Air conditioner

Abstract

To obtain an air-conditioning apparatus that is capable of insuring safety related to refrigerants while saving energy. The air-conditioning apparatus includes a heat medium relay unit 3 accommodating heat exchangers related to heat medium 15a and 15b exchanging heat between a flammable refrigerant and a heat medium different from the refrigerant and having a housing 50 having a vent hole 24 allowing ventilation between a housing space and a space outside the housing space, in which the heat medium relay unit 3 disposed in a space 8 in a structure 9 that is not an air conditioned space; a single or a plurality of outdoor units 1 connected to the heat medium relay unit 3 by piping and circulating the refrigerant therein, in which the single or the plurality of outdoor units 1 disposed in a space outside the structure 9 or a space inside the structure 9 that is not isolated completely from the space 6 outside the structure 9; and a single or a plurality of indoor units 2 connected to the heat medium relay unit 3 by piping to a different system to that of the one or the plurality of outdoor units 1, in which the single or the plurality of indoor units 2 circulates the heat medium therein to exchange heat with air related to the indoor space.

Description

Technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioning device suitable for use in, for example, multi-unit air conditioners for buildings. Background technique [0002] Conventionally, in air-conditioning apparatuses such as multi-unit air conditioners for buildings, for example, a cooling operation or a heating operation is performed by circulating a refrigerant between an outdoor unit that is a heat source unit arranged outdoors and an indoor unit arranged indoors. Specifically, the air heated by the refrigerant radiating heat or the air cooled by the refrigerant absorbing heat performs cooling or heating of the air-conditioned space. As the refrigerant used in such air-conditioning devices, for example, HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) refrigerants are mostly used, and the use of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) And other natural refrigerants. Here, non-flammable refrigerants are used. [0003] On the other hand, there are also air-conditioning devices with other structures ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0014] In the air conditioner described in Patent Document 2, in order to select cooling or heating for each indoor unit, it is necessary to connect four pipes from the outdoor side to the room, resulting in poor workability.

In the air-conditioning device described in Patent Document 3, the indoor units need to have a secondary medium circulation mechanism such as a pump, so the system is not only expensive, but also noisy, which is not practical.

Moreover, since the heat exchanger is located near the indoor unit, the risk of refrigerant leaking close to the room cannot be eliminated, and flammable refrigerants cannot be used.

[0015] In the air-conditioning apparatus described in Patent Document 4, since the primary refrigerant after heat exchange flows into the same flow path as the primary refrigerant before heat exchange, when a plurality of indoor units are connected, it cannot pass through each indoor unit. machine to its maximum capacity and become a structure that wastes energy

In addition, regarding the connection of the branch unit and the extension pipe, two pipes are required for cooling, and two pipes are required for heating, making a total of four pipes. As a result, the structure is similar to a system in which the outdoor unit and the branch unit are connected by four pipes. become a poorly constructible system

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