Heat exchange – With timer – programmer – time delay – or condition responsive... – Having heating and cooling capability
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-26
2004-08-03
Ford, John K. (Department: 3753)
Heat exchange
With timer, programmer, time delay, or condition responsive...
Having heating and cooling capability
C165S231000, C062S238600, C062S238700, C062S323100, C062S324100, C237S00200B
Reexamination Certificate
active
06769481
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas heat pump type air conditioner, in which a compressor for compressing a refrigerant is driven by a gas engine, and which uses waste heat of the gas engine as a heat source for a liquid refrigerant during the heating operation, and an outdoor heat exchanger unit and an outdoor unit, which are suitably used for the gas heat pump type air conditioner.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air conditioner, in which a heat pump is used for cooling and heating a chamber, is provided with a refrigerant circuit comprising an indoor heat exchanger apparatus, a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger apparatus, an expansion valve, etc. When the refrigerant circulates in the refrigerant circuit and exchanges heat with air in the indoor heat exchanger apparatus and the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus, the chamber is heated or cooled. In general, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air in the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus during the heating operation. However, not only the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus but also a refrigerant heat apparatus for heating the refrigerant directly is sometimes provided in the refrigerant circuit.
In recent years, an air conditioner has been suggested, which comprises a gas engine, instead of an ordinary motor, as a driving source for the compressor provided in the refrigerant circuit. An air conditioner utilizing a gas engine is called a gas heat pump type air conditioner (abbreviated as “GHP” below). The GHP can use gas, which is relatively cheap, as fuel; therefore, the running cost thereof can be reduced, compared with an air conditioner comprising a compressor driven by the ordinary motor (abbreviated as “EHP” below).
Moreover, when waste heat of gas at a high temperature discharged from the gas engine during the heating operation is used as the heat source for the refrigerant in the GHP, the heating ability can be improved, and the use efficiency of energy can also be improved. When the temperature of the outdoor air is low, the heating ability of the GHP is 1.2 to 1.5 times as large as the heating ability of the EHP. In addition, when the waste heat of the gas discharged from the gas engine is used in the GHP, the GHP does not require a special device, such as the refrigerant heating device explained above.
Furthermore, the GHP can utilize the engine waste heat to defrost the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus during the heating operation. In general, the EHP defrosts the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus by stopping the heating operation and temporarily performing the cooling operation. That is, when the EHP defrosts, cooled air is introduced into the chamber. Therefore, a person in the chamber feels unpleasant. In contrast, the GHP can utilize the waste heat, and it can continuously perform the heating operation without such a problem which is caused by the EHP.
The GHP has many advantages as explained above; however, it also has the following problems.
FIG. 8
shows a conventional outdoor heat exchanger unit. In
FIG. 8
, reference number
23
denotes a heat exchanger chamber which is positioned in the upper portion of an outdoor unit,
81
denotes an outdoor fan for introducing outdoor air, and
2
denotes an outdoor heat exchanger unit for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the outdoor air. The outdoor heat exchanger unit
2
comprises three heat exchangers arranged in series in the flow direction of the outdoor air. Specifically, a radiator
53
is arranged in the center of the outdoor heat exchanger unit
2
, and two heat exchangers
31
and
31
sandwich the radiator
53
so as to be positioned upstream and downstream of the flow direction of the outdoor air with respect to the radiator
53
. The radiator
53
belongs to a cooling water circuit in which cooling water for the gas engine circulates. As shown in
FIG. 8B
, the radiator
53
and the two heat exchangers
31
and
31
divide a fin
3
. In other words, fins of the radiator
53
and the heat exchangers
31
and
31
are integrated as the fin
3
.
In order to improve the heating ability when the temperature of the outdoor air is low, the outdoor heat exchanger unit
2
adopts such a three heat exchanger sandwiched structure. The outdoor heat exchanger unit
2
functions as an evaporator during the heating operation. In the outdoor heat exchanger unit
2
, the heat exchangers
31
and
31
can absorb the waste heat radiated from the radiator
53
. Therefore, even when the temperature of the outdoor air is low, the outdoor heat exchanger unit
2
can obtain heat required for evaporating the refrigerant from the waste heat of the gas engine.
In contrast, the outdoor heat exchanger unit
2
functions as a condenser during the cooling operation The waste heat of the gas engine, which is radiated from the radiator
53
, decreases the efficiency of the refrigerant cycle. In other words, the heat exchangers
31
and
31
as condensers are effected by the waste heat from the radiator
53
, and the pressure in the refrigerant cycle increases. Therefore, a large amount of electric power is required to drive the compressor, and the coefficient of performance (COP) of the air conditioner decreases. Moreover, the COP is calculated from the following formula: COP=Qe/L, wherein Qe is the refrigeration capacity, and L is the electric power required for the compressor. Therefore, an outdoor heat exchanger unit has been desired, which can improve the efficiency of the refrigerant cycle without being effected by the engine waste heat during the cooling operation. Moreover, an outdoor heat exchanger unit has also been desired which can improve the efficiency of the refrigerant cycle during the cooling operation and the heating ability by using the gas engine waste heat when the temperature of the outdoor air is low. Furthermore, the development of an outdoor unit comprising the outdoor heat exchanger unit and a GHP comprising the outdoor heat exchanger unit has also been desired.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide: an outdoor heat exchanger unit which is hardly effected by the gas engine waste heat during the cooling operation thereby improving the efficiency of the refrigerant cycle, and which can improve the heating ability by utilizing the gas engine waste heat; an outdoor unit comprising the outdoor heat exchanger unit; and a GHP comprising the outdoor unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides an outdoor heat exchanger unit for a GHP, in which a compressor for compressing a refrigerant is driven by a gas engine, and which comprises a heat pump for utilizing waste heat of the gas engine to perform a heating and a cooling operations:
wherein the outdoor heat exchanger unit comprises a radiator provided in a cooling water system in which cooling water for the gas engine circulates and an outdoor heat exchanger apparatus provided in a refrigerant circuit in which the refrigerant circulates;
the radiator and the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus are arranged in series in the flow direction of an outdoor air introduced in the outdoor heat exchanger unit;
the radiator is positioned downstream with respect to the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus in the flow direction of an outdoor air introduced in the outdoor heat exchanger unit; and
an interval is between the radiator and the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus.
In the outdoor heat exchanger unit, the interval is between the radiator and the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus; therefore, heat is not conducted between the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus and the radiator. Moreover, the radiator is positioned downstream with respect to the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus in the flow direction of an outdoor air introduced in the outdoor heat exchanger unit. Therefore, the outdoor air heated by the radiator does not pass through the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus. As a result, it is possible to prevent the outdoor heat exchanger apparatus from being effected by adverse effects of th
Kasahara Hideaki
Ohtsuka Takaaki
Tanaka Jiro
Yoshimura Atsushi
Ford John K.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
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