Air-conditioning apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9651287-B2
Application number	US-201114128033-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2011
Priority date	Sep 30, 2011
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

A computing device calculates a quality of a refrigerant flowing out of an expansion device on the basis of an inlet liquid enthalpy calculated on the basis of a temperature of the refrigerant flowing into the expansion device, and a saturated gas enthalpy and a saturated liquid enthalpy calculated on the basis of a temperature or pressure of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion device; calculates a liquid-phase concentration and a gas-phase concentration of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion device on the basis of the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion device; and calculates a composition of the refrigerant circulating in a refrigeration cycle on the basis of the calculated quality, liquid-phase concentration, and gas-phase concentration.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An air-conditioning apparatus comprising:
a refrigeration cycle formed by connecting, with a refrigerant pipe, a compressor, a first refrigerant flow switching device, a first heat exchanger, a refrigerant passage of a second heat exchanger that exchanges heat between a refrigerant and a heat medium, an expansion device that corresponds to the second heat exchanger, and a second refrigerant flow switching device, the refrigerant being a non-azeotropic refrigerant mixture of a low-boiling refrigerant component and a high-boiling refrigerant component;
a heat medium circuit formed by connecting, with a heat medium pipe, a heat medium passage of the second heat exchanger and a use-side heat exchanger, the heat medium circuit being configured to circulate the heat medium different from the refrigerant;
a first temperature detecting device;
a second temperature detecting device, the first temperature detecting device and the second temperature detecting device being disposed before and after the expansion device;
a first pressure detecting device;
a second pressure detecting device, the first pressure detecting device and the second pressure detecting device being disposed before and after the expansion device; and
a computing device configured to calculate a composition of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle on the basis of detection results of the first temperature detecting device, the second temperature detecting device, and the first pressure detecting device or the second pressure detecting device,
wherein the computing device
tentatively sets a value of a composition of the low-boiling refrigerant component of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle within a range of 50 to 74 wt % and outputs a physical property table corresponding to the set value,
calculates a quality of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion device on the basis of
an inlet liquid enthalpy calculated on the basis of the physical property table and a temperature from the first temperature detecting device, and
a saturated gas enthalpy and a saturated liquid enthalpy calculated on the basis of the physical property table and temperature information from the second temperature detecting device,

calculates a liquid-phase concentration and a gas-phase concentration of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion device on the basis of a temperature and a pressure of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion device, and
calculates a further value of the composition of the low-boiling refrigerant component of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle on the basis of the quality calculated from the tentatively set value of the composition of the low-boiling refrigerant component of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle, the liquid-phase concentration, and the gas-phase concentration.

2. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein the expansion device comprises a plurality of expansion devices, and before and after one of the plurality of the expansion devices, the first temperature detecting device, the second temperature detecting device, the first pressure detecting device, and the second pressure detecting device are disposed, and
wherein the air-conditioning apparatus further comprises,
an outdoor unit including the compressor, the first refrigerant flow switching device, and the first heat exchanger,
a heat medium relay unit including the second heat exchanger, the plurality of expansion devices, a plurality of second refrigerant flow switching devices, and the computing device, and
at least one indoor unit including the use-side heat exchanger.

3. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 2 , wherein
the first temperature detecting device, the second temperature detecting device, the first pressure detecting device, and the second pressure detecting device are disposed inside the heat medium relay unit.

4. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
a diameter of the refrigerant pipe provided with the first temperature detecting device, the second temperature detecting device, the first pressure detecting device, and the second pressure detecting device is selected such that a mass flux is 500 (kg/m 2 s) or more.

5. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the computing device calculates the inlet liquid enthalpy on the basis of the tentatively set value of the composition of the low-boiling refrigerant component of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle and a temperature of the refrigerant flowing into the expansion device in the refrigerant pipe provided with the first temperature detecting device, the second temperature detecting device, the first pressure detecting device, and the second pressure detecting device.

6. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the computing device calculates the quality from the tentatively set value of the composition of the low-boiling refrigerant component of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration cycle, the inlet liquid enthalpy calculated on the basis of a temperature of the refrigerant flowing into the expansion device in the refrigerant pipe provided with the first temperature detecting device, the second temperature detecting device, the first pressure detecting device, and the second pressure detecting device, and a saturated gas enthalpy and a saturated liquid enthalpy calculated from a temperature of the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion device.

7. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the first temperature detecting device and the second temperature detecting device are configured such that an accuracy of refrigerant temperature detection is within ±0.5 degrees C.

8. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the first pressure detecting device and the second pressure detecting device are configured such that an accuracy of refrigerant pressure detection is within ±0.01 MPa.

9. The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
a refrigerant mixture of R32 and HFO1234yf or a refrigerant mixture of R32 and HFO1234ze is used as the refrigerant.

Assignees

• Morimoto Hiroyuki
• Yamashita Koji
• Sumida Yoshihiro
• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Morimoto Hiroyuki
• Yamashita Koji
• Sumida Yoshihiro

Classifications

• F25B2400/08

  Refrigeration machines, plants and systems having means for detecting the concentration of a refrigerant · CPC title

• F25B25/005

  using primary and secondary systems · CPC title

• F25B2400/121

  using R1234 · CPC title

• F25B9/006 Primary

  the refrigerant containing more than one component (F25B9/004 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F25B13/00

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