fluid flows up to collide with the upper dome-shaped end plates 12 and shifts its flowing direction downward (U-turn). The fluid then flows down to collide with the lower dome-shaped end plates 13 and shifts its flowing direction upward (U-turn). These actions enhance the flow of the fluid in the vertical direction, effectively stirring and mixing the fluid in the cylindrical housing 10. Furthermore, the fluid collides with the upper tube 60 and the lower tube 70, and IS separated into several streams. The fluid also rubs and collides with the large coil spring 20 and a small coil spring to cause them to vibrate and oscillate. Collision of the fluid with the vibrating and oscillating coil springs causes effective shearing and mixing of the fluid. The fluid thus effectively stirred and mixed is flown out through the upper tube 60.
<Mechanism of Action>
Described below are the mechanisms of action of overtone resonance (scaling resonance).
In the liquefaction promoting apparatus 1, flow of fluid with a pressure of several megapascals adds impact to the coil springs, forcing them to vibrate and oscillate. The vibration and oscillation are transmitted so as to generate sound, which may be audible or non-audible. The sound is continuously generated as long as the flow of fluid is kept.
Collision of the clusters of refrigerant and refrigerator oil also generates sound. Those two kinds of sound are considered to be in harmonic relationship as the overtone of the former (higher harmonics) resonates the latter (scaling resonance). This is considered to promote stirring and mixing of fluid, and liquefaction.
Scaling resonance is a phenomenon that higher harmonics or overtone, which is tens of octaves higher, causes resonance. (Yöichi Fukagawa (1999), Protein Music, Tokyo, Chikuma-shobo.)
Resonance and sympathizing are distinguished herein. Whereas sympathizing occurs when vibration or oscillation is transmitted via solid, resonance occurs when vibration or oscillation is transmitted via fluid such as water and gas.
In the liquefaction promoting apparatus 1, it is considered that the vibration and oscillation of the coil springs is transmitted to refrigerant and refrigerator oil via fluid (liquid material), and thus overtone resonance (scaling resonance) occurs as long as the flow of fluid is kept.
In the liquefaction promoting apparatus 1, fluid, viewed from a macro-viewpoint, imparts impact to the coil spring and causes it to be vibrated and oscillated. Viewed from a micro-viewpoint, clusters of refrigerant and refrigerator oil are caused to be de-clustered by the action of overtone resonance (scaling resonance) and evenly dispersed.
<Effects>
Fluid containing of refrigerant and refrigerator oil is flown through the liquefaction promoting apparatus 1 at a pressure of 0.2 to 10 MPa. The flow imparts impact on the coil spring causes it to be vibrated and oscillated. The vibration and oscillation cause generation of sound waves of various frequencies. Most of the generated higher harmonic waves are considered to be overtones, which are capable of de-clustering the refrigerant and refrigerator oil by the action of sympathizing or resonance. Refrigerant and refrigerator oil are thus evenly dispersed.
<Reduction of Power and Energy Consumption>
The apparatus of the present invention contributes to effective reduction of power and energy consumption when applied in a heat pump system in which refrigerant and refrigerator oil is circulated.
In
As shown
<<Examples of Upper Tube and Lower Tube>>
As shown in
<<Examples of Coil Springs with Various Pitches>>
<<Examples of Coil Springs with Various Diameters>>
<<Examples of 3 Concentric Coil Springs>>
<<Examples of 4 Concentric Coil Springs>>
<<Examples of 5 Coil Springs>>
<<Examples of 5 Co-Circumferential Coil Springs>>
<<Examples of 5 Co-Circumferential Coil Springs and Large Coil Spring>>
<<Examples of 5 Sets of 3 Concentric Coil Springs>>
The examples shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2018-000228 | Jan 2018 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2018/003769 | 2/5/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2019/135292 | 7/11/2019 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200141618 | Odani | May 2020 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2015212601 | Nov 2015 | JP |
| Entry |
|---|
| Translation JP-2015212601-A. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200386449 A1 | Dec 2020 | US |
