KR20060055154A - Compressor Oil Recovery Unit of Multi-type Air Conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a compressor oil recovery apparatus for a multi-type air conditioner, which can improve the reliability of the compressor by improving the refueling method of the compressor.

To this end, the present invention comprises a plurality of oil separators for separating oil from the refrigerant discharged from each of the plurality of compressors; An oil reservoir for receiving oil separated from each of the oil separators; And a plurality of oil supply pipes provided in communication with each of the oil storage unit and the plurality of compressors to supply oil contained in the oil storage unit to the plurality of compressors, respectively. Provided is a compressor oil recovery device.

Air Conditioner, Compressor, Oil Separator, Oil Reservoir, Oil Supply Line

Description

A compressor oil retrieving apparatus of multi-type air conditioner

1 is a perspective view showing a multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating main parts of an operation process of the compressor and the oil separator of FIG. 2.

Figure 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention

5 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner of FIG.

6 is a main configuration diagram showing the compressor oil recovery device of FIG.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the compressor oil recovery apparatus according to the present invention

Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings

51, 52, 53, 54: Indoor 80: Outdoor

83: capacity variable compressor 84: constant speed compressor

85,86: Oil separator 100: Refrigerant piping

151: oil storage unit 153, 154: oil supply pipe

153a, 154a: strainer 156, 157: oil return pipe

159: float valve 159a: float

259a: oil sensor 259b: solenoid valve

The present invention relates to a multi-type air conditioner, by allowing the oil separated from the oil separator to be smoothly recovered and received by the compressor, to prevent the oil shortage of the compressor and to prevent the oil non-uniform distribution between the compressors A compressor oil recovery apparatus for a multi-type air conditioner to be recovered by a compressor compressor.

1 is a perspective view showing a multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art, Figure 2 is a schematic view showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art, Figure 3 is a compressor and oil of Figure 2 This is a main configuration diagram schematically showing the operation of the separator.

As shown in FIG. 1, in general, a multi-type air conditioner connects each of the plurality of indoor units 1, 2, 3, and 4 to a single outdoor unit 20 by a refrigerant pipe 36. While using as a common use a plurality of indoor units (1, 2, 3, 4) as a cooler or heater.

The structures of the outdoor unit 20 and the indoor units 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 as follows.

The outdoor unit 20 is connected to a plurality of compressors 22a and 22b for compressing a refrigerant and a refrigerant discharge pipe 28 of the compressors 22a and 22b and discharged together with the refrigerant from the compressors 22a and 22b. An oil separator 30 for separating oil, an outdoor blower 32 that sucks outdoor air into the outdoor unit, and then discharges the outdoor air back to the outside, and an outdoor heat exchanger for allowing the air sucked by the blower 32 to exchange heat with the refrigerant Group 34.

The indoor units 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively heat and cool the indoor blower 6 which sucks indoor and outdoor air into the indoor unit, and discharges the indoor air again, and heat-exchanges the air sucked into the room with the refrigerant. Is equipped with an indoor heat exchanger (8).

In addition, an expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 34 or the indoor heat exchanger 8 to low temperature and low pressure in the refrigerant pipe 36 between the outdoor heat exchanger 34 and the indoor heat exchanger 8. 40 is installed.

On the other hand, the compressor (22a, 22b) is to discharge the gas refrigerant of the high temperature and high pressure when the internal oil is discharged together with the refrigerant, the majority of the discharged oil is separated from the oil separator 30 and the compressor (22a, 22b) is circulated to the refrigerant suction pipe 24 and is re-introduced into the compressor 22, and a part is circulated with the refrigerant and then re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b.

The multi-type air conditioner is connected to each of the oil separator 30, the outdoor heat exchanger 34, the accumulator 26, the indoor heat exchanger 8, and the refrigerant pipes 36a, 36b, 36c, and 36d. When the refrigerant passing through the oil separator 30 includes a four-way valve 38 for switching the flow path to send to any one of the indoor heat exchanger 8 and the outdoor heat exchanger 34, the plurality of indoor units ( 1,2,3,4) can be used as a cooler or a heater.

Reference numeral 42 is an electronic expansion valve for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant circulating the refrigeration cycle.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 3, the oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from the compressor (22a, 22b) is separated in the oil separator 30, the separated oil is the oil separator 30 and the compressor 22a Through the communication pipe 29 and the refrigerant suction pipe 24 for connecting the refrigerant suction pipe 24 of 22b are respectively re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b.

In addition, when only some of the compressors 22a and 22b are driven between the compressors 22a and 22b in response to loads of the plurality of indoor units 1, 2, 3 and 4, oil may be concentrated only in part. In order to prevent this, the oil supply pipe 150 for supplying oil from the compressor with excessive oil to the compressor lacking oil to perform the oil between the compressors 22a and 22b is installed.

However, the conventional multi-type air conditioner has the following problems.

First, when the oil separated from the oil separator 30 is recovered to the compressors 22a and 22b through the refrigerant suction pipe 24, the pressure difference due to the flow rate of the refrigerant discharged from the compressors 22a and 22b. The furnace oil was immediately re-discharged to cause oil shortage in the compressors 22a and 22b.

That is, when oil is re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b through the refrigerant suction pipe 24, the oil is changed by the pressure difference due to the flow rate of the refrigerant discharged from the compressors 22a and 22b. It immediately re-discharged together with the refrigerant discharged before being accommodated in 22b), causing oil shortage in the compressors 22a and 22b.

Second, when the oil shortage phenomenon in the compressor (22a, 22b) as described above, the oil leveling pipe 150 to prevent the oil shortage between the compressor (22a, 22b) is not functioning, so the compressor (22a, 22b) ), There is a problem that the reliability of the.

That is, since the oil re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b from the oil separator 30 as described above is not properly accumulated, oil shortages in the compressors 22a and 22b occur and thus, When the oil level of the oil is equal to or less than the installation height of the fungal oil pipe 150, since the oil between the compressors 22a and 22b is impossible, the reliability of the compressors 22a and 22b is reduced.

For this reason, the conventional multi-type air conditioner has a problem in that the overall efficiency of the system is lowered due to a decrease in reliability due to a decrease in performance of the compressors 22a and 22b.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compressor oil recovery apparatus of a multi-type air conditioner that can effectively recover the oil into the compressor with a simple structure.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a plurality of oil separator for separating the oil from the refrigerant discharged from each of the plurality of compressors; An oil reservoir for receiving oil separated from each of the oil separators; And a plurality of oil supply pipes provided in communication with each of the oil storage unit and the plurality of compressors to supply oil contained in the oil storage unit to the plurality of compressors, respectively. Provided is a compressor oil recovery device.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a schematic view showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner of Figure 4, Figure 6 5 is a diagram illustrating the main parts of the compressor oil recovery apparatus of FIG. 5.

As shown in Figure 4 and 5, the multi-type air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, the outdoor unit 80, a plurality of indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54), the outdoor unit 80 and the It comprises a refrigerant pipe (100) connected to each of the indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54).

At this time, the refrigerant pipes 100 connected to the plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, and 54 sides are configured in parallel and connected to the outdoor unit 80.

That is, the refrigerant passing through each of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, and 54 through the refrigerant pipe 100 is combined and then flows to the outdoor unit 80, and the refrigerant passing through the outdoor unit 80 is transferred to the outdoor unit 80. It is distributed to each of the indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) through the refrigerant pipe (100).

In addition, each of the indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) is an indoor blower (74) and the indoor unit (51) for sucking the indoor air into the indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) and then discharge it back into the room. An indoor heat exchanger (72) is provided for cooling or heating the air sucked into the (52, 53, 54) to heat exchange with the refrigerant.

On the other hand, the outdoor unit 80 is an outdoor blower (81) for sucking the outdoor air to the inside and then discharged back to the outside, and an outdoor heat exchanger for heat-exchanging the air sucked by the outdoor blower (81) with the refrigerant ( 82, a plurality of compressors 83 and 84 compressing the refrigerant, and refrigerant discharge pipes 83a and 84a of the compressors 83 and 84, respectively, and discharge the refrigerant together with the refrigerant. A plurality of oil separators (85, 86) for separating the separated oil.

Here, each of the compressors 83 and 84 includes a compression unit having a compression chamber in which a refrigerant is compressed, a motor unit for compressing the compression chamber, and an oil pump for pumping oil for lubrication of the motor unit or the compression unit. It is configured to include, the internal oil is discharged together with the refrigerant during the discharge of the high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant, the discharged oil is mostly separated from the oil separator (85,86) refrigerant of the compressor (83,84) It is circulated to the suction pipes 83b and 84b, and a part of it circulates the refrigeration cycle with the refrigerant.

At this time, the compressor (83, 84) is composed of a variable displacement compressor (83) of variable capacity and a constant speed compressor (84) is driven at a constant speed, when the load of the indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54) is small For example, when one or two of the plurality of indoor units are operated, only the variable capacity compressor 83 is driven in response to the load of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54, and the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54, the load is relatively large, for example, when the three or four of the plurality of indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) is operated the constant speed compressor (84) together with the variable displacement compressor (83) It is preferred to be driven.

Reference numeral 87a is mounted in the outdoor unit 80 and is connected to the refrigerant intake pipes 83b and 84b of the variable displacement compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84 so that the variable displacement compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84 are installed. ) Is a common accumulator for accumulating liquid refrigerant so that only gaseous refrigerant can be introduced into each other, and reference numeral 87b is mounted in the outdoor unit 80 to cool the plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54. Or a four-way valve for switching the flow path so that the refrigerant passing through the oil separator (85,86) to be used as a heater to any one of the indoor heat exchanger (72) and outdoor heat exchanger (82), 87c is a receiver mounted in the outdoor unit 80 to store excess refrigerant and to circulate only the liquid refrigerant to the indoor unit during the cooling operation.

In addition, reference numeral 88a is mounted on the refrigerant pipe 100 between the outdoor heat exchanger 82 and the indoor heat exchanger 72 to cool the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 82 or the indoor heat exchanger 72 at low temperature. And an expansion mechanism such as an orifice or an electronic expansion valve for expanding at a low pressure, and reference numeral 88b is an electronic expansion valve mounted on the outdoor unit 80 and controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant circulating through the refrigeration cycle by adjusting a flow path of the refrigerant. to be.

In addition, description 89 is a check valve installed in the refrigerant outlet pipes 83a and 83b of the variable displacement compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84, respectively, to prevent the backflow of the refrigerant or oil.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 5, the multi-type air conditioner includes an oil storage unit 151 for receiving oil separated from each of the oil separators 85 and 86, the oil storage unit 151, and the compressor 83. And a plurality of oil supply pipes 153 and 154 respectively provided in communication with each other to supply oil contained in the oil storage unit 151 to the compressors 83 and 84, respectively.

Here, the oil storage unit 151 is a storage container having a storage space therein, and is connected to the oil separators 85 and 86 by a plurality of oil recovery pipes 156 and 157, respectively.

The oil supply pipes 153 and 154 control means for controlling the amount of oil supplied from the oil reservoir 151 to the compressors 83 and 84 according to the oil storage state of the compressors 83 and 84. Is provided.

At this time, as shown in Figure 6, the adjusting means is based on the oil level of the oil detected from the float (159) for detecting the oil level of the stored oil in the compressor (83,84). 83 and 84, a float valve 159 for controlling the interruption and the amount of oil supplied thereto.

In addition, the float valve 159 is preferably provided at the ends of the oil supply pipe (153, 154) adjacent to the corresponding compressor (83, 84).

Here, the strainers 153a and 154a are provided on the oil supply pipes 153 and 154, respectively, so that foreign substances contained in the oil supplied to the corresponding compressors 83 and 84 are filtered out.

On the other hand, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the compressor oil recovery apparatus according to the present invention, the oil intermittent and the amount of oil supplied from the oil reservoir 151 to each compressor (83, 84) Instead of the float valve 159 to which the float 159a is connected to control the oil sensor 259a respectively provided in the compressors 83 and 84 to sense the amount of oil stored in the compressors 83 and 84, A solenoid valve 259b for controlling the interruption and the amount of oil supplied to the compressors 83 and 84 according to the amount of oil sensed by the oil sensor 259a is provided at the ends of the oil supply pipes 153 and 154, respectively. will be.

Hereinafter, the compressor oil recovery method in the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

For reference, the multi-type air conditioner circulates the refrigerant from the compressors 83 and 84 to the outdoor heat exchanger 82, the expansion mechanism 88a, and the indoor heat exchanger 72 through the four-way valve 87b. The cooling cycle is configured to operate 51, 52, 53, and 54 to cool the air, and when the refrigerant is circulated by the four-way valve 87b to circulate the refrigerant, the indoor unit 51, 52, 53, 54 is cooled. Since the heating cycle is configured such that the heating operation is performed, only the case where the multi-type air conditioner achieves a cooling cycle will be described.

First, when the multi-type air conditioner is operated such that some of the plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54 are cooled, the one or two of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54 are cooled. In this case, the multi-type air conditioner drives only the variable displacement compressor 83 of the outdoor unit 80, and the constant speed compressor 83 of the outdoor unit 80 is stopped.

Thus, the variable-capacity compressor 83 compresses the refrigerant to a high temperature and a high pressure to discharge the refrigerant together with the internal oil into the refrigerant discharge pipe 83a, and the discharged refrigerant and oil pass through the oil separator 85 while being passed through most of the oil separator 85. The oil is separated from the refrigerant and some of the oil is circulated in the refrigeration cycle with the refrigerant.

That is, the refrigerant passing through the oil separator 85 passes through the four-way valve 87b, the outdoor heat exchanger 82, and the expansion mechanism 88a in order, and then flows into the indoor heat exchanger 72 of the indoor unit that is cooled and operated. The air is evaporated while cooling the air around the indoor heat exchanger 72 to allow the indoor unit to act as a cooler, and then circulated to the variable displacement compressor 83.

In addition, the oil separated from the refrigerant in the oil separator 85 is stored in the oil storage unit 151 through the oil return pipes 156 and 157, and then re-directed directly to the variable displacement compressor 83 through the oil supply pipe 153. Inflow.

At this time, by the float valve 159 provided in the oil supply pipe 153, the intermittent flow of oil and the amount of oil are adjusted according to the oil storage state in the variable displacement compressor 83.

Therefore, the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention does not supply oil separated from the refrigerant by the oil separators 85 and 86 to the variable displacement compressor 83 through the refrigerant suction pipe 83b, unlike the conventional art, and the oil storage unit. By directly supplying oil to the variable displacement compressor 83 through the 151 and the oil supply pipe 153, the oil shortage of the variable displacement compressor 83 may be prevented in advance.

On the other hand, in the multi-type air conditioner, when the driving of the variable displacement compressor 83 continues for a long time as described above, the oil in the refrigeration cycle is concentrated in the variable displacement compressor 83, so that the oil uneven distribution between the compressors 83 and 84 occurs. Is generated.

At this time, the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention is the oil reservoir 151 connected to the oil separators (85,86), the oil for supplying the oil contained in the oil reservoir 151 to the compressor (83, 84) The oil supply pipes 153 and 154 and the float valve 159 for controlling the oil supplied to the compressors 83 and 84 through the oil supply pipes 153 and 154 may prevent oil non-uniform distribution between the compressors 83 and 84. Can be.

That is, since the float valve 159 senses the oil level of the minimum required oil of the compressors 83 and 84, the oil contained in the oil storage unit 151 is continuously supplied by the amount of the insufficient oil. Oil non-uniform distribution between the compressor (83,84) can be prevented.

Therefore, by supplying insufficient oil at the exact time when the oil between the compressors 83 and 84 is unevenly distributed, the performance of the compressors 83 and 84 as well as the system efficiency of the air conditioner may be improved. .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the solenoid valve 259b is controlled according to the amount of oil detected by the oil sensors 259a provided in the compressors 83 and 84, respectively, so that the compressors 83 and 84 are controlled. In the case of continuously supplying the necessary oil, it is of course possible to prevent the oil shortage phenomenon and the oil non-uniform distribution phenomenon during the operation of each of the compressor (83,84).

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and as can be seen in the appended claims, modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. .

Referring to the effects of the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention described above are as follows.

First, according to the present invention, by smoothly supplying the oil separated from the refrigerant in the oil separator to the oil storage side of the compressor without interference, to prevent the wear and noise of the compressor and increase the life, as well as the system efficiency of the air conditioner There is an advantage to improve.

Second, according to the present invention, since the oil discharged together with the refrigerant from the compressor is recovered to the compressor through one oil flow path consisting of an oil separator, an oil recovery pipe, an oil reservoir, and an oil supply pipe, efficient oil recovery of the compressor is possible. There is an advantage.

Third, according to the present invention, the oil can be continuously supplied appropriately according to the oil storage state in the compressor, thereby preventing the oil shortage of the compressor and the oil uneven distribution between the compressors in advance, thereby improving the performance of the compressor. There is this.

Claims (10)

A plurality of oil separators separating oil from refrigerant discharged from each of the plurality of compressors; An oil reservoir for receiving oil separated from each of the oil separators; And a plurality of oil supply pipes provided in communication with each of the oil storage unit and the plurality of compressors to supply oil contained in the oil storage unit to the plurality of compressors, respectively. Compressor oil recovery unit. The method of claim 1, The oil supply pipe, Compressor oil recovery apparatus of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that the adjusting means for adjusting the amount of oil supplied from the oil reservoir to the compressor according to the oil storage state of the compressor. The method of claim 2, The adjusting means, Compressor oil recovery apparatus of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that the float valve for controlling the interruption and the amount of the oil supplied from the oil reservoir according to the height of the stored oil in the corresponding compressor. The method of claim 3, wherein The float valve is a compressor oil recovery device of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that provided on the end of the oil supply pipe adjacent to the corresponding compressor. The method of claim 2, The adjusting means, Compressor oil recovery apparatus for a multi-type air conditioner comprising an oil sensor for sensing the amount of oil stored in the compressor, and a solenoid valve for controlling the interruption and the amount of oil supplied to the compressor. The method of claim 5, The oil sensor is provided in the compressor, the solenoid valve is a compressor oil recovery device of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that provided on the end of the oil supply pipe adjacent to the compressor. The method of claim 1, The oil supply pipe, the compressor oil recovery apparatus of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that each provided with a strainer for filtering foreign matter contained in the oil supplied to the corresponding compressor. The method of claim 1, The oil storage unit, the compressor oil recovery apparatus of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that connected to each of the plurality of oil separator by a plurality of oil recovery pipe. The method of claim 1, The oil storage unit is a compressor oil recovery apparatus of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that the storage container having a storage space therein. The method of claim 1, At least one of the plurality of compressors compressor oil recovery apparatus of the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that consisting of a variable displacement compressor.

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