A water heater

Abstract

The present invention provides a hot water furnace, comprising: a first return water pipe having two outflow ends; a first heat exchanger including a first heating pipe and a second heating pipe that are independent of each other, the inlet ends of the first heating pipe and the second heating pipe are respectively connected to the two outflow ends of the first return water pipe, the outlet end of the first heating pipe is connected to a heating circuit through the first return water pipe, the outlet end of the second heating pipe is connected to a domestic hot water system, the outlet end of the domestic hot water system is connected to the first return water pipe; and a flow splitting controller provided on the pipeline where the first heating pipe is connected to the heating circuit and on the pipeline where the second heating pipe is connected to the domestic hot water system, and respectively controlling the flow rates of the two pipelines. The hot water furnace provided by the present invention can realize the combined use of domestic hot water and heating functions, and respectively control the two water supply systems, thereby improving the thermal efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of heat exchange equipment, and particularly to a hot water furnace. Background Art

[0002] A hot water furnace is a commonly used heat exchange device. Taking a domestic gas wall-mounted boiler as an example, existing families mostly adopt a wall-mounted boiler that can be used for both domestic hot water and heating hot water. Although this kind of wall-mounted boiler can provide the functions of heating hot water and domestic hot water, it cannot supply heating hot water and domestic hot water simultaneously. That is to say, when heating is enabled, the water heated in the main heat exchanger enters the heating circulation system, and at this time, domestic hot water cannot be produced. When domestic hot water is started, to ensure the priority supply of domestic hot water, the water heated in the main heat exchanger enters the domestic hot water circulation system, resulting in the disconnection of the heating system. For families with many members in winter, due to the frequent use of the hot water function for a long time, the room temperature often drops significantly, greatly affecting the comfort.

[0003] To solve the above problems, a gas wall-mounted boiler is provided in the prior art. By setting an electric three-way valve with adjustable opening at the water outlet end of the main heat exchanger and adjusting the opening degrees of the heating pipeline and the hot water pipeline, the simultaneous supply of the heating system and the hot water system can be realized. However, this kind of wall-mounted boiler has defects. The hot water coming out of the main heat exchanger is respectively supplied to the heating system and the hot water system, which results in the same inlet water temperature for the heating system and the hot water system. However, in actual use, the heat required for heating is different from the heat required for domestic hot water. Therefore, when this kind of wall-mounted boiler is used with both functions simultaneously, it cannot take into account the heat requirements of different systems. It can only cool down the system with low temperature requirements on the basis of ensuring the supply of higher heat requirements, increasing the system structure, causing heat waste, and having a low thermal efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To solve the technical problems of heat waste and low thermal efficiency existing in the existing hot water furnace when supplying domestic hot water and heating simultaneously, the present invention provides a hot water furnace.

[0005] A hot water furnace provided by the present invention includes:

[0006] A first return pipe having two outlet ends;

[0007] A first heat exchanger including a first heating pipe and a second heating pipe that are independent of each other. The inlet ends of the first heating pipe and the second heating pipe are respectively connected to the two outlet ends of the first return pipe. The outlet end of the first heating pipe is connected to the heating circuit through the first return pipe, the outlet end of the second heating pipe is connected to the domestic hot water system, and the outlet end of the domestic hot water system is connected to the first return pipe; and

[0008] A flow controller is provided on the pipeline where the first heating pipe is connected to the heating circuit and on the pipeline where the second heating pipe is connected to the domestic hot water system, and controls the flow rates of the two pipelines respectively.

[0009] In some embodiments, the first heating pipe and the second heating pipe are of a sleeve structure.

[0010] In some embodiments, the flow controller includes a first regulating valve provided on the pipeline where the first heating pipe is connected to the heating circuit, and a second regulating valve provided on the pipeline where the second heating pipe is connected to the domestic hot water system.

[0011] In some embodiments, both the first regulating valve and the second regulating valve are three-way regulating valves, and the flow controller further includes a connecting pipe, with both ends of the connecting pipe connected to the first regulating valve and the second regulating valve respectively.

[0012] In some embodiments, one of the first regulating valve and the second regulating valve is a three-way regulating valve, and the other is a two-way regulating valve. The flow controller further includes a connecting pipe, with one end of the connecting pipe connected to the three-way regulating valve and the other end connected to the inlet end of the two-way regulating valve.

[0013] In some embodiments, for the water heater, the domestic hot water system includes:

[0014] A second heat exchanger, with its first medium inlet end connected to the outlet end of the second heating pipe, its first medium outlet end connected to the first return pipe, and its second medium inlet end and second medium outlet end connected to the domestic hot water system.

[0015] In some embodiments, the second heat exchanger is a plate heat exchanger.

[0016] In some embodiments, the first heat exchanger is a gas heater, which includes a gas valve, a burner, and a blower.

[0017] In some embodiments, the water heater further includes:

[0018] A circulation pump is provided on the first return pipe, with its inlet end connected to the second medium outlet end and its outlet end connected to the two outlet ends of the first return pipe.

[0019] In some embodiments, the second medium inlet end is connected to the domestic water supply pipeline, and the second medium outlet end is connected to the end of domestic water use.

[0020] The water heater provided by the present invention includes a first return pipe, a first heat exchanger, and a flow divider controller. The first return pipe is the return water pipeline of the main circulation system. The first return pipe has two outlet ends. The first heat exchanger includes an independent first heating pipe and a second heating pipe. The inlet ends of the first heating pipe and the second heating pipe are respectively connected to the two outlet ends of the first return pipe. The outlet end of the first heating pipe is connected to the heating circuit through the first return pipe, so that the hot water heated by the first heating pipe enters the heating cycle for heating. The outlet end of the second heating pipe is connected to the domestic hot water system, and the outlet end of the domestic hot water system is connected to the first return pipe, so that the hot water heated by the second heating pipe enters the second heat exchanger to participate in heat exchange to provide domestic hot water. The flow divider controller is arranged on the pipeline where the first heating pipe is connected to the heating circuit and the pipeline where the second heating pipe is connected to the domestic hot water system, and respectively controls the flow rates of the two pipelines, so as to realize the supply of divided heat to different systems by adjusting the flow rate of each branch. When the heating and domestic hot water functions are used simultaneously, the temperatures of the two systems can be regulated separately, without cooling the high-temperature pipeline, avoiding heat waste and improving the thermal efficiency. In the water heater provided by the present invention, the first heating pipe and the second heating pipe are of a sleeve structure, reducing the space occupancy rate of the pipeline and increasing the heat exchange area of the first heating pipe and the second heating pipe. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a water heater according to some embodiments of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a water heater according to other embodiments of the present invention.

[0024] DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0025] 1 - First return pipe; 2 - First heating pipe; 3 - Second heating pipe; 4 - Connecting pipe; 10 - First heat exchanger; 20 - Second heat exchanger; 21 - First medium inlet end; 22 - First medium outlet end; 23 - Second medium inlet end; 24 - Second medium outlet end; 30 - First regulating valve; 40 - Second regulating valve; 50 - Circulation pump. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0026] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts fall within the protection scope of the present invention. In addition, the technical features involved in different embodiments of the present invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0027] The water heater provided by the present invention can be used in water heater heat exchange equipment, such as domestic wall-mounted boilers, heating boilers, etc., and can realize the simultaneous supply of heating and domestic hot water. It should be noted that in order to realize the simultaneous use of heating and domestic hot water functions, the dual-purpose wall-mounted boilers in the prior art can be divided into two types: one is the wall-mounted boiler with a dual combustion system. In this combustion water heater, there are two sets of combustion systems for hot water supply combustion and heating combustion. Users can separately turn on one set or both sets of combustion systems as needed to realize the simultaneous use of domestic hot water and heating. However, this water heater is equivalent to the combination of two wall-mounted boilers, which has a large volume and requires more household activity space. Moreover, the production cost of the two sets of combustion systems is high, which is not practical for most families. Most importantly, when the user only uses one of the functions, the system of the other function is completely shut down. For example, in spring, summer and autumn, the heating system does not need to work at all and is in a long-term idle waste state with low utilization rate. The other is to adopt a single combustion system. Although it solves the defects of the above-mentioned dual combustion system wall-mounted boiler, this wall-mounted boiler uses a three-way regulating valve to divide the water heated by the combustion chamber into two paths for supply, and the temperatures of the hot water supplied in the two paths are the same. However, for heating and domestic hot water, the required heat is often different. Therefore, the wall-mounted boiler needs to first ensure the supply of hot water at a higher temperature, and then cool down the system that requires a lower temperature, which is equivalent to wasting some heat in vain and reducing the thermal efficiency. Based on this, the present invention provides a water heater and its control method. Figure 1 shows the structure of the water heater in some embodiments according to the present invention.

[0028] As Figure 1As shown, in some embodiments, the water heater provided by the present invention includes a first heat exchanger 10, a flow controller, a domestic hot water system, a circulation pipeline, etc. The first heat exchanger 10 is the main heat exchanger of the water heater, providing heat for the circulating water of the water heater. The circulation pipeline includes a first return pipe 1. The pipeline of the first return pipe 1 is configured to have two outflow ends, so that the two branches shunted through the first return pipe 1 respectively enter the first heat exchanger 10 for heating, and the two heated hot waters respectively enter the domestic hot water system and the heating circuit to participate in heat exchange. A circulation pump 50 is provided on the first return pipe 1, and the circulation pump 50 provides power for the circulation of the system circulating water. The flow controller is provided on the pipeline connecting the first heat exchanger 10 with the heating circuit and the domestic hot water system, and controls the flow rates of the two pipelines respectively, so as to realize the separate control of each heat exchange system.

[0029] In this embodiment, the first heat exchanger 10 adopts, for example, a gas heater, which may include a gas valve, a burner, a blower, etc. (not shown in the drawings). The gas valve may adopt, for example, an existing gas proportional valve. The inlet end of the gas valve is connected to the gas supply pipeline, and the outlet end is connected to the burner. The gas valve can provide different combustion powers by controlling the intake ratio or flow rate of natural gas and air. The burner may adopt a combustion fire row composed of several fire holes, and different combustion powers can also be achieved by controlling the number of burning fire rows of the combustion fire row. As Figure 1 shown, the first heat exchanger 10 includes an independent first heating pipe 2 and a second heating pipe 3. In this embodiment, the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 are of a sleeve structure, that is, the first heating pipe 2 is sleeved on the outer layer of the second heating pipe 3. The heat exchange pipeline formed by the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 is spirally arranged in the first heat exchanger 10, so as to increase the heat exchange area of the pipeline. The inlet ends of the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 are respectively connected to the two outflow ends of the first return pipe 1, so that the return water shunted by the first return pipe 1 respectively enters the first heat exchanger 10 for heating.

[0030] The hot water heated by the first heat exchanger 10 flows out from the outlet ends of the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3. Among them, the outlet end of the first heating pipe 2 is connected to the heating circuit, and the high-temperature water flowing out of the first heating pipe 2 enters the downstream heating pipeline, and the heating pipeline exchanges heat with the indoor air of the user, so as to heat the user. The low-temperature water participating in the heat exchange in the heating circuit flows back to the first return pipe 1, so as to realize the heating cycle heat exchange. And the outlet end of the second heating pipe 12 is connected to the domestic hot water system, and the high-temperature water flowing out of the second heating pipe 12 flows back to the first return pipe 1 after participating in the heat exchange through the domestic hot water system, so as to realize the domestic hot water cycle heat exchange. Specifically, as Figure 1As shown, the domestic hot water heat exchange system includes a second heat exchanger 20. The second heat exchanger 20 can be a plate heat exchanger. The first medium inlet end 21 of the plate heat exchanger is communicated with the outlet end of the second heating pipe 3, and the first medium outlet end 22 is communicated with the first return pipe 1. Thus, the high-temperature hot water flowing out of the second heating pipe 3 flows back to the first return pipe 1 after participating in heat exchange through the second heat exchanger 20. The second medium inlet end 23 and the second medium outlet end 24 are communicated with the domestic hot water pipeline. For example, the second medium inlet end 23 can be communicated with the tap water supply pipeline, and the second medium outlet end 24 is communicated with the bathrooms, kitchens, etc. at the end of the domestic hot water. Thus, the low-temperature domestic water enters the plate heat exchanger through the second medium inlet end 23, and the high-temperature domestic hot water after participating in heat exchange enters the end of the domestic hot water through the second medium outlet end 24, providing domestic hot water for users' bathing, washing, etc.

[0031] In some embodiments, the flow controller includes a first regulating valve 30 and a second regulating valve 40. The first regulating valve 30 is arranged on the pipeline where the outlet end of the first heating pipe 2 is communicated with the heating circuit, and the second regulating valve 40 is arranged on the pipeline where the second heating pipeline 3 is communicated with the first medium inlet end 21 of the second heat exchanger 20. The flow rates of the two pipelines are controlled through the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40, so as to realize the separate control of the water supply temperatures of the heating system and the domestic hot water system, and avoid the mutual influence of the temperatures of the two pipelines. For example, when the domestic hot water system requires a higher temperature while the heating system requires a lower temperature, the flow rates of the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 are respectively adjusted through the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40 to achieve different outlet water temperatures. When the two functions are used simultaneously, the separate regulation of the temperatures of the two systems is realized, so that there is no need to cool down the pipeline that exceeds the demand, avoiding heat waste and improving the thermal efficiency of the system.

[0032] Such as Figure 1As shown, in this embodiment, the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40 are both set as three-way regulating valves, and the third ends of the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40 are connected through a connecting pipe 4. By controlling the on-off of different connection ports of the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40, the water supply to different heat exchange systems can be realized. For example, when the hot water furnace only provides the function of domestic hot water, at this time, the connection end of the first regulating valve 30 communicating with the heating circuit can be controlled to be disconnected, and the connection end communicating with the connecting pipe 4 can be controlled to be conducted, and the three ends of the second regulating valve 40 are communicated. Thus, all the high-temperature water heated in the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 enters the second heat exchanger 20 to participate in the domestic hot water heat exchange. When the hot water furnace only provides the heating function, at this time, the three ends of the first regulating valve 30 can be controlled to be communicated, the connection end of the second regulating valve 40 communicating with the second heat exchanger 20 is disconnected, and the other two ends are communicated. Thus, all the high-temperature water heated in the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 enters the heating pipeline to participate in the heating circuit heat exchange. When the hot water furnace provides both domestic hot water and heating functions, the communicating ends of the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40 are controlled to be disconnected, and the other ends are communicated. Thus, the high-temperature water flowing out of the first heating pipe 2 enters the heating pipeline to participate in the heating cycle heat exchange, and the high-temperature water flowing out of the second heating pipe 3 enters the second heat exchanger 20 to participate in the domestic hot water heat exchange. After the heat exchange, the heating return water and the domestic return water enter the first return pipe 1 to complete the double-system heat exchange cycle. At the same time, by controlling the opening degrees of the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40, the separate control of each heating system can be realized.

[0033] In this embodiment, the hot water furnace further includes a circulation pump 50. The circulation pump 50 is arranged on the first return pipe 1, its inflow end communicates with the first medium outlet end 22 of the second heat exchanger 20, and its outflow end communicates with the two outflow ends of the first return pipe 1, so as to provide circulation power for the heating return water and the domestic heat exchange return water.

[0034] The structure and working principle of the hot water furnace in some embodiments of the present invention are described above. On the basis of the above embodiments, the hot water furnace of the present invention can also have other alternative embodiments.

[0035] As Figure 2 shown, in some alternative embodiments, the difference from the above embodiments lies in the different structures of the flow splitting controller. In Figure 2In some of the illustrated embodiments, the flow divider controller may include a first regulating valve 30, a second regulating valve 40, and a connecting pipe 4. The first regulating valve 30 is a three-way regulating valve, which is disposed on the pipeline connecting the outlet end of the first heating pipe 2 to the heating circuit. Its third end is connected to the pipeline connecting the second heating pipe 3 and the second heat exchanger 20 through the connecting pipe. The second regulating valve 40 is a two-way regulating valve, which is disposed on the pipeline connecting the connecting pipe 4 to the second heat exchanger 20. When the water heater only provides the function of domestic hot water, the connection end of the first regulating valve 30 communicating with the heating circuit can be controlled to be disconnected, so that the high-temperature water flowing out of the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 all enters the second heat exchanger 20 to participate in the heat exchange of domestic hot water. When the water heater only provides the heating function, the second regulating valve 40 can be controlled to be disconnected, so that the high-temperature water flowing out of the first heating pipe 2 and the second heating pipe 3 all enters the heating circuit through the first regulating valve 30 to participate in the heat exchange of the heating system. When the water heater provides both domestic hot water and heating functions, the connection end of the first regulating valve 30 and the connecting pipe 4 can be controlled to be disconnected, so that the high-temperature water flowing out of the first heating pipe 2 enters the heating cycle to participate in the heating heat exchange, and the high-temperature water flowing out of the second heating pipe 3 enters the second heat exchanger to participate in the heat exchange of domestic hot water. At the same time, by controlling the opening degrees of the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40, the separate control of each heating system can be realized.

[0036] In some other alternative embodiments, different from Figure 2 the illustrated embodiment, the difference is that the first regulating valve 30 can be set as a two-way regulating valve, and the second regulating valve 40 is set as a three-way regulating valve. Its structure and working principle are similar to the above, and those skilled in the art can implement it based on the above disclosure, which will not be elaborated here.

[0037] In still some other alternative embodiments, different from the above embodiments, the difference is that both the first regulating valve 30 and the second regulating valve 40 are set as two-way regulating valves, so as to only separately control each heating system. The working principle is similar to the above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0038] In still some other alternative embodiments, the first heat exchanger 10 and the second heat exchanger 20 can also adopt any other suitable devices. For example, the first heat exchanger 10 can also adopt an electric heating device, and the second heat exchanger 20 can also adopt other forms of heat exchange devices. The present invention places no restrictions on this.

[0039] Obviously, the above embodiments are only examples clearly described and not limitations on the embodiments. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other different forms of changes or modifications can be made based on the above description. It is not necessary and impossible to list all the embodiments here. And the obvious changes or modifications derived therefrom are still within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A water heater, characterized in that, Comprising: A first return water pipe (1) having two outlet ends; A first heat exchanger (10) including a first heating pipe (2) and a second heating pipe (3) that are independent of each other. The inlet ends of the first heating pipe (2) and the second heating pipe (3) are respectively connected to the two outlet ends of the first return water pipe (1). The outlet end of the first heating pipe (2) is connected to a heating circuit, and the outlet end of the second heating pipe (3) is connected to a domestic hot water system. The outlet end of the domestic hot water system is connected to the first return water pipe (1); and A flow controller provided on the pipeline where the first heating pipe (2) is connected to the heating circuit and on the pipeline where the second heating pipe (3) is connected to the domestic hot water system, and respectively controlling the flow rates of the two pipelines; The flow controller includes a first regulating valve (30) provided on the pipeline where the first heating pipe (2) is connected to the heating circuit, and a second regulating valve (40) provided on the pipeline where the second heating pipe (3) is connected to the domestic hot water system; Both the first regulating valve (30) and the second regulating valve (40) are three-way regulating valves. The flow controller further includes a connecting pipe (4), and the two ends of the connecting pipe (4) are respectively connected to the first regulating valve (30) and the second regulating valve (40); The connection end of the first regulating valve (30) connected to the heating circuit is disconnected, and the connection end connected to the connecting pipe (4) is conducted. The three ends of the second regulating valve (40) are connected; or the three ends of the first regulating valve (30) are connected, the connection end of the second regulating valve (40) connected to the second heat exchanger (20) is disconnected, and the other two ends are connected; or the connection ends of the first regulating valve (30) and the second regulating valve (40) are disconnected, and the other ends are connected; The domestic hot water system includes: A second heat exchanger (20), a first medium inlet end (21) connected to the outlet end of the second heating pipe (3), a first medium outlet end (22) connected to the first return water pipe (1), and its second medium inlet end (23) and second medium outlet end (24) connected to the domestic hot water system.

2. The water heater according to claim 1, wherein The first heating pipe (2) and the second heating pipe (3) are of a sleeve structure.

3. The water heater according to claim 1, wherein The second heat exchanger (20) is a plate heat exchanger.

4. The water heater according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein The first heat exchanger (10) is a gas heater, which includes a gas valve, a burner, and a blower.

5. The water heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, Further comprising: A circulation pump (50) provided on the first return water pipe (1), with its inlet end connected to the first medium outlet end (22) and its outlet end connected to the two outlet ends of the first return water pipe (1).

6. The water heater according to claim 1, wherein The second medium inlet end (23) is connected to a domestic water supply pipeline, and the second medium outlet end (24) is connected to the end of domestic water use.

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