Air-liquid separator of air conditioner

Abstract

The air-conditioner gas-liquid separator comprises a tank body, an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe, a base is connected to the bottom of the tank body, a center cavity is formed in the base, a piston is arranged in the center cavity, and the portion, below the piston, of the center cavity is filled with gas; a pressure-bearing disc is arranged in the tank body close to the bottom, the bottom of the pressure-bearing disc is connected with a connecting rod, the connecting rod downwards penetrates through the bottom of the tank body and extends into a central cavity above the piston in the base, the connecting rod and the bottom of the tank body can slide relatively, and the lower end of the connecting rod is fixedly connected to the top of the piston; and a spring is also connected between the pressure-bearing disc and the bottom of the tank body. The liquid refrigerant in the gas-liquid separator can be promoted to absorb heat and evaporate, and the gas-liquid separator has the advantage of being low in energy consumption.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a gas-liquid separator, in particular, an air conditioner gas-liquid separator. BACKGROUND

[0002] Under ideal working conditions of an air conditioning system, gaseous refrigerant compressed by a compressor is condensed into liquid refrigerant by a condenser, and then is further cooled by a throttling device before being sent to an evaporator. The liquid refrigerant absorbs heat from air flowing through the surface of the evaporator to form gaseous refrigerant, which is returned to the compressor for compression. However, in the case of insufficient heat exchange in the evaporator (for example, in the case of frost formation), the refrigerant output from the evaporator includes not only gaseous refrigerant but also a portion of liquid refrigerant. Therefore, a gas-liquid separator is needed to separate the mixed-state refrigerant output from the evaporator. The gaseous refrigerant is directly output from the gas-liquid separator to the compressor, while the liquid refrigerant remains in the gas-liquid separator to absorb external heat and evaporate into gaseous refrigerant again before being output to the compressor through the gas-liquid separator.

[0003] The structure of the prior art gas-liquid separator is shown in Figure 1 It includes a tank body 1, an inlet pipe 2, and an outlet pipe 3. One end of the inlet pipe 2 is connected to an air conditioner evaporator, and the other end of the inlet pipe 2 is connected to the tank body 1 from the top of the tank body 1. The outlet pipe 3 is in a U shape, and most of the pipe body of the outlet pipe 3 is located in the tank body 1. One end of the outlet pipe 3 is connected to the compressor after passing out from the top of the tank body 1, and the other end of the outlet pipe 3 remains in the tank body 1. The height of the outlet pipe 3 located in the tank body 1 is higher than the height of the inlet pipe 2 located in the tank body 1. The mixed-state refrigerant output from the evaporator enters the tank body 1 through the inlet pipe 2. The gaseous part directly returns to the compressor from the outlet pipe 3 located in the tank body 1. The liquid part remains below the tank body 1 and evaporates into gaseous refrigerant again after absorbing external heat, and then returns to the compressor through the outlet pipe 3 located in the tank body 1. In this structure of the gas-liquid separator, the liquid refrigerant relies on heat exchange with the outside world to evaporate again, so the speed of returning to the compressor is slow, resulting in a decrease in the amount of refrigerant participating in refrigeration in the entire air conditioning system.

[0004] To solve the above problems, the prior art adds a heater outside the tank body 1 to actively heat the liquid refrigerant in the tank body 1 to evaporate quickly. However, the heater consumes electrical energy when it is working, which increases the energy consumption of the air conditioning system. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides an air conditioner gas-liquid separator to solve the problem of high energy consumption of the prior art gas-liquid separator using a heater.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present application is as follows: Air conditioner gas-liquid separator, including closed tank body, and inlet pipe, outlet pipe, one end of the inlet pipe is connected to the air conditioner evaporator, the other end of the inlet pipe is connected to the tank body, the other end of the outlet pipe is connected to the compressor, the other end of the outlet pipe is connected to the tank body, and the height of the outlet pipe in the tank body is higher than the height of the inlet pipe in the tank body, the bottom of the tank body is connected to the base, the base has a central chamber, the piston is arranged in the central chamber, the central chamber is divided into two parts by the piston, and the central chamber below the piston is filled with gas; The pressure disc is arranged near the bottom of the tank body, and the bottom of the pressure disc is connected to the connecting rod, the connecting rod penetrates through the bottom of the tank body and extends into the central chamber above the piston in the base, and the connecting rod and the bottom of the tank body are relatively slidable, and the lower end of the connecting rod is fixedly connected to the top of the piston. The pressure disc and the bottom of the tank body are further connected by the spring, and the pressure disc is made of the spring.

[0007] Further, the base is made of heat-conducting material.

[0008] Further, the base is made of heat-insulating material, and a plurality of side cavities are arranged around the central chamber in the base, one end of each side cavity is communicated with the central chamber below the piston, and the other end of each side cavity is arranged on the top surface of the base and closely arranged on the bottom of the tank body, and a heat-conducting block is fixedly arranged in the other end of each side cavity.

[0009] Further, the gas is helium.

[0010] Further, the flow control valve is arranged on the inlet pipe.

[0011] In the application, the pressure disc bears the liquid pressure generated by the gradually increasing liquid refrigerant in the tank body, and the pressure disc moves downward under the action of the pressure, thereby driving the piston to move downward in the central chamber of the base, and the spring is compressed at this time. The gas below the piston is compressed during the downward movement of the piston, and the gas does work, so that the temperature of the gas rises to generate heat, and the heat is conducted to the tank body, thereby causing the liquid refrigerant in the tank body to absorb heat and evaporate again. When the liquid refrigerant evaporates and the liquid level drops, the pressure disc is reset under the action of the spring. Therefore, in the application, the potential energy of the liquid refrigerant in the tank body is converted into heat, and then the heat is conducted to the liquid refrigerant, so as to promote the liquid refrigerant to absorb heat and evaporate.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the application has the advantages of low energy consumption in promoting the liquid refrigerant in the gas-liquid separator to absorb heat and evaporate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1is a structure diagram of a prior art gas-liquid separator.

[0014] Figure 2 is a structure diagram of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The present application is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0016] As shown in Figure 2 the present embodiment discloses a gas-liquid separator for an air conditioner, which comprises a tank body 1, an inlet pipe 2 and an outlet pipe 3. One end of the inlet pipe 2 is connected to an air conditioner evaporator, and the other end of the inlet pipe 2 is connected to the tank body 1 from the top of the tank body 1. The outlet pipe 3 is in a U shape, most of the pipe body of the outlet pipe 3 is arranged in the tank body 1, one end of the outlet pipe 3 is connected to a compressor after being led out from the top of the tank body 1, and the other end of the outlet pipe 3 is left in the tank body 1, and the height of the pipe opening of the outlet pipe 3 in the tank body 1 is higher than the height of the pipe opening of the inlet pipe 2 in the tank body 1.

[0017] The bottom of the tank body 1 is connected to a base 4 made of a heat-conducting material such as copper, the base 4 has a central chamber 5, and the central chamber 5 is divided into two parts by a piston 6, and the central chamber 5 below the piston 6 is filled with gas.

[0018] A pressure-bearing disc 7 is arranged near the bottom of the tank body 1, the pressure-bearing disc 7 is made of a material with a density less than that of the air conditioner refrigerant, the bottom of the pressure-bearing disc 7 is connected to a connecting rod 8, a vertical through hole is formed in the bottom of the tank body 1, the connecting rod 8 is inserted into the central chamber 5 above the piston 6 in the base 4 through the vertical through hole in the bottom of the tank body 1, the connecting rod 8 and the bottom of the tank body 1 can slide relative to each other through the vertical through hole, and a sealing ring is arranged in the vertical through hole of the bottom of the tank body 1 and wrapped around the connecting rod 8 to seal the connecting rod 8 and the vertical through hole of the bottom of the tank body 1. The lower end of the connecting rod 8 is fixedly connected to the top center of the piston 6.

[0019] A spring 9 is further connected between the pressure-bearing disc 7 and the bottom of the tank body 1, and the spring 9 is wrapped around the connecting rod 8 outside the connecting rod 8 between the pressure-bearing disc 7 and the bottom of the tank body 1 to support the pressure-bearing disc 7.

[0020] In the present embodiment, as the liquid refrigerant continuously accumulates at the bottom of the tank body 1, the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the tank body 1 continuously rises, the liquid pressure on the pressure-bearing disc 7 continuously increases, and the pressure-bearing disc 7 can be moved downward. When the pressure-bearing disc 7 moves downward, the piston 6 is driven by the connecting rod 8 to move downward in the central chamber 5 of the base 4, and the spring 9 is compressed at this time.

[0021] When the piston 6 moves downward in the central chamber 5, the gas in the lower central chamber 5 is compressed, and the gas is heated by the work done on the gas. Part of the heat generated by the gas is conducted to the can body 1 through the base 4 made of heat-conductive material, so that the liquid refrigerant in the can body 1 can absorb the heat and evaporate rapidly into gas. In this process, the hydraulic potential energy of the liquid refrigerant is used to do work on the gas in the central chamber 5 of the base 4, so that the gas is heated to promote the rapid evaporation of the liquid refrigerant and increase the evaporation speed of the liquid refrigerant.

[0022] When the liquid refrigerant evaporates and the liquid level drops, the hydraulic pressure of the liquid refrigerant in the can body 1 decreases. Since the spring 9 is compressed before, the spring 9 can be used to reset the pressure-bearing disc 7 and the piston 6 as a whole.

[0023] Since the base 4 made of heat-conductive material is relatively expensive, as an improvement to the present embodiment, the base 4 is made of heat-insulating material instead of heat-conductive material. In the base 4, a plurality of side cavities 10 surrounding the central chamber 5 are further provided. One end of each side cavity 10 is in communication with the lower side of the lower central chamber 5 below the piston 6, and the other end of each side cavity 10 is provided on the top surface of the base 4 and closely contacts the bottom of the can body 1. A heat-conductive block 11 made of copper is fixed in the other end of each side cavity 10, and the periphery of the heat-conductive block 11 is sealed with a sealing ring. The central chamber 5 and the side cavities 10 form a communication chamber, and the communication chamber 10 is filled with gas.

[0024] In this structure, when the piston 6 moves downward, the gas in the entire communication chamber is compressed and heated, and the heat is conducted to the bottom of the can body 1 through the heat-conductive blocks 11 in the side cavities 10 closely contacting the bottom of the can body 1. Then, the liquid refrigerant in the can body 1 can be heated and evaporated.

[0025] As an improvement of the embodiment, a gas-liquid valve 12 is installed on the inlet pipe 2, and the gas-liquid valve 12 is used as a flow control valve to control the flow of refrigerant from the evaporator to the tank 1. When the liquid refrigerant stored in the tank 1 is relatively large, the flow of refrigerant from the evaporator to the tank 1 is reduced by the gas-liquid valve 12, or the flow of refrigerant from the evaporator to the tank 1 is directly shut off. Through flow control, on the one hand, by reducing the flow of refrigerant into the tank 1 (reduced to 0 when shut off), it is ensured that the liquid level in the tank 1 can be lowered when the liquid refrigerant evaporates, thereby avoiding the problem that the evaporation speed of the liquid refrigerant in the tank 1 is always less than the inflow speed due to the excessive flow of refrigerant from the evaporator, and further avoiding the problem that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the tank 1 cannot be lowered. Through flow control, on the other hand, the compressor can fully utilize the liquid refrigerant stored in the tank 1, thereby avoiding the problem that the liquid refrigerant stored in the tank 1 is not fully utilized because new liquid refrigerant is introduced without the liquid refrigerant being evaporated.

[0026] In the above embodiment, a gas with a small molar heat capacity at constant volume is selected, and the gas with a small molar heat capacity at constant volume is more likely to be heated when work is done on it from the outside. Specifically, helium is used as the gas.

[0027] The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described in the present application are merely descriptions of the preferred embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the concept and scope of the present application. In the above specific embodiments, each specific technical feature described above can be combined in any appropriate manner without contradiction, and such a combination should also be considered as disclosed by the present disclosure, as long as it does not deviate from the technical concept of the present application. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present application does not further describe various possible combinations.

[0028] The present application is not limited to the specific details described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and improvements of the technical solutions of the present application made by those skilled in the art within the technical concept of the present application and without departing from the design idea of the present application should fall within the protection scope of the present application. The technical content claimed by the present application has been fully recorded in the claims.

Claims

1. An air-conditioning gas-liquid separator comprising a closed tank body, and an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe, one end of the inlet pipe being connected to an air-conditioning evaporator, the other end of the inlet pipe being connected to the tank body, one end of the outlet pipe being connected to a compressor, the other end of the outlet pipe being connected to the tank body, and the height of the outlet pipe in the tank body being higher than the height of the inlet pipe in the tank body, characterized in that, The tank body is connected with a base, the base has a central chamber, a piston is arranged in the central chamber, the central chamber is divided into two parts by the piston, and the lower part of the central chamber is filled with gas; ​ A pressure bearing disc is arranged in the tank body near the bottom, a connecting rod is connected with the bottom of the pressure bearing disc, the connecting rod penetrates through the bottom of the tank body and extends into the central chamber above the piston in the base, the connecting rod is slidable relative to the bottom of the tank body, and the lower end of the connecting rod is fixedly connected to the top of the piston; A spring is further connected between the pressure bearing disc and the bottom of the tank body, and the pressure bearing disc is made of the spring.

2. The air conditioning gas-liquid separator according to claim 1, wherein The base is made of heat-conducting material.

3. The air conditioning gas-liquid separator according to claim 1, wherein The base is made of heat-insulating material, a plurality of side channels are arranged around the central chamber in the base, one end of each side channel is communicated with the central chamber below the piston, the other end of each side channel is arranged on the top surface of the base and closely contacts the bottom of the tank body, a heat-conducting block is fixedly inserted into the other end of each side channel, a communicating chamber is formed by the central chamber and the side channels, and the communicating chamber is filled with the gas.

4. The air-liquid separator of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, The gas is helium.

5. The air conditioning gas-liquid separator according to claim 4, wherein A flow control valve is mounted on the inlet pipe.

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