Heat exchanger and air conditioner having the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger and an air conditioner having the same. The present invention provides a heat exchanger comprising: a refrigerant cavity which defines a receiving cavity therein; a first pipeline having a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity and a second end located at the lower part of the receiving cavity; a second pipeline having a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity and a second end located at the upper part of the receiving cavity; and a heat exchange part disposed outside the refrigerant cavity, and the heat exchange part has at least one refrigerant channel, one end of each refrigerant channel communicates with the lower part of the receiving cavity, and the other end communicates with the upper part of the receiving cavity. The present invention also provides an air conditioner having the above heat exchanger. The heat exchanger has high heat exchange efficiency and low cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of refrigeration and heating, and particularly to a heat exchanger and an air conditioner having the same. Background Art

[0002] With the development of technology, social economy, and the improvement of people's living standards, high comfort has become a high demand of users, and air conditioners have also become an indispensable household appliance in people's daily lives. The air-conditioning refrigeration system is mainly formed by connecting a compressor, a condenser, an air-conditioning expansion valve, and an evaporator through refrigerant pipes. When the air conditioner operates in the refrigeration mode, the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant gas is sucked into the compressor and then becomes a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas. The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas releases heat in the outdoor condenser and becomes a normal-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant liquid. The normal-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant liquid is then throttled and depressurized by the air-conditioning expansion valve and becomes a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant liquid. The low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant liquid absorbs heat and evaporates in the indoor evaporator and becomes a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant gas, and then enters the compressor for compression again. In this way, the reciprocating cycle completes the air-conditioning refrigeration system. The existing evaporators for air conditioners usually adopt finned-tube evaporators, and the inventor finds that the existing evaporators still need to be optimized. Summary of the Invention

[0003] An object of the first aspect of the present invention is to provide an optimized heat exchanger.

[0004] An object of the second aspect of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner having the above heat exchanger.

[0005] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a heat exchanger, which includes:

[0006] A refrigerant cavity, which defines an accommodation cavity therein;

[0007] A first pipeline, which has a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity and a second end located at the lower part of the accommodation cavity;

[0008] A second pipeline, which has a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity and a second end located at the upper part of the accommodation cavity; and

[0009] A heat exchange part, which is arranged outside the refrigerant cavity, and the heat exchange part has at least one refrigerant channel, and one end of each refrigerant channel communicates with the lower part of the accommodation cavity, and the other end communicates with the upper part of the accommodation cavity.

[0010] Optionally, the heat exchanger further includes a gas-liquid separation structure, which is arranged in the accommodation cavity to divide the accommodation cavity into an upper cavity and a lower cavity, and the gas-liquid separation structure has at least one communication hole for communicating the upper cavity and the lower cavity;

[0011] The second end of the first pipeline communicates with the lower cavity;

[0012] The second end of the second pipeline communicates with the upper cavity.

[0013] Optionally, the refrigerant cavity is located at the central position of the heat exchange part.

[0014] Optionally, a first cavity communicating with each refrigerant channel is provided at the lower end of the accommodation cavity, and a first communication port communicating with the accommodation cavity is provided on the upper surface of the first cavity.

[0015] Optionally, a second cavity communicating with each refrigerant channel is provided at the upper end of the accommodation cavity, and a second communication port communicating with the accommodation cavity is provided on the lower surface of the second cavity;

[0016] The second end of the second pipeline communicates with the second cavity.

[0017] Optionally, the heat exchanger further includes a plurality of first branches and a plurality of second branches;

[0018] There are a plurality of refrigerant channels, which extend along the axial direction of the accommodation cavity;

[0019] Each first branch communicates with the lower part of the accommodation cavity, and one or more lower ends of the refrigerant channels are connected to each first branch

[0020] Each second branch communicates with the upper part of the accommodation cavity, and one or more upper ends of the refrigerant channels are connected to each second branch.

[0021] Optionally, the heat exchanger further includes a housing; the heat exchange part and the refrigerant cavity are arranged in the housing; the housing is a heat-conducting housing.

[0022] Optionally, the heat exchange part further includes at least one or more coaxially arranged heat exchange cylinders, and one or more refrigerant channels are provided on the cylinder wall of each heat exchange cylinder; or,

[0023] The heat exchange part further includes a plurality of heat exchange plates, which are sequentially arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the refrigerant cavity on the outside of the refrigerant cavity, and one or more refrigerant channels are provided on each heat exchange plate.

[0024] Optionally, the heat exchange part is an integrally processed part and is formed by an extrusion process; or,

[0025] The whole formed by the heat exchange part and the refrigerant cavity is an integrally processed part and is formed by an extrusion process; or, the heat exchanger is an integrally processed part and is formed by an extrusion process.

[0026] According to a second aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides an air conditioner, including an evaporator and a condenser, and the evaporator and / or the condenser adopt any one of the above heat exchangers.

[0027] In the heat exchanger and the air conditioner of the present invention, because there is a refrigerant cavity and a special connection relationship between the refrigerant cavity and the heat exchange part, when the heat exchanger is used as an evaporator, after the gas-liquid mixture enters the heat exchanger through the first pipeline, the saturated vapor can directly rise in the accommodation cavity, exchange heat with the refrigerant or air outside the refrigerant cavity, the refrigerant in the heat exchange part absorbs heat and vaporizes, rises and converges, and is discharged from the heat exchange part through the second pipeline. Of course, this heat exchanger can also be used as a condenser. For example, this heat exchanger is used as the indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner, as an evaporator in summer cooling and as a condenser in winter heating.

[0028] Further, in the heat exchanger of the present invention, the gas-liquid separation structure can ventilate through the communication hole to block the refrigerant liquid, further improving the heat exchange performance.

[0029] Further, the inventors of the present invention also found that: the existing finned tube evaporator has a large volume, high cost, and cumbersome production process, and the local resistance of the refrigerant pipeline such as elbows is large, affecting the improvement of heat exchange performance; and due to the too large heat exchange area, the convective heat transfer intensity relying on the fan to disturb the air flow is insufficient. The heat exchanger with gas-liquid separation of the present invention can solve these problems. Part or all of the components of this heat exchanger are integrally extruded and formed, that is, integrally formed, and the structure of this heat exchanger can optimize the air flow organization of the heat exchanger, improve the convective heat transfer intensity, reduce the local resistance of the refrigerant pipeline such as elbows, improve the heat transfer coefficient, and achieve the purpose of reducing production costs, reducing the production process (integral extrusion, integral forming), and reducing the occupied space, and promoting the improvement of air conditioner energy efficiency.

[0030] Further, the heat exchanger of the present invention can be connected in series or in parallel with the traditional finned tube heat exchanger, depending on the refrigeration system control scheme and the climate conditions of the air conditioner usage area.

[0031] Further, the heat exchanger of the present invention can have a heat-conducting shell, which can be used for radiant heat exchange. Convective heat exchange can be adopted inside the heat-conducting shell. The heat-conducting shell undertakes part of the heating or cooling load, and can reduce the blowing feeling of the human body and increase the human body heat comfort on the premise of ensuring the heating or cooling capacity; especially in winter heating, the radiant heat exchange can significantly increase the human body heat comfort.

[0032] Those skilled in the art will become more clear about the above and other purposes, advantages and features of the present invention according to the following detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings. Description of the Drawings

[0033] Some specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in an exemplary but not limiting manner. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar components or parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

[0034] Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments

[0035] Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention. As Figure 1 shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a heat exchanger, including a refrigerant cavity 10, a first pipeline 11, a second pipeline 12, and a heat exchange part 20. A receiving cavity is defined in the refrigerant cavity 10. The first pipeline 11 has a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity 10 and a second end located at the lower part of the receiving cavity. The second pipeline 12 has a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity 10 and a second end located at the upper part of the receiving cavity. The heat exchange part 20 is disposed outside the refrigerant cavity 10, and the heat exchange part 20 has at least one refrigerant channel 21. One end of each refrigerant channel 21 communicates with the lower part of the receiving cavity, and the other end communicates with the upper part of the receiving cavity. When the heat exchanger is used as an evaporator, the first pipeline 11 can be a refrigerant inlet pipe. When the heat exchanger is used as an evaporator, the refrigerant in the form of a gas-liquid mixture can enter the heat exchanger through the first pipeline 11. The saturated vapor can directly rise in the receiving cavity, exchange heat with the refrigerant or air outside the refrigerant cavity 10. The refrigerant in the heat exchange part 20 absorbs heat and vaporizes, rises and converges, and is discharged from the heat exchange part 20 through the second pipeline 12, which can improve the energy efficiency.

[0036] In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the heat exchanger further includes a gas-liquid separation structure 16, which is disposed in the receiving cavity to divide the receiving cavity into an upper cavity and a lower cavity. The gas-liquid separation structure 16 has at least one communication hole communicating the upper cavity and the lower cavity. The second end of the first pipeline 11 communicates with the lower cavity. The second end of the second pipeline 12 communicates with the upper cavity. The gas-liquid separation structure 16 can be a partition plate, and communication holes are provided on the partition plate. Optionally, the gas-liquid separation structure 16 can also be formed by protrusions extending from the wall of the receiving cavity, and communication holes are provided between the protrusions or on the protrusions. The setting of the gas-liquid separation structure 16 can ventilate through the communication holes to block the refrigerant liquid, further improving the heat exchange performance.

[0037] In some embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerant cavity 10 is located at the central position of the heat exchange portion 20, which can make the structure of the heat exchanger compact and small in volume, facilitating processing. For example, there are multiple refrigerant channels 21 extending along the axis direction of the accommodation cavity. The multiple refrigerant channels 21 are located circumferentially of the heat exchange portion 20. Specifically, in some embodiments, the heat exchange portion 20 further includes at least one or more heat exchange cylinders arranged coaxially, and one or more refrigerant channels 21 are provided on the cylinder wall of each heat exchange cylinder. Alternatively, in some other embodiments, the heat exchange portion 20 further includes multiple heat exchange plates, which are sequentially and spaced apart along the circumferential direction of the refrigerant cavity 10 on the outside of the refrigerant cavity 10, and one or more refrigerant channels 21 are provided on each heat exchange plate. Alternatively, in still some other embodiments, the heat exchange portion 20 further includes multiple vertically arranged heat exchange tubes, and the refrigerant channel 21 is inside each heat exchange tube.

[0038] The heat exchanger further includes multiple first branches and multiple second branches. Each first branch communicates with the lower part of the accommodation cavity, and the lower ends 211 of one or more refrigerant channels 21 are connected to each first branch. Each second branch communicates with the upper part of the accommodation cavity, and the upper ends 212 of one or more refrigerant channels 21 are connected to each second branch.

[0039] In some embodiments of the present invention, a first cavity 31 communicating with each refrigerant channel 21 is provided at the lower end of the accommodation cavity, and a first communication port 32 communicating with the accommodation cavity is provided on the upper surface of the first cavity 31. The first communication port 32 can be at the central position on the upper surface of the first cavity 31. Specifically, each first branch communicates with the first cavity 31 to better perform gas-liquid separation and facilitate the flow of the refrigerant, improving energy efficiency.

[0040] In some embodiments of the present invention, a second cavity 33 communicating with each refrigerant channel 21 is provided at the upper end of the accommodation cavity, and a second communication port 34 communicating with the accommodation cavity is provided on the lower surface of the second cavity 33. Specifically, each second branch communicates with the second cavity 33. Preferably, the second end of the second pipeline 12 communicates with the second cavity 33 to better perform gas-liquid separation and facilitate the flow of the refrigerant, improving energy efficiency.

[0041] In some embodiments of the present invention, the heat exchanger further includes a housing 40. The heat exchange portion 20 and the refrigerant cavity 10 are arranged inside the housing 40 to make air flow inside the housing 40, improving the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchange portion 20. Preferably, the housing 40 is a heat-conducting housing 40, which can be used for radiant heat exchange. Convective heat exchange can be adopted inside the heat-conducting housing 40. The heat-conducting housing 40 undertakes part of the heating or cooling load, and can reduce the blowing feeling of the human body and increase the human thermal comfort on the premise of ensuring the heating or cooling capacity; especially when heating in winter, the radiant heat exchange can significantly increase the human thermal comfort.

[0042] In some embodiments of the present invention, the heat exchange part 20 is a one-piece processed component and is formed by an extrusion process. In some other embodiments of the present invention, the whole formed by the heat exchange part 20 and the refrigerant cavity 10 is a one-piece processed component and is formed by an extrusion process. In still some other embodiments of the present invention, the heat exchanger is a one-piece processed component and is formed by an extrusion process. Part or all of the components of the heat exchanger are integrally extruded and formed, that is, integrally formed, and the structure of the heat exchanger can optimize the air flow organization of the heat exchanger. The air ducts between the refrigerant channels 21 can be large-spacing air ducts, which improves the convective heat transfer intensity, reduces the local resistance of the refrigerant pipelines such as elbows, increases the heat transfer coefficient, achieves the purpose of reducing production costs, reducing production processes (integral extrusion, integral forming), and reducing the occupied space, and promotes the improvement of the air-conditioning energy efficiency.

[0043] The inner diameter of the first pipeline 11 is smaller than the inner diameter of the second pipeline 12. When the heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention works, the heat exchanger serves as an indoor heat exchanger. During refrigeration, the gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant enters the accommodation cavity of the heat exchanger from the first pipeline 11 at the axial center part, and then radially branches to each refrigerant channel 21 through the first cavity 31 and a plurality of first branch paths. As the refrigerant absorbs heat and evaporates in the refrigerant channel 21, the refrigerant then enters the second branch path and the second cavity 33, and finally enters the second pipeline 12 and flows out of the heat exchanger and enters the compressor. At least part of the gaseous refrigerant in the accommodation cavity can directly enter the second cavity 33 upward, and the liquid refrigerant in the refrigerant from the second branch path can also fall downward into the accommodation cavity. During heating, the high-temperature gaseous refrigerant enters the heat exchanger from the second pipeline 12, is branched to the heat exchange part 20 at the top of the heat exchanger, the refrigerant releases heat and condenses into a liquid state, and flows through the first pipeline 11 to downstream components such as a throttling device.

[0044] The embodiment of the present invention also provides an air conditioner, which may include a compressor, a condenser, a throttling device, and an evaporator. The evaporator and / or the condenser adopt the heat exchanger in any of the above embodiments. Preferably, only the evaporator adopts the heat exchanger in any of the above embodiments. Further, a blower may be provided at one end of the housing 40 of the heat exchanger to promote air to enter the inner side of the housing 40 and perform heat exchange with the heat exchange part 20.

[0045] At this point, those skilled in the art should recognize that although multiple exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications that conform to the principles of the present invention can still be directly determined or derived from the content disclosed in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be understood and determined to cover all these other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger, characterized in that, Comprising: A refrigerant cavity, which defines an accommodation cavity therein; A first pipeline, having a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity and a second end located at the lower part of the accommodation cavity; the first pipeline is configured to: when the heat exchanger is an evaporator, convey a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant into the accommodation cavity; when the heat exchanger is a condenser, convey the refrigerant in the accommodation cavity outside the accommodation cavity; A second pipeline, having a first end located outside the refrigerant cavity and a second end located at the upper part of the accommodation cavity; the second pipeline is configured to: when the heat exchanger is a condenser, convey a gaseous refrigerant into the accommodation cavity; when the heat exchanger is an evaporator, convey the refrigerant in the accommodation cavity outside the accommodation cavity; A heat exchange part, arranged outside the refrigerant cavity, and the heat exchange part has at least one refrigerant channel, and one end of each refrigerant channel communicates with the lower part of the accommodation cavity, and the other end communicates with the upper part of the accommodation cavity; A gas-liquid separation structure, arranged in the accommodation cavity to divide the accommodation cavity into an upper cavity and a lower cavity, and the gas-liquid separation structure has at least one communication hole communicating the upper cavity and the lower cavity; the second end of the first pipeline communicates with the lower cavity; the second end of the second pipeline communicates with the upper cavity; A housing, the housing is in a cylindrical shape with both ends open, the heat exchange part and the refrigerant cavity are arranged inside the housing, so that air flows inside the housing; the housing is a heat-conducting housing for radiant heat exchange; The refrigerant cavity is at the central position of the heat exchange part; The refrigerant cavity includes a first cavity and a second cavity; The lower end of the accommodation cavity is provided with the first cavity communicating with each refrigerant channel, and the upper surface of the first cavity is provided with a first communication port communicating with the accommodation cavity; The upper end of the accommodation cavity is provided with the second cavity communicating with each refrigerant channel, and the lower surface of the second cavity is provided with a second communication port communicating with the accommodation cavity; The second end of the second pipeline communicates with the second cavity; The heat exchanger further includes a plurality of first branches and a plurality of second branches; each of the first branches and the second branches extends along the radial direction of the housing; There are a plurality of the refrigerant channels, which extend along the axial direction of the accommodation cavity; Each first branch communicates with the first cavity, and one or more lower ends of the refrigerant channels are connected to each first branch; Each second branch communicates with the second cavity, and one or more upper ends of the refrigerant channels are connected to each second branch.

2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat exchange part further includes at least one or more coaxially arranged heat exchange cylinders, and one or more of the refrigerant channels are arranged on the cylinder wall of each heat exchange cylinder.

3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat exchange part further includes a plurality of heat exchange plates, which are sequentially arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the refrigerant cavity on the outside of the refrigerant cavity, and one or more of the refrigerant channels are arranged on each heat exchange plate.

4. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat exchange part is an integrally processed part and is formed by an extrusion process.

5. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The whole formed by the heat exchange part and the refrigerant cavity is an integrally processed part and is formed by an extrusion process.

6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat exchanger is an integrally processed part and is formed by an extrusion process.

7. An air conditioner, comprising an evaporator and a condenser, characterized in that, The evaporator and / or the condenser adopt the heat exchanger described in claims 1 to 6.

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