US20090211283A1 - Heat storage air conditioner - Google Patents
Heat storage air conditioner Download PDFInfo
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- US20090211283A1 US20090211283A1 US11/918,491 US91849106A US2009211283A1 US 20090211283 A1 US20090211283 A1 US 20090211283A1 US 91849106 A US91849106 A US 91849106A US 2009211283 A1 US2009211283 A1 US 2009211283A1
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- Prior art keywords
- thermal storage
- unit
- refrigerant
- heat
- air conditioner
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
- F28D—HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT
- F28D7/00—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary tubular conduit assemblies for both heat-exchange media, the media being in contact with different sides of a conduit wall
- F28D7/10—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary tubular conduit assemblies for both heat-exchange media, the media being in contact with different sides of a conduit wall the conduits being arranged one within the other, e.g. concentrically
- F28D7/106—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary tubular conduit assemblies for both heat-exchange media, the media being in contact with different sides of a conduit wall the conduits being arranged one within the other, e.g. concentrically consisting of two coaxial conduits or modules of two coaxial conduits
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
- F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
- F24F5/00—Air-conditioning systems or apparatus not covered by F24F1/00 or F24F3/00, e.g. using solar heat or combined with household units such as an oven or water heater
- F24F5/0007—Air-conditioning systems or apparatus not covered by F24F1/00 or F24F3/00, e.g. using solar heat or combined with household units such as an oven or water heater cooling apparatus specially adapted for use in air-conditioning
- F24F5/0017—Air-conditioning systems or apparatus not covered by F24F1/00 or F24F3/00, e.g. using solar heat or combined with household units such as an oven or water heater cooling apparatus specially adapted for use in air-conditioning using cold storage bodies, e.g. ice
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B13/00—Compression machines, plants or systems, with reversible cycle
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D16/00—Devices using a combination of a cooling mode associated with refrigerating machinery with a cooling mode not associated with refrigerating machinery
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
- F28D—HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT
- F28D20/00—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00
- F28D20/0034—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00 using liquid heat storage material
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
- F28D—HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT
- F28D20/00—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00
- F28D20/0034—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00 using liquid heat storage material
- F28D20/0039—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00 using liquid heat storage material with stratification of the heat storage material
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
- F28F—DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
- F28F1/00—Tubular elements; Assemblies of tubular elements
- F28F1/10—Tubular elements and assemblies thereof with means for increasing heat-transfer area, e.g. with fins, with projections, with recesses
- F28F1/12—Tubular elements and assemblies thereof with means for increasing heat-transfer area, e.g. with fins, with projections, with recesses the means being only outside the tubular element
- F28F1/24—Tubular elements and assemblies thereof with means for increasing heat-transfer area, e.g. with fins, with projections, with recesses the means being only outside the tubular element and extending transversely
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2313/00—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for
- F25B2313/006—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for two pipes connecting the outdoor side to the indoor side with multiple indoor units
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2313/00—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for
- F25B2313/023—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for using multiple indoor units
- F25B2313/0231—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for using multiple indoor units with simultaneous cooling and heating
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2313/00—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for
- F25B2313/023—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for using multiple indoor units
- F25B2313/0233—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for using multiple indoor units in parallel arrangements
- F25B2313/02331—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for using multiple indoor units in parallel arrangements during cooling
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2313/00—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for
- F25B2313/027—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for characterised by the reversing means
- F25B2313/02743—Compression machines, plants or systems with reversible cycle not otherwise provided for characterised by the reversing means using three four-way valves
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2400/00—General features or devices for refrigeration machines, plants or systems, combined heating and refrigeration systems or heat-pump systems, i.e. not limited to a particular subgroup of F25B
- F25B2400/19—Pumping down refrigerant from one part of the cycle to another part of the cycle, e.g. when the cycle is changed from cooling to heating, or before a defrost cycle is started
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2400/00—General features or devices for refrigeration machines, plants or systems, combined heating and refrigeration systems or heat-pump systems, i.e. not limited to a particular subgroup of F25B
- F25B2400/24—Storage receiver heat
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
- F28D—HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT
- F28D20/00—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00
- F28D2020/0065—Details, e.g. particular heat storage tanks, auxiliary members within tanks
- F28D2020/0069—Distributing arrangements; Fluid deflecting means
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
- F28D—HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT
- F28D20/00—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00
- F28D2020/0065—Details, e.g. particular heat storage tanks, auxiliary members within tanks
- F28D2020/0078—Heat exchanger arrangements
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
- F28D—HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT
- F28D20/00—Heat storage plants or apparatus in general; Regenerative heat-exchange apparatus not covered by groups F28D17/00 or F28D19/00
- F28D2020/0065—Details, e.g. particular heat storage tanks, auxiliary members within tanks
- F28D2020/0086—Partitions
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
- Y02E60/14—Thermal energy storage
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Thermal Sciences (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Geometry (AREA)
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Sustainable Development (AREA)
- Other Air-Conditioning Systems (AREA)
- Compression-Type Refrigeration Machines With Reversible Cycles (AREA)
Abstract
The present invention relates to a heat storage air conditioner. The heat storage air conditioner includes an outdoor unit having an outdoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one compressor for compressing refrigerant, an indoor unit having at least one indoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, a thermal storage unit for storing energy, the thermal storage unit having a thermal storage heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one functional unit for selective control of a refrigerant flow among the outdoor unit, the indoor unit and the thermal storage unit according to an operation condition.
Description
- The present invention relates to air conditioners, and more particularly, to a heat storage air conditioner in which a cold heat is produced and stored in a tank during night time for using the cold heat during day time for cooling a room.
- In general, the air conditioner is an appliance for cooling or heating a room by means of a refrigerating cycle of refrigerant having a compressor, a four way valve, an outdoor heat exchanger (a condenser or evaporator), an expansion device, and an indoor heat exchanger, for providing a comfortable room environment to a user.
- Currently, for saving a utility power cost, the heat storage air conditioner is also used in which the room is cooled by using a condensing heat source of ice produced during night time when people use less utility power during day time when people use more utility power.
-
FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of an exemplary related art heat storage air conditioner. - Referring to
FIG. 1 , the related art heat storage air conditioner is provided with anoutdoor unit 3, athermal storage unit 10, and an indoor unit 20. - The
outdoor unit 3 is provided with acompressor 1 for compressing refrigerant, and anoutdoor heat exchanger 2 for making the refrigerant compressed to flow by thecompressor 1 to heat exchange. - The
thermal storage unit 10 is provided on one side of theoutdoor unit 3 for temporary storage of energy. Thethermal storage unit 10 is provided with athermal storage tank 11 having a heat storage substance held therein, awater pump 12 for circulating water in thethermal storage tank 11, aheat exchanger 13 for heat exchange between the water and the refrigerant, and arefrigerant pump 14 for forced flow of refrigerant. Theheat exchanger 13 is connected to one end of thethermal storage tank 11, and has cold water circulated therethrough from thethermal storage tank 11 by thewater pump 12. - In the meantime, the indoor unit 20 is installed in the room which requires cooling, and is provided with an
indoor heat exchanger 21 for making heat exchange, and an expansion device 22 for expanding refrigerant introduced to theindoor heat exchanger 21. - The related art heat storage air conditioner makes ice in the
thermal storage tank 11 of thethermal storage unit 10 during night time, and cools the room by using the ice in thethermal storage tank 11 made thus during day time (for an example, 13:00˜16:00 hours) when a utility power consumption is great. - In this instance, the
compressor 1 is stationary, and therefrigerant pump 14 circulates the refrigerant. Therefore, in the refrigerant cycle of this instance, the refrigerant is supplied to the indoor unit 20 by therefrigerant pump 14. The refrigerant supplied to the indoor unit 20 thus is passed through the expansion device 22, and made to heat exchange with air at theindoor heat exchanger 21 which serves as an evaporator. In this instance, since theindoor heat exchanger 21 absorbs heat from the air, to drop a temperature of the air blown through theindoor heat exchanger 21, the room is cooled. - The refrigerant absorbs heat at the indoor heat exchanger, introduced to the
thermal storage tank 11, and discharges the heat to cold water at theheat exchanger 13, to return to cold refrigerant again. The cold refrigerant is then introduced to therefrigerant pump 14, to finish a cycle. - Technical Problem
- However, the related art heat storage air conditioner has the following problems.
- The related art heat storage air conditioner has the
outdoor unit 3 and the thermal storage unit fabricated as one unit. Therefore, separation of respective components is difficult. - Moreover, since the
thermal storage unit 10 has all units required for cooling the room by using stored heat, such as therefrigerant pump 14 and so on, starting from thethermal storage tank 11 and theheat exchanger 13, mounted therein, assembly and installation is difficult and maintenance thereof is also very inconvenient. - Technical Solution
- Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a heat storage air conditioner that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
- An object of the present invention is to provide a heat storage air conditioner which permits easy assembly/disassembly, and maintenance, and to improve room cooling efficiency.
- Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
- To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a heat storage air conditioner includes an outdoor unit having an outdoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one compressor for compressing refrigerant, an indoor unit having at least one indoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, a thermal storage unit for storing energy, the thermal storage unit having a thermal storage heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one functional unit for selective control of a refrigerant flow among the outdoor unit, the indoor unit and the thermal storage unit according to an operation condition.
- In another aspect of the present invention, a heat storage air conditioner includes an outdoor unit having an outdoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one compressor for compressing refrigerant, an indoor unit having at least one indoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, a thermal storage unit for storing energy, the thermal storage unit having a thermal storage heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one functional unit for selective control of a refrigerant flow among the outdoor unit, the indoor unit and the thermal storage unit according to an operation condition, wherein the functional unit includes a first supplementary pump having one side connected to a pipe line connected to the thermal storage heat exchanger of the thermal storage unit, and the other side connected to a pipe line connected to the indoor unit, for pumping up the refrigerant heat exchanged at the thermal storage unit to the indoor unit, a supplementary heat exchanger unit for heat exchanging the refrigerant heat exchanged at the indoor unit again, and supplying to the thermal storage unit, and a plurality of valves for selective control of a refrigerant flow to the outdoor unit, the thermal storage unit, the indoor unit, the first supplementary pump, and the supplementary heat exchanger unit.
- Thus, the present invention permits easy connection/disconnection of the units because the outdoor unit, the indoor unit, the thermal storage unit and the functional unit are provided individually and connected to one another.
- Moreover, the easy connection/disconnection of the functional unit and the thermal storage unit permits easy connection of the functional unit and the thermal storage unit to an existing air conditioner.
- It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
- Advantageous Effects
- Accordingly, the present invention can improve convenience of use at the end as connection/disconnection of the units is easy. That is, the easy connection/disconnection of the functional unit and the thermal storage unit permits to connect the functional unit and the thermal storage unit even to an existing air conditioner.
- Moreover, as the thermal storage unit has a plurality of the thermal storage heat exchanger in the thermal storage tank. Accordingly, a contact area to the thermal storage substance increases compared to a case only one thermal storage heat exchanger is used, thereby improving heat exchange efficiency.
- The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings;
-
FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a related art heat storage air conditioner, schematically; -
FIG. 2 illustrates a bird s eye view of a building showing installation of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram showing a refrigerant flow of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a thermal storage mode; -
FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram showing a refrigerant flow of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a room cooling with stored heat mode; -
FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram showing a refrigerant flow of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a direct room cooling mode; -
FIG. 7 illustrates a p-h chart of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a thermal storage mode; -
FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram showing installation of units of a heat storage air conditioner; -
FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram showing another type of installation of units of a heat storage air conditioner; -
FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram showing another type of installation of units of a heat storage air conditioner; -
FIG. 11 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 13 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 14 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 15 illustrates a diagram of a thermal storage unit of the air conditioner inFIG. 14 ; -
FIG. 16 illustrates a diagram showing an operation of the air conditioner inFIG. 14 in a cold water circulating mode; -
FIG. 17 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a sixth preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 18 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a seventh preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 19 illustrates a section of super cooling means of the heat storage air conditioner inFIG. 18 , schematically; -
FIG. 20 illustrates a perspective view of an example of a super cooler of the super cooling means inFIG. 19 ; -
FIG. 21 illustrates a section of an embodiment of a thermal storage unit of the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention, schematically; -
FIG. 22 illustrates a section of another embodiment of a thermal storage unit of the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention, schematically; and -
FIG. 23 illustrates a section of another embodiment of a thermal storage unit of the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention, schematically. - Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
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FIG. 2 illustrates a bird s eye view of a building showing installation of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. - Referring to
FIG. 2 , on an outside of a building, there are anoutdoor unit 100, afunctional unit 200, and athermal storage unit 300 of a heat storage air conditioner installed independent from one another, each connected toindoor units 400 in the building with pipes. - One or a plurality of the
indoor units 400 is installed. A variety of types of theindoor units 400 are installed in the rooms respectively, so as to be operative individually or as integrally. There may be adistribution head 450 in the building for distribution of refrigerant to the plurality ofindoor units 400. -
FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. - Referring to
FIG. 3 , the outdoor unit includes acompressor 110 for compressing refrigerant, and anoutdoor heat exchanger 120 for making heat exchange between the refrigerant and environmental air. - There may be one or a plurality of the
compressor 110 for compressing the refrigerant to high temperature, and high pressure. Though only onecompressor 110 may be provided to compress the refrigerant, a constant speed compressor which is operative at a constant speed, and an inverter compressor which is a variable heat pump may be provided as one pair for operation according to a load thereon. - On one side of the
compressor 110, there is anaccumulator 130. Theaccumulator 130 collects liquid refrigerant from the refrigerant from thecompressor 110 for only introducing gas refrigerant to thecompressor 110. - In more detail, of the refrigerant introduced into the
accumulator 130, the liquid refrigerant failed to vaporize yet but left as liquid still is held on a lower side of theaccumulator 130 owing to density, to introduce only the gas refrigerant on an upper side of theaccumulator 130 to thecompressor 110. - The gas refrigerant is separated from the liquid refrigerant thus, because, if the liquid refrigerant failed to vaporize yet but left as liquid still is introduced into the
compressor 110 directly, a load on thecompressor 110 which compresses refrigerant to high temperature, high pressure refrigerant increases, to result in damage to thecompressor 110. - The
outdoor unit 100 has a fourway valve 140 having a plurality of pipe lines connected thereto so as to be able to communicate with one another. The fourway valve 140, arranged to change a refrigerant flow according to cooling/heating operation, has ports connected to an outlet of thecompressor 110, an inlet of theaccumulator 130, theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, and thefunctional unit 200 or theindoor unit 400. - On an outlet side of the
outdoor unit 100, there is anoutdoor expansion device 150 for controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120. - The
outdoor unit 100 is connected to thefunctional unit 200. Therefore, an outdoorlow pressure connection 160 is provided at the pipe line connected to the fourway valve 140, and an outdoorhigh pressure connection 162 is provided on one side of theoutdoor expansion device 150. - Of course, the
outdoor unit 100 may be connected to theindoor unit 400 directly. That is, the outdoorlow pressure connection 160 is connected to an indoor lowpressure flow line 412 to be described later, and the outdoorhigh pressure connection 162 may be connected to an indoor highpressure flow line 410 to be described later. - The
functional unit 200, installed on one side of theoutdoor unit 100, controls the refrigerant flow according to an operation condition. - The
functional unit 200 has asupplementary flow line 210 provided with asupplementary heat exchanger 212 and asupplementary pump 214 on one side of thesupplementary heat exchanger 212 for forcing the refrigerant flow. - The
supplementary heat exchanger 212 makes heat exchange between the refrigerant and the outdoor air like theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, and is operative selectively when thethermal storage unit 300 is used. That is, in a case the energy stored in thethermal storage unit 300 is used, thesupplementary heat exchanger 212 is used only when required according to a capacity of theindoor unit 400 or a required temperature. - The
supplementary pump 214 enforces the refrigerant flow to be introduced into thesupplementary line 210 and thesupplementary heat exchanger 212, and compresses the refrigerant. Mounted between thesupplementary heat exchanger 212 and thesupplementary pump 214, there is a first fourway valve 215. - At both ends of the
supplementary line 210, afirst valve 216 and asecond valve 218 are mounted respectively for opening/closing thesupplementary line 210. - One end of the
functional unit 200 is connected to theoutdoor unit 100 so as to be in communication therewith. In more detail, thefunctional unit 200 has a functionallow pressure connection 220 connected to the outdoorlower pressure connection 160 of theoutdoor unit 100, and a functionalhigh pressure connection 222 connected to the outdoorhigh pressure connection 162 of theoutdoor unit 100. - In the
functional unit 200, there is athird valve 224 and afourth valve 226 mounted on a line extended from the functionalhigh pressure connection 222. Aliquid flow line 240 is branched from thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226. That is, at both ends of the liquid flow line, thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226 are mounted for controlling the refrigerant flow. - The
liquid flow line 240 is a passage for guiding the refrigerant flow from thethermal storage unit 300 to theindoor unit 400 in a case the air conditioner is operational on thethermal storage unit 300. That is, theliquid flow line 240 serves as a passage for guiding the refrigerant from thethermal storage unit 300 to theindoor unit 400 in a thermal storage room cooling mode. - The
liquid flow line 240 has an inlet and an outlet controlled by a second fourway valve 242. - There is a
dryer 244 mounted on theliquid flow line 240, for removing moisture from the refrigerant in theliquid flow line 240. - On one side of the
dryer 244, there is aliquid pump 246, for enforcing the refrigerant flow in theliquid flow line 240, particularly, when the air conditioner is operational on thethermal storage unit 300. - On one side of the
liquid pump 246, there is areceiver 248 for separating gas refrigerant from the liquid refrigerant. - In more detail, the
receiver 248 holds surplus of refrigerant from theoutdoor unit 100, and makes only liquid refrigerant to flow. That is, in the thermal storage room cooling mode, thereceiver 248 makes only the liquid refrigerant to flow to thethermal storage unit 300. - The
fourth valve 226 has one side connected to a high pressurethermal storage connection 250. The high pressurethermal storage connection 250 has one end of a pipe line of thethermal storage unit 300 connected thereto. - In the
functional unit 200, there is afifth valve 252 mounted on a pipe line between thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226. Thefifth valve 252 has an indoor highpressure flow line 410 connected thereto, which is connected to anindoor unit 400 to be described later. - The
functional unit 200 is connected to theindoor unit 400 with the indoor highpressure flow line 410 and the indoor lowpressure flow line 412. Thefunctional unit 200 has an indoorhigh pressure connection 262 and an indoorlow pressure connection 260 connected to the indoor highpressure flow line 410 and the indoorlow pressure line 412, respectively. - The indoor
low pressure connection 260 is a portion connected to a pipe line of theindoor unit 400 a relatively low pressure refrigerant flows therein in room cooling, and the indoorhigh pressure connection 262 is a portion connected to a pipe line of theindoor unit 400 a relatively high pressure refrigerant flows therein in room cooling. - Mounted on one side of the indoor
low pressure connection 260, there is a shut offvalve 270 for selective shut off of the refrigerant flow between theindoor unit 400 and thefunctional unit 200. - The
functional unit 200 receives refrigerant from thethermal storage unit 300 through the low pressurethermal storage connection 272 connected to thesecond valve 218. - The
thermal storage unit 300 is connected to thefunctional unit 200, and the refrigerant flow between thethermal storage unit 300 and thefunctional unit 200 is controlled by thesecond valve 218 and thefourth valve 226. - The
thermal storage unit 300 has athermal storage tank 310 provided therein for holding thermal storage substance. Accordingly, as the thermal storage substance is heated or cooled, heat is stored in thethermal storage tank 310. The thermal storage substance in thethermal storage tank 310 stores energy, and is preferably water H2O having a high specific gravity. - In the
thermal storage tank 310, there is thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. There are two thermalstorage heat exchangers 320 provided thereto, for making heat exchange between the refrigerant therein and the thermal storage substance on an outside of thethermal storage tank 310. That is, the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 includes a first thermalstorage heat exchanger 322 and a second thermalstorage heat exchanger 324, to heat or cool the thermal storage substance in thethermal storage tank 310 depending on a temperature of the refrigerant in the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. - Mounted on one side of the first thermal
storage heat exchanger 322, there is a first thermalstorage expansion device 330, and mounted on one side of the second thermalstorage heat exchanger 324, there is a second thermalstorage expansion device 332. The first thermalstorage expansion device 330 and the secondthermal expansion device 332 control a refrigerant flow rate to thethermal storage unit 300, and make the refrigerant to expand to low temperature and low pressure. - As the first thermal
storage expansion device 330 and the secondthermal expansion device 332, a variety of types of valves, such as electronic expansion valves called as LEV (linear expansion valve), solenoid valves, and so on can be used. - Accordingly, in the thermal storage mode, the first thermal
storage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332 expands the refrigerant condensed at theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 adiabatically, to drop a temperature and a pressure of the refrigerant, and forwards a flow rate of the refrigerant proper to a load to the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. - It is preferable that the first thermal
storage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332 adjust openings of valves to adjust flow rates of decompressed refrigerant, actively. - The
indoor unit 400 includes an indoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and anindoor expansion device 430 for expanding the refrigerant and controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant. - There is one or two
indoor unit 400, having a capacity proper to cool or heat a room space. - The
indoor expansion device 430 is an LEV like the first thermalstorage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332. Therefore, in the direct room cooling mode theindoor expansion device 430 expands the refrigerant condensed at theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 adiabatically, to drop a temperature and a pressure of the refrigerant, and forwards a flow rate of the refrigerant proper to a load to theindoor heat exchanger 420. - The operation of the heat storage air conditioner will be described, taking a case of room cooling as an example.
- At first, a case the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention is operational in a thermal storage mode with reference to
FIG. 4 . - In the thermal storage mode, it is intended to store an energy in the
thermal storage unit 300 in advance during the night time, i.e., in a period power consumption is low, more specifically, it is intended to change a phase of a thermal storage substance (ice making, if the thermal storage substance is water) held in thethermal storage tank 310 of thethermal storage unit 300. - In this instance, the
outdoor unit 100, thefunctional unit 200 and thethermal storage unit 300 are operated. That is, thefunctional unit 200 makes theoutdoor unit 100 and thethermal storage unit 300 in communication to each other, and cuts a flow of the refrigerant to theindoor unit 400. - In more detail, refrigerant flows through the indoor low
pressure flow line 412 and the indoor highpressure flow line 410 are cut off by the shut offvalve 270 and thefifth valve 252, to stop refrigerant flow between theindoor unit 400 and thefunctional unit 200. - The
first valve 216 and thesecond valve 218 stop a refrigerant flow led to thesupplementary flow line 210. Thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226 cut off theliquid flow line 240. - Accordingly, as shown in arrows, by the
compressor 110, the refrigerant is compressed to a high pressure, and introduced to theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 through the fourway valve 140. - In general, since the
outdoor heat exchanger 120 is installed on an outside of a building, the refrigerant flowing through an inside of theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 heat exchanges with air on an outside of the building. - Since it is in the thermal storage mode, the refrigerant in the
outdoor heat exchanger 120 discharges heat to the air outside of the building. That is, since theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 serves as a condenser, the refrigerant is cooled by means of heat exchange with the air outside of the building, to become liquid refrigerant (of course, not a perfect liquid refrigerant). - Then, the refrigerant is discharged from the outdoor
heat exchanger unit 120, passes through theoutdoor expansion device 150, and is introduced to thefunctional unit 200. - The refrigerant is then introduced into the
thermal storage unit 300. That is, because theliquid flow line 240 is cut off by thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226, the refrigerant introduced into thefunctional unit 200 flows led to thethermal storage unit 300 through the high pressurethermal storage connection 250, directly. - The refrigerant introduced into the
thermal storage unit 300 is split into two, and passes through the first thermalstorage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332, respectively. The refrigerant passed through the first thermalstorage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332 becomes relatively low temperature, low pressure refrigerant by the expansion, more preferably a refrigerant at a temperature below zero. - The refrigerant passed through the first thermal
storage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332 heat exchanges as the refrigerant passes through the first thermalstorage heat exchanger 322 and the second thermalstorage heat exchanger 324. In this instance, the first thermalstorage heat exchanger 322 and the second thermalstorage heat exchanger 324 serve as evaporators, to drop a temperature of the thermal storage substance held in thethermal storage tank 310, to change a phase (freezing) of the thermal storage substance in thethermal storage tank 310, at the end. That is, the thermal storage substance in thethermal storage tank 310 has a temperature dropped, to have a phase (freezing) changed gradually starting from a circumference of the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. - The refrigerant deprived of heat as the refrigerant passes through the thermal
storage heat exchanger 320 is vaporized to gas, and introduced into thefunctional unit 200 through the low pressurethermal storage connection 272. Because thesecond valve 218 and thefirst valve 216 cut off a flow line led to thesupplementary flow line 210, the refrigerant introduced into thefunctional unit 200 does not pass through thesupplementary flow line 210, but is introduced into theoutdoor unit 100 through the functionallow pressure connection 220 and the outdoorlow pressure connection 160. The refrigerant introduced into theoutdoor unit 100 is guided to theaccumulator 130 through the fourway valve 140. - The
accumulator 130 filters liquid state refrigerant, only to introduce gas state refrigerant to thecompressor 110. - According to above steps, a cycle of the thermal storage mode is completed, and in the thermal storage mode, a phase change is progressed in the
thermal storage tank 310 of the thermal storage unit 300 (ice is made if the thermal storage substance is water). -
FIG. 5 illustrates a refrigerant flow in a room cooling with stored heat mode. That is, a process for cooling a room by using energy storage by above thermal storage mode is shown. - In the room cooling with stored heat mode is mostly used during day time when the power consumption is great, to cool a room by using the energy stored during night time.
- In this instance, the refrigerant flows through the
functional unit 200, thethermal storage unit 300, and theindoor unit 400, and stops at theoutdoor unit 100. That is, the refrigerant flow to theoutdoor unit 100 is cut off, and refrigerant flow to thesupplementary flow line 210 and theliquid flow line 240 is permitted, by thefirst valve 216 and thethird valve 224. In this instance, thesecond valve 218 cuts off a flow line connected to thefirst valve 216, and opens flow lines led to thesupplementary flow line 210 and the low pressurethermal storage connection 272. Thefourth valve 226 cuts off a flow line connected to thefifth valve 252, and opens flow lines led to theliquid flow line 240 and the high pressurethermal storage connection 250. Thefifth valve 252 opens a flow line led to the indoor highpressure flow line 410, and cuts off a flow line connected to thefourth valve 226. - At first, the refrigerant introduced to the
functional unit 200 through the high pressurethermal storage connection 250 will be described. - In this instance, since the
liquid flow line 240 is opened by thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226, the refrigerant introduced to thefunctional unit 200 from thethermal storage unit 300 flows through theliquid flow line 240. - The refrigerant flow through the
liquid flow line 240 is forced by theliquid pump 246. Therefore, the refrigerant flowing through theliquid flow line 240 has moisture and gas refrigerant therein removed therefrom as the refrigerant passes through thereceiver 248 and theliquid pump 246. - In more detail, the
receiver 248 removes the gas refrigerant, and thedryer 244 removes the moisture from the refrigerant. - Accordingly, the liquid refrigerant passed through the
liquid flow line 240 passes through the second fourway valve 242, thethird valve 224, and thefifth valve 252 in succession, and is introduced to theindoor unit 400 through the indoorhigh pressure connection 262. - Since there are a plurality of the
indoor units 400, the refrigerant supplied from thefunctional unit 200 is distributed uniformly to theindoor unit 400. The refrigerant introduced to theindoor units 400 passes through a plurality of theindoor expansion devices 430, respectively. - The refrigerant passed through the
indoor expansion device 430 becomes to have a low pressure, and is introduced to, and heat exchanges at theindoor heat exchanger 420. That is, heat exchange takes place between the refrigerant flowing through an inside of theindoor heat exchanger 420 and the air in the room, and as theindoor heat exchanger 420 serves as an evaporator, the refrigerant takes heat from the room air. - Thus, the refrigerant vaporized to a gas state as the refrigerant passes through the
indoor heat exchanger 420, and the room air has heat taken therefrom to cool the room. - The refrigerant from the
indoor heat exchanger 420 is guided by the indoor low pressure flow line to thefunctional unit 200 through the indoorlow pressure connection 260. In this instance, the refrigerant passed through the shut offvalve 270 is introduced to thesupplementary flow line 210 through thefirst valve 216. The refrigerant introduced to thesupplementary flow line 210 is enforced to flow to thesupplementary heat exchanger 212 by thesupplementary pump 214. - The
supplementary heat exchanger 212 is a small sized heat exchanger, serving as a condenser. Therefore, the refrigerant passed through thesupplementary heat exchanger 212 has a temperature thereof dropped by thesupplementary heat exchanger 212. - The refrigerant passed through the
supplementary heat exchanger 212 passes through thesecond valve 218 and the low pressurethermal storage connection 272 in succession, and is introduced to thethermal storage unit 300. The refrigerant introduced to thethermal storage unit 300 passes through the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. - Heat exchange is caused at the thermal
storage heat exchanger 320. That is, heat exchange takes place between the refrigerant in the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 and the thermal storage substance (ice) in thethermal storage tank 310. Accordingly, the thermal storage substance (ice) in thethermal storage tank 310 takes heat from the refrigerant in the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 and is melted, through which process, the refrigerant passed through an inside of the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 becomes to have a low temperature. - The refrigerant discharged from the thermal
storage heat exchanger 320 is introduced to the functional unit again through the high pressurethermal storage connection 250. - According to above steps, a cycle of the room cooling with stored heat is completed, to cool the room.
-
FIG. 6 illustrates a direct room cooling mode in which the room is cooled, not by using thethermal storage unit 300, but by using theoutdoor unit 100, directly. - In the direct cooling mode, the shut off
valve 270 is opened, and thefirst valve 216 and thesecond valve 218 cut of flow lines led to thesupplementary flow line 210. Thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226 cut off flow lines led to theliquid flow line 240. Thefifth valve 252 cuts off a flow line connected to thefourth valve 226, and opens a flow line connected to the indoor highpressure flow line 410. - Upon putting the
compressor 110 into operation, the high pressure refrigerant from thecompressor 110 is introduced to theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 through the fourway valve 140. Since theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 serves as a condenser, the outdoor air takes heat from the refrigerant, to make the refrigerant to be low temperature liquid refrigerant. - The refrigerant passed through the
outdoor heat exchanger 120 passes through theoutdoor expansion device 150 and introduced to thefunctional unit 200. The refrigerant introduced to thefunctional unit 200 passes through thethird valve 224, thefifth valve 252, and the indoorhigh pressure connection 262 in succession, and is introduced to theindoor unit 400, directly. That is, refrigerant flow to thethermal storage unit 300 is cut off. - Since there are the plurality of the
indoor units 400, the refrigerant supplied from thefunctional unit 200 is distributed uniformly to theindoor unit 400. The refrigerant introduced to theindoor units 400 passes through a plurality of theindoor expansion devices 430, respectively. - The refrigerant passed through the
indoor expansion device 430 becomes to have a low pressure, and is introduced to, and heat exchanges at theindoor heat exchanger 420. That is, heat exchange takes place between the refrigerant flowing through an inside of theindoor heat exchanger 420 and the air in the room, and as theindoor heat exchanger 420 serves as an evaporator, the refrigerant takes heat from the room air. - Thus, the refrigerant vaporized to a gas state as the refrigerant passes through the
indoor heat exchanger 420, and the room air has heat taken therefrom to cool the room. This is the same with the operation of theindoor unit 400 in the room cooling with stored heat mode described before. - The refrigerant from the
indoor heat exchanger 420 is guided by the indoor low pressure flow line to thefunctional unit 200 through the indoorlow pressure connection 260. In this instance, the refrigerant passed through the shut offvalve 270 is introduced to thesupplementary flow line 210 through thefirst valve 216. The refrigerant introduced to thesupplementary flow line 210 is enforced to flow to thesupplementary heat exchanger 212 by thesupplementary pump 214. - In this instance, since the shut off
valve 270 is opened, and thefirst valve 216 cut off a refrigerant flow to thesupplementary flow line 210, the refrigerant introduced to thefunctional unit 200 is introduced to theoutdoor unit 100 through the functionallow pressure connection 220 and the outdoorlow pressure connection 160. - The refrigerant introduced to the
outdoor unit 100 is guided to theaccumulator 130 through the fourway valve 140. Theaccumulator 130 has liquid state refrigerant filtered from the refrigerant only to introduce gas state refrigerant to thecompressor 110. - According to above steps, the direct room cooling mode is completed.
-
FIG. 7 illustrates a p-h chart in a thermal storage mode. - j and k denote states before and after the compressors respectively, and l and m denote states at an inlet and an outlet of the
outdoor heat exchanger 120 serving as a condenser, respectively. That is, a refrigerant pressure rises at thecompressor 110, and there is no pressure change at theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 during heat exchange takes place, but has a change of enthalpy h by the temperature change. - A symbol n denotes a state of the refrigerant introduced into the
functional unit 200, and o and p denote states of refrigerant before and after the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320, respectively. - In more detail, the refrigerant is involved in pressure drop as the refrigerant passes through the indoor heat expansion device 430 (n o). There is no pressure change in the thermal
storage heat exchanger 320 which serves as a vaporizer, during which process enthalpy h increases due to increase of a temperature of the refrigerant. An unexplained symbol q denotes a state of the refrigerant introduced to theoutdoor unit 100 from thefunctional unit 200. - In the meantime, though the foregoing description has been based on cooling operation of the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention, the heat storage air conditioner can be used for heating a room.
- That is, as an example, though the foregoing description shows a case in which the
thermal storage tank 310 of thethermal storage unit 300 is used as a room cooling thermal storage tank during night time to change a phase (ice making) of thermal storage substance for room cooling, the refrigerant flow may be reversed, to use thethermal storage tank 310 as a room heating thermal storage tank. - In this case, the thermal storage substance in the
thermal storage tank 310 is involved in a temperature rise to a high temperature to accumulate thermal energy, and the room is heated by using the thermal energy during day time. - Or alternatively, a room cooling thermal storage tank and a room heating thermal storage tank may be provided separately, to use the room cooling thermal storage tank in room cooling and to use the room heating thermal storage tank in room heating.
- Since operation principles of the room cooling and room heating systems are the same with an operation principle of a general room cooling/heating air conditioner, detailed description of which will be omitted.
- The
outdoor unit 100 and thethermal storage unit 300 may be installed on various positions depending on a strength of the building or user s convenience. -
FIGS. 8 to 10 illustrate various installation states of theoutdoor unit 100 and thethermal storage unit 300. -
FIG. 8 illustrates a case used generally, wherein theoutdoor unit 100 and thefunctional unit 200 are installed on a top of the building, and thethermal storage unit 300 is installed on a ground. - The
thermal storage unit 300 has four sets in total, wherein one pair on a left side are room coolingthermal storage units 300 a, and one pair on a right side are room heatingthermal storage units 300 b. - That is, of course, the
thermal storage unit 300 can be used in dual purposes for room cooling and room heating, or alternatively, as shown inFIG. 8 , room cooling thermal storage units, and room heating thermal storage units may be provided and used, separately. - If there are a plurality of the
thermal storage units 300, the plurality ofthermal storage units 300 may be used selectively under the control of thefunctional unit 200. That is, according to capacity of theindoor unit 400, the plurality of thethermal storage units 300 may be used, entirely, or partially. -
FIG. 9 illustrates a configuration applicable to a case when a structural safety of the building is secured. That is, as shown, one of thethermal storage unit 300 is installed on the top of the building. -
FIG. 10 illustrates a configuration applicable to a case when a structural safety of the building can not be secured. That is, as shown, in this case, not only thethermal storage units 300, but also theoutdoor unit 100 is installed on the ground. - As has been discussed, in the present invention, the
thermal storage unit 300 and theindoor units 400 are connected to thefunctional unit 200, separately. Therefore, thethermal storage unit 300 and theindoor unit 400 can be connected/disconnected to/from thefunctional unit 200 as cases demand. - Moreover, even if the
thermal storage unit 300 and/or theindoor unit 400 are not disconnected from thefunctional unit 200, use of thethermal storage unit 300 or theindoor unit 400 can be cut off by operating a plurality of valves. That is, a refrigerant flow to thethermal storage unit 300 or theindoor unit 400 can be cut off by the valves. - Thus, the
thermal storage unit 300 can be used selectively under the control of thefunctional unit 200. - In the meantime,
FIG. 11 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. A basic system of the heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is identical to the foregoing embodiment, except that the second embodiment suggests twoliquid pumps 246 provided to thefunctional unit 200. - In more detail, the heat storage air conditioner includes a combination of the
liquid pump 246 of aconstant speed pump 246 a and aninverter pump 246 b. Theconstant speed pump 246 a rotates at a constant speed, and theinverter pump 246 b has a variable rotation speed. - Therefore, in a case a load for transfer of the refrigerant is low relatively, only the
inverter pump 246 b is operated. Of course, in this case too, theinverter pump 246 b is rotated at a speed varied with the load. Then, if the load for transfer of the refrigerant reaches to a level which theinverter pump 246 b can not deal with, theconstant speed pump 246 a is put into operation, additionally. - For an example, referring to
FIG. 10 , in a case thefunctional unit 200 is installed on the top of the building, and thethermal storage unit 300 and theoutdoor unit 100 are installed on the ground, theliquid pump 246 becomes to be positioned higher than thethermal storage unit 300 and theoutdoor unit 100. - The
liquid pump 246 is required to pump up the refrigerant from thethermal storage unit 300 or theoutdoor unit 100 to theindoor units 400. Accordingly, it is preferable that both theinverter pump 246 b and theconstant speed pump 246 a are operated to increase a pumping capacity. - In short, the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention has a refrigerant flow rate varied with installation heights of the
functional unit 200 and theindoor units 400, and a number of operationalindoor units 400, wherein if the load for transfer of the refrigerant is low, theinverter pump 246 b is operated at a proper rotation speed. In a case if transfer of the refrigerant is difficult only with theinverter pump 246 b, theconstant speed pump 246 b is used additionally, for increasing a transfer capacity of the refrigerant. - Thus, by operating the
inverter pump 246 b and theconstant speed pump 246 a selectively according to the load, a power consumption can be reduced compared to a case when a large capacity constant speed pump is always operated. - Of course, though it is preferable that the
inverter pump 246 b and theconstant speed pump 246 a are used selectively as theliquid pump 246, different from this, the same as the foregoing embodiment, only two constant speed pumps may be provided as theliquid pump 246, or only two inverter pumps may be provided as theliquid pump 246. -
FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment heat storage air conditioner is designed such that theindoor heat exchangers 420 of theindoor units 400 have vaporization temperatures different from one another. Accordingly, the vaporization temperatures of theindoor heat exchangers 420 different from one another enable room cooling, refrigeration, and freezing. - In more detail, a plurality of the
indoor heat exchangers 420 of theindoor unit 400 includes a firstindoor heat exchanger 420 a for room cooling, a secondindoor heat exchanger 420 b for refrigerating, and a thirdindoor heat exchanger 420 c for freezing. - In order to make adiabatic expansion of the refrigerant introduced to the
indoor heat exchangers indoor expansion device 430 includes a firstindoor expansion device 430 a, a secondindoor expansion device 430 b, and a thirdindoor expansion device 430 c. - The refrigerant to be introduced to the first
indoor heat exchanger 420 a passes through the firstindoor expansion device 430 a only. The refrigerant to be introduced to the secondindoor heat exchanger 420 b passes through the firstindoor expansion device 430 a and the secondindoor expansion device 430 b. The refrigerant to be introduced to the thirdindoor heat exchanger 420 c passes through the firstindoor expansion device 430 a, the secondindoor expansion device 430 b, and the thirdindoor expansion device 430 c in succession. - Above configuration enables the refrigerant to be introduced to the second
indoor heat exchanger 420 b to have a vaporization temperature lower than the firstindoor heat exchanger 420 a, and the refrigerant to be introduced to the thirdindoor heat exchanger 420 c to have a vaporization temperature lower than the secondindoor heat exchanger 420 b. Therefore, in the room cooling with stored heat mode, or the direct room coiling mode, the firstindoor heat exchanger 420 a, the secondindoor heat exchanger 420 b, and the thirdindoor heat exchanger 420 c can make room cooling, refrigeration, and freezing at rooms the firstindoor heat exchanger 420 a, the secondindoor heat exchanger 420 b, and the thirdindoor heat exchanger 420 c are installed therein, respectively. -
FIG. 13 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. The heat storage air conditioner is designed such that theindoor units 400 includes a room coolingindoor unit 400 a and a room heatingindoor unit 400 b. - Alike the first embodiment
indoor unit 400, the room coolingindoor unit 400 a is connected to thefunctional unit 200, and includes a plurality of units for room cooling, refrigeration, and freezing, respectively. - The room heating
indoor unit 400 b has a roomheating heat exchanger 440, and connected to opposite ends of theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 of theoutdoor unit 100. At connections of the room heatingindoor unit 400 b to theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, there areroom heating valves 142 mounted thereon. Theroom heating valves 142 control a refrigerant flow to/from the room heatingindoor unit 400 b. - The
room heating valves 142 are three way valves, and mounted on an inlet side and an outlet side respectively, for controlling a portion of a refrigerant flow to theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 to be introduced to the room heatingindoor unit 400 b. Accordingly, even if the room coolingindoor unit 400 a makes room cooling, refrigeration, or freezing, the roomheating heat exchanger 440 of the room heatingindoor unit 400 b serves as a condenser together with theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, to heat the room. - The refrigerant passed through the room heating
indoor unit 400 b joins with the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, and flows together. - The
room heating valve 142 opens a flow line to the room heatingindoor unit 400 b in the thermal storage mode and/or the direct room cooling mode, to supply high temperature and high pressure refrigerant to the room heatingindoor unit 400 b, for heating the room. - That is, the heat storage air conditioner of the embodiment provides an advantage of performing room heating additionally by using the room heating
indoor unit 400 b in the thermal storage mode and the direct room cooling mode. - In the meantime,
FIGS. 14 to 16 each illustrates a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention. - The heat storage air conditioner in accordance with the fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention is designed such that the thermal storage substance (for an example, water) held in the
thermal storage unit 300 can be circulated through theindoor unit 400, to make room cooling by refrigerant circulation or cold water circulation. - This will be described in more detail.
- Referring to
FIG. 14 , a watersupply flow line 340 connected to an inside of thethermal storage unit 300 is branched from the indoor lowpressure flow line 412 through which the refrigerant flows from theindoor unit 400 to thefunctional unit 200, and a waterdischarge flow line 350 connected to thethermal storage unit 300 is branched from the indoor highpressure flow line 410 connected between thefunctional unit 200 and theindoor unit 400. - There is a
water supply valve 342 mounted at a connection of the watersupply flow line 340 and the indoor lowpressure flow line 412, for opening/closing the watersupply flow line 340 and the indoor lowpressure flow line 412. At a connection of the water discharge flow line and the indoorhigh pressure line 410, there is awater discharge valve 352 mounted thereon, for opening/closing the waterdischarge flow line 350 and the indoor highpressure flow line 410, selectively. - At an end of the water
supply flow line 340, there is aspray nozzle 344 for spraying the thermal storage substance (water) supplied to an inside of thethermal storage tank 310. Therefore, the thermal storage substance (water) introduced to the inside of thethermal storage tank 310 by such aspray nozzle 344 is sprayed into thethermal storage tank 310, and cooled by air. - There is a circulating
pump 354 mounted on the waterdischarge flow line 350. The circulatingpump 354 forces the thermal storage substance (water) to circulate from thethermal storage tank 310 to theindoor unit 400. That is, the thermal storage substance (water) pushed away from thethermal storage unit 300 by the circulatingpump 354 is supplied to theindoor unit 400 through a indoor highpressure flow line 410 to be explained later, and introduced to thethermal storage unit 300 again through the watersupply flow line 340. - Referring to
FIG. 15 , in thethermal storage tank 310 of thethermal storage unit 300, there iswater 360 which is the thermal storage substance held up to a predetermined height. The thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 in thethermal storage tank 310 is secured to securingmembers 362 arranged across the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. - In the meantime, in the
thermal storage tank 310, there is astratification plate 370 for partitioning thethermal storage tank 310 in an up/down direction. Thestratification plate 370 suppresses an up/down flow of the thermal storage substance i.e.,water 360 in thethermal storage tank 310, to induce stratification. - In more detail, there is a temperature difference between an upper side water and a lower side water in the
thermal storage tank 310. That is, there is water having a higher temperature (approx. 7˜8° C. or 10˜15°) on the upper side, and water having a lower temperature (approx. 4˜5° C.) on the lower side. Accordingly, thestratification plate 370 makes the upper side andlower side water 360 having temperatures different from each other to form layers, for discharging thewater 360 having the lower temperature on the lower side of thestratification plate 370. - The
stratification plate 370 has a plurality of fine pass throughholes 372 through which thewater 360 in thethermal storage tank 310 can pass. That is, it is preferable that thestratification plate 370 has a mesh shape, for slow pass through of thewater 360 in thethermal storage tank 310. - In the
thermal storage tank 310, there is circulating means 380 for forcing thewater 360 in thethermal storage tank 310 to circulate. That is, as shown, there is a plurality of circulating means 380 on a bottom of thethermal storage tank 310 or on thestratification plate 370, for forcing an up/down circulation of thewater 360. - The circulating means 380 includes fans, motors, and so on, for operation in a case the thermal storage substance (water) in the
thermal storage tank 310 is not circulated through the indoor unit 400 (in a case of so called refrigerant circulating). That is, in a case the thermal storage substance (water) in thethermal storage tank 310 is circulated through the indoor unit 400 (in a case of so called cold water circulating), the circulating means 380 is not used, but used only in a case refrigerant in the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 is circulated through an inside of the indoor unit 400 (in a case of refrigerant circulating). - There is a
drain pipe 390 connected to one side of a lower side of thethermal storage tank 310. Thedrain pipe 390 is provided for draining the thermal storage substance (water) to an outside of thethermal storage tank 310 when it is intended to replace, the thermal storage substance (water) in thethermal storage tank 310. On thedrain pipe 390, there is adrain valve 392 mounted thereon for opening/closing thedrain pipe 390. - The fifth embodiment heat storage air conditioner has the following operation.
- The
water supply valve 342 and thewater discharge valve 352 cut of the watersupply flow fine 340 and the waterdischarge flow line 350 in the thermal storage mode, thermal storage room cooling mode, and the direct room cooling mode. Accordingly, operations of the thermal storage mode, thermal storage room cooling mode, and the direct room cooling mode of the air conditioner of the embodiment are identical to the operations of the air conditioner of the first embodiment of the present invention. - The
water supply valve 342 and thewater discharge valve 352 open the watersupply flow line 340 and the waterdischarge flow line 350 respectively for circulating the thermal storage substance, i.e., cold water in thethermal storage unit 300 in a cold water circulating mode. - States of circulation of the refrigerant and the cold water (thermal storage substance) in the cold water circulating mode will be described in more detail with reference to
FIG. 16 . - In the cold water circulating mode, all valves are operated such that the
outdoor unit 100 and thethermal storage unit 300 are in communication with thefunctional unit 200, and a refrigerant flow to the indoor unit is cut off. - That is, the shut off
valve 270 is closed, and thefirst valve 216 and thesecond valve 218 cut off flow lines to thesupplementary flow line 210, and open the other flow lines. Thethird valve 224 and thefourth valve 226 cut off flow lines to theliquid flow line 240, and open the other flow lines. Thefifth valve 252 cuts off a flow line connected to the indoor highpressure flow line 410. According to this, there is no refrigerant flow between theindoor unit 400 and thefunctional unit 200. - The
water supply valve 342 and thedischarge valve 352 cut off flow line to thefunctional unit 200, and open flow lines to the watersupply flow line 340 and thedischarge flow line 350, respectively. - Upon putting the
compressor 110 into operation under this state, the refrigerant is compressed to a high pressure and introduced to theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 through the fourway valve 140 as shown in arrows. The refrigerant heat exchanged with air on an outside of the building at theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 is cooled to a liquid refrigerant (of course, the refrigerant is not a prefect liquid refrigerant). - The refrigerant from the
outdoor heat exchanger 120 passes through theoutdoor expansion device 150, and introduced to thefunctional unit 200. The refrigerant introduced to thefunctional unit 200 is introduced to thethermal storage unit 300 through thethird valve 224, thefifth valve 252, and thefourth valve 226. - The refrigerant flow introduced into the
thermal storage unit 300 is split into two, and passes through the first thermalstorage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332, respectively. The refrigerant passed through the first thermalstorage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332 becomes relatively low temperature, low pressure refrigerant by the expansion, more preferably a refrigerant at a temperature below zero. - The refrigerant passed through the first thermal
storage expansion device 330 and the second thermalstorage expansion device 332 heat exchanges as the refrigerant passes through the first thermalstorage heat exchanger 322 and the second thermalstorage heat exchanger 324. In this instance, the first thermalstorage heat exchanger 322 and the second thermalstorage heat exchanger 324 serve as evaporators, to drop a temperature of the thermal storage substance held in thethermal storage tank 310. - The refrigerant deprived of heat as the refrigerant passes through the thermal
storage heat exchanger 320 is vaporized to gas, and introduced into thefunctional unit 200 through the low pressurethermal storage connection 272. - The refrigerant introduced into the
functional unit 200 is introduced into theoutdoor unit 100 through the functionallow pressure connection 220 and the outdoorlow pressure connection 160. The refrigerant introduced into theoutdoor unit 100 is guided to theaccumulator 130 through the fourway valve 140, and introduced to thecompressor 110 again, thereby keeping circulation. - In the meantime, during the refrigerant is circulated through the
outdoor unit 100, thefunctional unit 200, and thethermal storage unit 300, the circulatingpump 354 is operated, to circulate thewater 360 which is the thermal storage substance from thethermal storage tank 310 to theindoor unit 400. As the circulatingpump 354 is operated, thewater 360 on the lower side of thethermal storage tank 310 having a temperature dropped relatively is guided to the indoor highpressure flow line 410 through the waterdischarge flow line 350. - In this instance, since the
water discharge valve 352 cuts off a passage to thefunctional unit 200, thewater 360 passed through the waterdischarge flow line 350 is introduced to theindoor unit 400 through the indoor highpressure flow line 410. - Since there is a plurality of the
indoor units 400, thewater 360 from thethermal storage tank 310 is distributed to theindoor units 400. Thewater 360 introduced to theindoor units 400 passes through theindoor expansion devices 430, respectively. - The
water 360 passed through theindoor expansion device 430 becomes to have a low pressure, and is introduced to, and heat exchanges at, theindoor heat exchanger 420. That is, heat exchange takes place between thewater 420 flowing in theindoor heat exchanger 420 and the air in the room, and, as theindoor heat exchanger 420 serves as a vaporizer, thewater 360 takes heat from the room air. - Thus, the
water 360 is involved in temperature rise as thewater 360 passes through theindoor heat exchanger 420, and the room air has the heat taken therefrom, to cool down the room - The
water 360 discharged from theindoor heat exchanger 420 passes through the indoor lowpressure flow line 412. In this instance, since a passage to thefunctional unit 200 is cut off by thewater supply valve 342, thewater 360 guided through the indoor lowpressure flow line 412 is introduced to the watersupply flow line 340 of thethermal storage unit 300. - The
water 360 passed through the watersupply flow line 340 is sprayed from thespray nozzle 344 into thethermal storage tank 310. Thewater 360 sprayed from thespray nozzle 344 is accumulated in thethermal storage tank 310 and flows downward gradually. In this course, thewater 360 in thethermal storage tank 310 is heat exchanged at the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. That is, heat exchange takes place between thewater 360 in thethermal storage tank 310 and the refrigerant flowing through the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320. - Accordingly, the
water 360 in thethermal storage tank 310 is involved in a temperature drop, and moves downward gradually and passes through the stratification plate 370 (seeFIG. 15 ). That is, thewater 360 passes through the fine pass throughholes 372 in thestratification plate 370, and moves below thestratification plate 370. Thecold water 360 moved down below thestratification plate 370 is introduced to the waterdischarge flow line 350 again. According this process, one cycle is completed. - If it is intended to replace the
water 360 in the thermal storage, thedrain valve 392 is opened to drain thewater 360 through thedrain pipe 390 to an outside of thethermal storage tank 310. -
FIG. 17 illustrates a diagram of a heat storage air conditioner in accordance with a sixth preferred embodiment of the present invention. The heat storage air conditioner has asuper-cooling heat exchanger 122 additionally provided to an outlet side of theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 as super-cooling means for cooling the refrigerant further, thereby improving a heat exchange performance further. - Alike the
outdoor heat exchanger 120, thesuper-cooling heat exchanger 122 serves to make heat exchange between the refrigerant and environmental air, particularly, for cooling the refrigerant cooled at theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 again at the time of room cooling. - Mounted on an outlet side of the
super-cooling heat exchanger 122, there is anoutdoor expansion device 150 for controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120. Theoutdoor expansion device 150 expands refrigerant when theindoor units 400 heat rooms. - Mounted on the outlet side of the
outdoor expansion device 150 further, there is anoutdoor receiver 152. Theoutdoor receiver 152 separates liquid refrigerant from gas refrigerant. That is, theoutdoor receiver 152 separates the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 and theoutdoor expansion device 150 of theoutdoor unit 100 into gas refrigerant and liquid refrigerant, and makes the gas refrigerant to return to an inlet side of theoutdoor heat exchanger 120. - Therefore, there is a
bypass flow line 154 between theoutdoor receiver 152 and an inlet to theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 for flow of gas refrigerant. - Thus, by condensing the refrigerant for two times through the
outdoor heat exchanger 120 and thesuper-cooling heat exchanger 122, a heat exchange rate of theoutdoor unit 100 is increased, to improve performance factors of a refrigerating machine or a heat pump in room cooling or room heating. - Moreover, because the refrigerant is separated into gas refrigerant and liquid refrigerant by the
outdoor receiver 152, and the gas refrigerant is returned to the inlet side of theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 again, the refrigerant introduced to thethermal storage unit 300 or theindoor unit 400 becomes perfect liquid refrigerant. Accordingly, compared to a general case when mixed (gas+liquid) refrigerant is supplied to thethermal storage unit 300 or theindoor unit 400, there is an advantage in that a heat exchange rate is increased. -
FIGS. 18 to 20 each illustrates a thermal storage air conditioner in accordance with a seventh preferred embodiment of the present invention, also including super-cooling means 170 to an outlet side of theoutdoor heat exchanger 120. Alike theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, the super-cooling means 170 makes the refrigerant and the environmental air to heat exchange, to cool down the refrigerant cooled at theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 again, particularly in the thermal storage mode and the direct room cooling mode. - The super-cooling means 170 includes a super-cooler 172 of a double pipe for making heat exchange, a
reverse flow pipe 174 for guiding a portion of the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 to the super-cooler 172, and asuper-cooling expansion valve 176 for expanding the refrigerant introduced to the super-cooler 172 through thereverse flow pipe 174. - Referring to
FIGS. 19 and 20 , thesuper-cooler 172 of a cylindrical double pipe guides both the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 and the refrigerant flowing in a reverse direction, to cause heat exchange on inside/outside. - In more detail, the super-cooler 172 includes an
inside pipe 172 a for flow of the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, and anoutside pipe 172 b for guiding the refrigerant reversing through thereverse flow pipe 174. That is, theinside pipe 172 a has the same size and shape with the refrigerant pipe which guides the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 for flow of the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120. Theoutside pipe 172 b, on an outside of theinside pipe 172 a, has a diameter relatively greater than theinside pipe 172 a, for guiding a reverse flow of a portion of the refrigerant passed through theinside pipe 172 a. - On an outside circumference of the
inside pipe 172 a, there are a plurality ofheat dissipation ribs 172 c. It is preferable that theheat dissipation ribs 172 c are formed to have disk shapes so as to be in conformity with theinside pipe 172 a and theoutside pipe 172 b, and projected outwardly from theinside pipe 172. - As shown, it is preferable that the
heat dissipation ribs 172 c are mounted perpendicular to a length direction of theinside pipe 172 a Of course, depending on cases, theheat dissipation ribs 172 c may have a variety of shapes, such as a shape formed along a helical line on an outside circumference of theinside pipe 172 a, or a shape formed along a length direction. - The
reverse flow pipe 174 guides a reverse flow of a portion of the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120, in more detail, guides a portion of the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 and theinside pipe 172 a of the super cooling means 170 to theoutside pipe 172 b. Therefore, thereverse flow pipe 174 has a right side end in communication with an outlet side of theinside pipe 172 a, and a left side end in communication with theoutside pipe 172 b. - The super
cooling expansion valve 176 is mounted on thereverse flow pipe 174, for controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant reversing through thereverse flow pipe 174, and at the same time with this, expanding the refrigerant flowing through thereverse flow pipe 174. That is, the supercooling expansion valve 176 expands the liquid refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 so that the liquid refrigerant becomes low temperature gas refrigerant. - According to this, since refrigerant having a relatively high temperature flows through an inside of the
inside pipe 172 a, and refrigerant having a relatively low temperature flows through an outside of theinside pipe 172 a, the refrigerant on inside/ outside of theinside pipe 172 a heat exchange with each other. Theheat dissipation ribs 172 c increases an area of theinside pipe 172 a in contact with the refrigerant flowing through an inside of theoutside pipe 172 b. According to this process, the refrigerant flowing through the inside of theinside pipe 172 a is cooled further and flows out of theoutdoor unit 100. - There is a
bypass flow line 178 connected to one end of theoutside pipe 172 b. Referring toFIG. 18 again, thebypass flow line 178 is passage for guiding the refrigerant heat exchanged at the refrigerant passes through the inside of the super cooler 172 to theaccumulator 130 in theoutdoor unit 100. - Accordingly, the refrigerant reversed through the
reverse flow pipe 174, and passed through the super cooler 172 is introduced to theaccumulator 130 again, and therefrom, is circulated. - Further mounted on the outlet side of the super cooling means 170, there is a
outdoor expansion device 150. - The super cooling means 170 on the outlet side of the
outdoor heat exchanger 120 cools down the refrigerant passed through theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 further, to improve a heat exchange performance at thethermal storage unit 300 or theindoor unit 400. -
FIG. 21 illustrates a section of an embodiment of a thermal storage unit of the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention, schematically. - The
thermal storage tank 310 of thethermal storage unit 300 holds a predetermined amount of thermal storage substance W, for an example, water. Though not shown, it is preferable that the thermal storage substance W is supplemented automatically if there is shortage of the thermal storage substance. - There are a plurality of securing means 500 across an inside of the
thermal storage tank 310, for fixedly securing the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 to a predetermined position of an inside surface of thethermal storage tank 310. - In the
thermal storage tank 310, there is a circulating unit 510. The circulating unit 510 includes a circulatingfan 512 for forcing a flow of the thermal storage substance W in thethermal storage tank 310, afan motor 514 for providing power to the circulatingfan 512, and amotor shaft 516 between the circulatingfan 512 and thefan motor 514 for transmission of the rotation power from thefan motor 514 to the circulatingfan 512. - The circulating
fan 512 has a shape similar to, for an example, a propeller mounted to an air plane or a boat for providing thrust thereto. That is, in general, the circulatingfan 512 has 2 to 4 blades, for producing the thrust as the fan rotates. - The circulating
fan 512 is mounted in thethermal storage tank 310, and thefan motor 514 is mounted on an outside of thethermal storage tank 310. Therefore, a rotation power is transmitted from thefan motor 514 on the outside of thethermal storage tank 310 to the circulatingfan 512 by themotor shaft 516. - Accordingly, the
motor shaft 516 is mounted passed through one side of thethermal storage tank 310, preferably with a sealingmember 520 mounted on an outside circumference of themotor shaft 516 for preventing the thermal storage substance W from leaking to an outside of thethermal storage tank 310. - The sealing
member 520 is placed between themotor shaft 516 and a shaft pass throughhole 522 in thethermal storage tank 310 for preventing the thermal storage substance W from leaking through a gap between the shaft pass throughhole 522 and themotor shaft 516. - The circulating unit 510 in the
thermal storage tank 310 circulates the thermal storage substance W uniformly to make heat transfer uniform in the thermal storage mode, or the room cooling with stored heat mode, which will be described in more detail. - In the thermal storage mode, if the
fan motor 514 of the circulating unit 510 is driven by external power applied thereto to generate rotation power, the rotation power is transmitted to the circulatingfan 512 through themotor shaft 516, and if the circulatingfan 512 is rotated accordingly, the thermal storage substance W starts to circulate as shown in arrows in the drawing. - The thermal storage substance W forcibly flown by the circulating
fan 512 moves toward a lateral direction at a lower side of thethermal storage tank 310, and moves toward an opposite lateral direction at an upper side of thethermal storage tank 310, to form a circulation. - The circulating of the thermal storage substance W reduces temperature differences between portions of the upper/lower sides, or the left/right sides of the
thermal storage tank 310. For an example, inFIG. 21 , there will be no temperature difference between the left/right sides of thethermal storage tank 310. That is, a temperature difference of the thermal storage substance W between an inlet side (a left side of thethermal storage tank 310 in the drawing) of an inside of thethermal storage tank 310, and an outlet side (a right side of thethermal storage tank 310 in the drawing) thereof is reduced. - Moreover, in the room cooling with stored heat mode too, since the thermal storage substance W produced as ice in the
thermal storage tank 310 melts by the circulating unit 510 circulates an inside of thethermal storage tank 310 by the circulatingfan 512, heat exchange takes place throughout the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 in thethermal storage tank 310, uniformly. -
FIG. 22 illustrates another embodiment of a thermal storage unit, wherein, alike the thermal storage unit of the foregoing embodiment, there is the thermal storage substance W in thethermal storage tank 310, and the thermalstorage heat exchanger 320 is secured to a predetermined position by securingmeans 500. - In order to circulate thermal storage substance in the
thermal storage unit 300, there are aguide pipe 560 connected to an upper side and a lower side of an outside of one side of thethermal storage tank 310 so as to be in communication with an inside of thethermal storage tank 310, and a circulatingpump 550 for forced circulation of the thermal storage substance W through theguide pipe 560. - The
guide pipe 560 includes a flow-inpipe 562 connected to the circulatingpump 550 and the lower side of thethermal storage tank 310, for guiding the thermal storage substance in thethermal storage tank 310 to the circulating pump 505, and a flow-outpipe 564 connected to the circulatingpump 550 and the upper side of thethermal storage tank 310, for guiding the thermal storage substance forcibly flowing by the circulating pump 505 to the upper side of thethermal storage tank 310. - Accordingly, if the circulating
pump 550 is put into operation, the thermal storage substance W in thethermal storage tank 310 is circulated continuously by repeating introduction of the thermal storage substance W to the circulatingpump 550 from the lower side of thethermal storage tank 310 through the flow-inpipe 562, and discharging to the upper side of thethermal storage tank 310 through the flow-outpipe 564. -
FIG. 23 illustrates a section of another embodiment of a thermal storage unit whereinguide pipes 575, and 585 and circulatingpumps thermal storage tank 310, for circulating the thermal storage substance from the opposite sides of thethermal storage tank 310. - In the meantime, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions.
- For an example, the
thermal storage tank 310 is provided with two thermalstorage heat exchangers 320 as an example, there may be one or three or more thermalstorage heat exchangers 320 may be provided. - Moreover, there may be a plurality of the
thermal storage tanks 310 provided thereto. - Though only one
functional unit 200 is shown in each of the foregoing embodiments, there may be a plurality offunctional units 200 provided thereto for use selectively as the case demands. - In the meantime, though not shown, there may be more valve control means provided to the
functional unit 200. That is, as thefirst valve 216, thesecond valve 218, thethird valve 224, thefourth valve 226, and thefifth valve 252 are provided to thefunctional unit 200, there is valve control means for controlling such a plurality of thevalves - Accordingly, the control means controls openings and extents of openings of the
first valve 216, thesecond valve 218, thethird valve 224, thefourth valve 226, and thefifth valve 252 according to an operation condition of the air conditioner of the present invention. - As described, the heat storage air conditioner of the present invention has the outdoor unit, the indoor unit, the thermal storage unit, and the functional unit provided separately, and connected to one another.
- Accordingly, the present invention can improve convenience of use at the end as connection/disconnection of the units is easy. That is, the easy connection/disconnection of the functional unit and the thermal storage unit permits to connect the functional unit and the thermal storage unit even to an existing air conditioner.
- Moreover, as the thermal storage unit has a plurality of the thermal storage heat exchanger in the thermal storage tank. Accordingly, a contact area to the thermal storage substance increases compared to a case only one thermal storage heat exchanger is used, thereby improving heat exchange efficiency.
- The present invention relates to air conditioners.
Claims (57)
1. A heat storage air conditioner comprising:
an outdoor unit having an outdoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one compressor for compressing refrigerant;
an indoor unit having at least one indoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange;
a thermal storage unit for storing energy, the thermal storage unit having a thermal storage heat exchanger for making heat exchange; and
at least one functional unit for selective control of a refrigerant flow among the outdoor unit, the indoor unit and the thermal storage unit according to an operation condition.
2. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the functional unit is mounted to the outdoor unit.
3. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the functional unit is mounted to the thermal storage unit.
4. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the indoor unit, the thermal storage unit, and the functional unit are mounted individually separate from one another.
5. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the functional unit includes a plurality of valves for controlling the refrigerant flow according to an operation condition.
6. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the functional unit includes valve control means for controlling the plurality of valves.
7. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the functional unit includes a supplementary heat exchanger for making heat exchange of the refrigerant introduced thereto from the indoor unit.
8. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the functional unit includes a first supplementary pump for pumping up the refrigerant from the thermal storage unit to the indoor unit forcibly.
9. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first supplementary pump includes at least one constant speed pump.
10. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first supplementary pump includes at least one inverter pump which has a variable speed.
11. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first supplementary pump includes a combination of at least one constant speed pump and at least one inverter pump with a variable speed.
12. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the constant speed pump is driven separate from the inverter pump.
13. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the constant speed pump is driven along with the inverter pump.
14. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first supplementary pump is positioned higher than the outdoor unit, or the thermal storage unit.
15. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the functional unit further includes a receiver for separating the refrigerant flown by the first supplementary pump into gas refrigerant and liquid refrigerant.
16. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the functional unit further includes a dryer for removing moisture from the refrigerant flown by the first supplementary pump.
17. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the thermal storage unit includes a plurality of thermal storage heat exchangers.
18. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the thermal storage unit further includes a thermal storage expansion device at one side of each of the plurality of thermal storage heat exchangers.
19. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the thermal storage unit includes at least one thermal storage tank having thermal storage substance held therein for heat exchange with the refrigerant flowing through the thermal storage heat exchanger and storing energy.
20. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the indoor unit includes a plurality of the indoor heat exchangers having vaporization temperatures different from one another.
21. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the indoor unit includes at least one indoor expansion device on an inlet side of each of the indoor heat exchangers for expanding the refrigerant.
22. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the indoor expansion devices respectively connected to the indoor heat exchangers are connected to outlets of the indoor expansion devices connected to other indoor expansion devices, for re-expanding the refrigerant from other indoor expansion devices, and supplying to the indoor heat exchangers, respectively.
23. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the indoor heat exchanger includes a room cooling indoor heat exchanger, and refrigerating or freezing indoor heat exchanger.
24. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 23 , wherein the indoor expansion devices are arranged such that the refrigerant introduced to the refrigerating or freezing indoor heat exchanger passes through two or more than two indoor expansion devices.
25. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a room heating indoor unit having a room heating heat exchanger connected to the outdoor unit from an outside of the outdoor unit for heating a room by heat exchange with high temperature and high pressure refrigerant from the outdoor unit.
26. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 23 , wherein the room heating indoor unit is operative with other indoor units which perform room cooling.
27. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 25 , wherein the room heating heat exchanger has an inlet and an outlet connected to the outdoor heat exchanger at an inlet and an outlet thereof, respectively.
28. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 27 , further comprising a room heating valve mounted on a connection of the outdoor heat exchanger and the room heating heat exchanger for controlling refrigerant supply from the outdoor unit to the room heating indoor unit.
29. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the thermal storage unit further includes a circulating unit for circulating the thermal storage substance from the thermal storage tank through the indoor unit.
30. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the circulating unit includes;
a water discharge flow line for discharging the thermal storage substance from the thermal storage tank to the indoor unit,
a water supply flow line for guiding the thermal storage substance passed through the indoor unit to an inside of the thermal storage tank, and
a circulating pump for forced circulation of the thermal storage substance through the water discharge flow line, the indoor unit, and the water supply flow line.
31. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 23 , wherein the thermal storage tank includes a stratification plate for suppressing up/down direction flow of the thermal storage substance in the thermal storage tank to induce stratification of the thermal storage substance.
32. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 31 , wherein the stratification plate has fine pass through holes formed therein for pass through of the thermal storage substance.
33. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 30 , wherein the circulating pump is mounted on the water discharge flow line.
34. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 30 , further comprising a spray nozzle at one end of the water supply flow line for spraying the thermal storage substance supplied to the thermal storage tank.
35. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the thermal storage tank of the thermal storage unit further includes an internal circulating unit for forcing circulation of the thermal storage substance in the thermal storage tank.
36. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an outdoor receiver mounted to the outdoor unit for separating the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger into liquid refrigerant and gas refrigerant, and discharging only the liquid refrigerant to an outside of the outdoor unit.
37. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 36 , wherein the outdoor unit further includes a bypass flow line for returning the gas refrigerant separated by the outdoor receiver to the inlet of the outdoor heat exchanger.
38. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 36 , wherein the outdoor unit further includes a super-cooling heat exchanger for further cooling the refrigerant cooled as the refrigerant passes through the outdoor heat exchanger.
39. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 38 , wherein the super-cooling heat exchanger is mounted between the outdoor heat exchanger and the outdoor receiver.
40. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a super-cooling heat exchanger mounted to the outdoor unit for further cooling the refrigerant cooled as the refrigerant passes through the outdoor heat exchanger.
41. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 40 , wherein the super-cooling heat exchanger makes the outdoor air and the refrigerant to heat exchange.
42. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 40 , wherein the super-cooling heat exchanger includes;
a reverse flow pipe for branching a portion of the refrigerant passed through the outdoor heat exchanger,
a super-cooling expansion valve for expanding the refrigerant flowing through the reverse flow pipe to cooling down the refrigerant, and
a super-cooler of a double pipe for making heat exchange between the refrigerant passed through the outdoor heat exchanger and the refrigerant supplied through the reverse flow pipe.
43. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 42 , wherein the super-cooler includes;
an inner pipe for flow of the refrigerant passed through the outdoor heat exchanger, and
an outer pipe around the inner pipe, the outer pipe connected to the reverse flow pipe for receiving refrigerant through the reverse flow pipe.
44. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 43 , wherein the outer pipe has a bypass flow line connected to one side thereof for guiding the refrigerant passed through the outer pipe to the compressor of the outdoor unit.
45. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 43 , wherein the inner pipe includes a plurality of heat dissipation ribs projected outwardly from an outside circumference.
46. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 45 , wherein the heat dissipation rib has a disk shape.
47. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 45 , wherein the heat dissipation rib is mounted perpendicular to a length direction of the inner pipe.
48. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the thermal storage unit further includes an internal circulating unit for circulating the thermal storage substance in the thermal storage tank.
49. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 48 , wherein the internal circulating unit includes;
a circulating fan for forcing a flow of the thermal storage substance in the thermal storage tank, and
a fan motor for providing rotating power to the circulating fan.
50. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 49 , wherein the circulating fan is mounted on an inside of the thermal storage tank, the fan motor is mounted on an outside of the thermal storage tank, and the rotation power is transmitted from the fan motor to the circulating fan through a motor shaft.
51. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 50 , wherein the motor shaft is mounted passed through one side of the thermal storage tank, with a sealing member mounted on an outside circumference of the motor shaft for preventing the thermal storage substance from leaking from the thermal storage tank.
52. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 49 , wherein the circulating fan and the fan motor are mounted in the thermal storage tank.
53. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 48 , wherein the internal circulating unit includes;
a guide pipe having opposite ends connected to an outside of the thermal storage tank so as to be in communication with an inside of the thermal storage tank for forming a circulating flow line together with the thermal storage tank, and
a circulating pump for drawing the thermal storage substance from the thermal storage tank through an end of the guide pipe forcibly and discharging the thermal storage substance to the other end of the guide pipe.
54. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 53 , wherein the internal circulating unit is mounted to at least two places of the thermal storage tank.
55. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 54 , wherein the internal circulating unit is mounted on opposite sides of the thermal storage tank.
56. A heat storage air conditioner comprising:
an outdoor unit having an outdoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange, and at least one compressor for compressing refrigerant;
an indoor unit having at least one indoor heat exchanger for making heat exchange;
a thermal storage unit for storing energy, the thermal storage unit having a thermal storage heat exchanger for making heat exchange; and
at least one functional unit for selective control of a refrigerant flow among the outdoor unit, the indoor unit and the thermal storage unit according to an operation condition,
wherein the functional unit includes;
a first supplementary pump having one side connected to a pipe line connected to the thermal storage heat exchanger of the thermal storage unit, and the other side connected to a pipe line connected to the indoor unit, for pumping up the refrigerant heat exchanged at the thermal storage unit to the indoor unit;
a supplementary heat exchanger unit for heat exchanging the refrigerant heat exchanged at the indoor unit again, and supplying to the thermal storage unit, and
a plurality of valves for selective control of a refrigerant flow to the outdoor unit, the thermal storage unit, the indoor unit, the first supplementary pump, and the supplementary heat exchanger unit.
57. The heat storage air conditioner as claimed in claim 56 , wherein the supplementary heat exchange unit includes;
a supplementary flow line having one end connected to a pipe line connected to the indoor unit, and the other end connected to the thermal storage heat exchanger of the thermal storage unit,
a supplementary heat exchanger for making heat exchange of the refrigerant flowing through the supplementary flow line, and
a second supplementary pump for forcing a refrigerant flow through the supplementary flow line.
Applications Claiming Priority (7)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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KR1020050033067A KR100662123B1 (en) | 2005-04-21 | 2005-04-21 | Thermal storage airconditioner |
KR10-2005-0033067 | 2005-04-21 | ||
KR10-2005-0074065 | 2005-08-12 | ||
KR1020050074065A KR100727126B1 (en) | 2005-08-12 | 2005-08-12 | Thermal storage airconditioner |
KR10-2005-0074066 | 2005-08-12 | ||
KR1020050074066A KR100727127B1 (en) | 2005-08-12 | 2005-08-12 | Thermal storage airconditioner |
PCT/KR2006/001411 WO2006112638A1 (en) | 2005-04-21 | 2006-04-17 | Heat storage air conditioner |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20090211283A1 true US20090211283A1 (en) | 2009-08-27 |
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ID=37115325
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US11/918,491 Abandoned US20090211283A1 (en) | 2005-04-21 | 2006-04-17 | Heat storage air conditioner |
Country Status (4)
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US (1) | US20090211283A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP1872077B1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN101059259B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2006112638A1 (en) |
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JP2015108480A (en) * | 2013-12-05 | 2015-06-11 | 株式会社ケーヒン・サーマル・テクノロジー | Evaporator with cold storage function |
US10330358B2 (en) | 2014-05-15 | 2019-06-25 | Lennox Industries Inc. | System for refrigerant pressure relief in HVAC systems |
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US10921032B2 (en) | 2014-05-15 | 2021-02-16 | Lennox Industries Inc. | Method of and system for reducing refrigerant pressure in HVAC systems |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2006112638A1 (en) | 2006-10-26 |
CN101059259A (en) | 2007-10-24 |
EP1872077A4 (en) | 2015-10-14 |
CN101059259B (en) | 2012-09-05 |
EP1872077A1 (en) | 2008-01-02 |
EP1872077B1 (en) | 2017-08-16 |
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