Air-conditioning apparatus and method of controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11913664-B2
Application number	US-201917441429-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 3, 2019
Priority date	Jun 3, 2019
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

An air-conditioning apparatus including heat source apparatuses each including a compressor and an accumulator includes: a refrigerant amount calculation unit that calculates an amount of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulator in one of the heat source apparatuses that is to be controlled; a refrigerant differential amount calculation unit configured to calculate, when the number of the heat source apparatuses is two, a differential amount between the calculated amount and an amount of the refrigerant in the accumulator in the other heat source apparatus, and calculate, when the number of the heat source apparatuses is three or more, a differential amount between the calculated amount of the refrigerant and an average amount of amounts of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulators in the heat source apparatuses; and a liquid equalization control unit that controls the heat source apparatus to be controlled, based on the calculated differential amount.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An air-conditioning apparatus including a plurality of heat source apparatuses each including a compressor and an accumulator configured to accumulate refrigerant to be compressed by the compressor, the air-conditioning apparatus comprising:
a refrigerant amount calculation unit configured to calculate an amount of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulator in one of the plurality of heat source apparatuses that is to be controlled;
a refrigerant differential amount calculation unit configured to calculate, in a case where the number of the plurality of heat source apparatuses is two, a differential amount between the amount of the refrigerant that is calculated by the refrigerant amount calculation unit and an amount of the refrigerant in the accumulator in an other one of the heat source apparatuses, and configured to calculate, in a case where the number of the plurality of heat source apparatuses is three or more, a differential amount between the amount of the refrigerant that is calculated by the refrigerant amount calculation unit and an average amount of amounts of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulators in the plurality of heat source apparatuses; and
a liquid equalization control unit configured to control the heat source apparatus to be controlled, based on the differential amount calculated by the refrigerant differential amount calculation unit, to thereby equalize the amounts of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulators in the plurality of heat source apparatuses,
wherein the refrigerant amount calculation unit is configured to:
measure a level of a liquid surface of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, and
calculate the amount of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, based on the measured level of the liquid surface, a volume of the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, and a density of the refrigerant.

2. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 ,
further comprising a pressure measurement device configured to measure a pressure of the refrigerant in the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled,
wherein the density of the refrigerant is calculated based on the pressure measured by the pressure measurement device.

3. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the liquid equalization control unit is configured to control a rotational frequency of the heat source apparatus to be controlled.

4. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a flow control
valve configured to control a flow rate of refrigerant that flows in the heat source apparatus to be controlled,
wherein the liquid equalization control unit is configured to control an opening degree of the flow control valve.

5. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the heat source apparatus to be controlled further includes a heat exchanger and a refrigerant evaporation amount control unit configured to control an evaporation amount of refrigerant at the heat exchanger, and
the liquid equalization control unit is configured to control the refrigerant evaporation amount control unit.

6. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising a control gain determination unit configured to determine a control gain of a rotational frequency of the compressor in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, based on the differential amount calculated by the refrigerant differential amount calculation unit,
wherein the liquid equalization control unit controls an actuator configured to control the rotational frequency of the compressor in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, based on the control gain determined by the control gain determination unit.

7. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising a control gain determination unit configured to determine a control gain of an opening degree of the flow control valve, based on the differential amount calculated by the refrigerant differential amount calculation unit,
wherein the liquid equalization control unit is configured to control an actuator configured to control the opening degree of the flow control valve, based on the control gain determined by the control gain determination unit.

8. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a control gain determination unit configured to determine a control gain of the refrigerant evaporation amount control unit, based on the differential amount calculated by the refrigerant differential amount calculation unit,
wherein the liquid equalization control unit is configured to control an actuator configured to control the evaporation amount of refrigerant that is controlled by the refrigerant evaporation amount control unit, based on the control gain determined by the control gain determination unit.

9. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the control gain determination unit is configured to determine a control gain different from a previously determined control gain, when determining the control gain.

10. A method of controlling an air-conditioning apparatus, the air-conditioning apparatus including a plurality of heat source apparatuses including respective compressors and respective accumulators each configured to accumulate refrigerant to be compressed by an associate one of the compressors, the method comprising:
calculating an amount of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulator in one of the heat source apparatus that is to be controlled;
calculating, in a case where the number of the plurality of heat source apparatuses is two, a differential amount between the calculated amount of the refrigerant and an amount of the refrigerant in an other of the accumulators, and in a case where the number of the plurality of heat source apparatuses is three or more, a differential amount between the calculated amount of the refrigerant and an average amount of amounts of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulators in the plurality of heat source apparatuses; and
controlling the heat source apparatus including the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, based on the calculated differential amount, to thereby equalize the amounts of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulators in the plurality of heat source apparatuses,
the calculating the amount of the refrigerant includes
measuring a level of a liquid surface of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, and
calculating the amount of the refrigerant accumulated in the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, based on the measured level of the liquid surface, a volume of the accumulator in the heat source apparatus to be controlled, and a density of the refrigerant.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Asanuma Hiroaki
• Okano Hiroyuki

Classifications

• F24F11/86 Primary

  by controlling compressors within refrigeration or heat pump circuits · CPC title

• F25B1/04

  with compressor of rotary type ({F25B1/005,} F25B1/10 take precedence) · CPC title

• F25B13/00

  Compression machines, plants or systems, with reversible cycle (defrosting cycles F25B47/02) · CPC title

• F25B2700/21152

  at the discharge side of the compressor · CPC title

• F24F11/30 Primary

  for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring · CPC title