JPH0796944B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner that heats or cools air to create predetermined air conditions.

2. Description of the Related Art There are several types of heat pump devices such as vapor compression type and absorption type. Here, a vapor compression type heat pump will be described as an example.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional vapor compression heat pump. Freon is generally used as the working medium.
The Freon vapor that has become high temperature and high pressure by the compressor 1 is liquefied by discharging heat to the outside of the system in the condenser 2. After that, the pressure is reduced by the pressure reducer 3 to a low temperature and low pressure. The chlorofluorocarbon having a low temperature receives heat from the outside of the system in the evaporator 4, evaporates, and returns to the compressor 1. By repeating the above cycle, the heat is received from the low temperature field and is discarded into the high temperature field. For example, the cooling operation is performed by setting the low temperature field on the indoor side, and the heating operation is performed by setting the high temperature field on the indoor side.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention When the heating operation is performed using such a conventional heat pump device, the following problems occur.

In the condenser, the heat of condensation is released to the air in the room to raise the temperature in the room. At this time, since the amount of water vapor contained in the air does not change, the relative humidity decreases as the temperature rises. Therefore, the inside of the room is dry and gives discomfort.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and uses an aqueous solution that is in direct contact with both the air on the indoor side and the air on the outdoor side and reciprocates both of them. An air conditioner that transports water vapor by heating on the one hand and cooling on the other.

Action The movement of water vapor is caused by the difference in water vapor pressure, and moves from a high water vapor pressure location to a low water vapor pressure location. Since the equilibrium water vapor pressure of an aqueous solution is a function of temperature, lowering the temperature of the aqueous solution lowers the equilibrium water vapor pressure of the aqueous solution and becomes lower than the water vapor pressure of the surrounding air. At this time, the aqueous solution absorbs not only heat but also water vapor rather than air. Next, raising the temperature of the aqueous solution raises the equilibrium water vapor pressure. Water vapor evaporates from the aqueous solution when the water vapor pressure of the surrounding air rises.

Utilizing this effect, when the outdoor side is set to a low temperature and the indoor side is set to a high temperature, water vapor absorbed from the outdoor air is introduced into the room,
It is possible to humidify the room.

Embodiment An air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The cycle of CFC, which is the working medium, is the same as the conventional one. Compressor 11, condenser 12, pressure reducer 13 Oyote evaporator 14
It consists of

On the other hand, the cycle of the aqueous solution is as follows.

The high temperature aqueous solution in the condenser 12 is collected in the high temperature liquid reservoir 15 and sent to the evaporator 14 side by the high temperature liquid pump 16. At this time, the sensible heat exchanger 17 exchanges sensible heat with the low-temperature aqueous solution to reach a low temperature. After that, the temperature is further lowered by flowing down the surface of the evaporator 14 to lower the equilibrium water vapor pressure. Here it comes into direct contact with air and receives heat and water vapor from the air. The heat passes through the film of the aqueous solution to evaporate the fluorocarbon in the evaporator 14. The water vapor is absorbed by the aqueous solution and at the same time releases a large amount of latent heat, and this heat also contributes to the evaporation of the fluorocarbon. The air in contact with the evaporator 14 has low temperature and low humidity. The flowing aqueous solution contains a large amount of water vapor and is collected in the low temperature sump 18. It is sent to the high temperature side by the low temperature liquid pump 19. At this time, the temperature is raised in the sensible heat exchanger 17 to reach a high temperature and flows down on the condenser 12 surface. Since the temperature of the aqueous solution is high, the equilibrium water vapor pressure is high, which is higher than the vapor pressure of the air in direct contact with the water vapor, and the water vapor evaporates from the aqueous solution. Further, the heat of condensation generated in the condenser 12 warms the aqueous solution film, and also raises the evaporation latent heat of water vapor and the air. The air in contact with the condenser 12 becomes hot and humid.

Therefore, when the condenser 12 is installed on the indoor side and the evaporator 14 is installed on the outdoor side (during the heating operation), the steam on the outdoor side is absorbed to humidify the indoor side, and the indoor side is dried. Can be prevented. Further, in the conventional heat pump, when the outside air temperature drops, frost forms on the outside of the room and the heating capacity drops, so it is necessary to periodically stop the heating operation to remove the frost. However, in the air conditioner according to the present invention, the surface of the evaporator 14 is covered with the aqueous solution film. Since the melting point of the aqueous solution is sufficiently low due to the melting point decrease, continuous heating operation is possible without solidification, and comfort is greatly improved.

Although the above description is based on the heating operation, it is easy to change to the cooling operation using the conventionally used four-way valve also in this embodiment. Evaporator during cooling operation
14 is located indoors. Even in the conventional heat pump, the evaporation temperature was set below the dew point of the indoor air to dehumidify it. However, when an aqueous solution is used, the equilibrium water vapor concentration becomes even lower even at the same evaporation temperature, which greatly improves the dehumidification capacity. be able to. Therefore, even if the cooling capacity is the same, the blowing temperature can be raised and the blowing humidity can be lowered, so that the comfort during cooling is also improved.

Further, in the air conditioner of the present invention, the condenser 12, the evaporator 14
Has the advantage that it can be reduced. As mentioned above, this is because the rate of latent heat exchange is significantly increased as compared with the conventional heat pump that mainly uses sensible heat exchange. That is, when the temperature difference between the air and the heat exchanger (here, the evaporator 14 and the condenser 12) is constant,
As the amount of latent heat exchange increases, the capacity of the heat exchanger increases. Therefore, when compared with the same capacity, the heat exchanger can be downsized and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the above description, a vapor compression type cycle using a compressor is used, but the invention is not limited to this. In the present invention, the effect can be obtained if there is a means for heating on one side and cooling on the other side, and therefore, it can be used for an absorption cycle and a chemical heat pump. In the absorption cycle, as in the evaporative compression cycle, the condenser is heated and the evaporator is cooled. In the chemical heat pump, the same effect can be obtained by heating on the adsorption side and cooling on the generation side.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Using the present invention, an aqueous solution that directly contacts both indoor air and outdoor air and reciprocates both is used, and water vapor is transported by heating one of the aqueous solutions and cooling the other. By doing so, not only humidification at the time of heating but also continuous operation at the time of heating becomes possible, and comfort is improved by increasing the dehumidifying capacity at the time of cooling. It produces a great effect such as being compact.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional vapor compression heat pump. 11 …… Compressor, 12 …… Condenser, 13 …… Decompressor, 14 …… Evaporator, 17 …… Sensible heat exchanger.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A water vapor pressure of air in which an aqueous solution moving between indoor and outdoor is in direct contact with both indoor air and outdoor air, and the saturated vapor pressure of the aqueous solution is in contact with the indoor air (or outdoor air). The air conditioner is characterized in that the saturated water vapor pressure of the aqueous solution on the outdoor side (or the indoor side) is cooled to below the vapor pressure of the air in contact therewith. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the heating of the aqueous solution is performed by a condenser of a heat pump device provided indoors and outdoors, and the cooling of the aqueous solution is performed by an evaporator of the heat pump device. 3. A heat heat pump cycle comprising an indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor heat exchanger, and a compressor as components, and a device for exchanging heat with an outer surface of the indoor / outdoor heat exchanger and the aqueous solution. The indoor heat exchanger has a device for exchanging heat with each other in a path for moving between the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is an evaporator (or a condenser), and the outdoor heat exchanger is a condenser (or an evaporator). The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the air conditioner is a container.