Air conditioner

Abstract

The invention relates to an air conditioner comprising an air compressor (1) intended to compress the air that is to be cooled, an air-liquid heat exchanger (3) intended to transfer the heat from the air thus compressed to a liquid placed in a reservoir (9), an air-air heat exchanger (5) intended to lower still further the temperature of the air that is to be cooled which, at this stage, is still kept in the compressed-air state, a compressed-air motor (7) able to achieve expansion of the compressed air, something which naturally lowers its temperature and supplies cooled air, and a casing (17), having good thermal insulation properties and intended to contain all of the constituent components of the air conditioner; there will therefore be no need to provide for the removal of hot air as is required with most known air-conditioners of the prior art.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioner, comprising an air compressor, a compressed air motor, air-liquid and air-air heat exchangers, a steam engine, all of these elements being confined inside an enclosure allowing very good thermal insulation with respect to the ambient air to be cooled and which has the advantage of not requiring a pipe for evacuating hot air to the outside.

[0002] The invention relates to the field of air conditioning devices and will find a very particular application in the field of portable air conditioning devices intended to cool a room or premises located in a private dwelling or building.

[0003] We already know different types of air conditioners, most of which operate on the same principle as refrigerators, which use a phase change cycle of a refrigerant to transfer heat from the part to be cooled to the outside environment. The refrigerant circulates in heat exchangers located on the one hand in the part to be cooled and on the other hand in the outside environment. This circulation is carried out thanks to a compressor which acts as a pump to circulate the refrigerant. This cycle takes place in four stages: 1 / Compression: the refrigerant in vapor form is compressed and leaves the compressor at high pressure and high temperature; 2 / Condensation: the refrigerant in the very hot and compressed vapor form then passes into a condenser (or heat exchanger), where it will give off heat to the external environment, which will allow it to liquefy, that is to say, pass from the gaseous state to the liquid state; 3 / Expansion: at the outlet of the condenser, the refrigerant, which is in liquid form and under high pressure, is expanded by rapidly lowering the pressure in an expansion valve. (The refrigerant is circulated through an orifice).This sudden drop in pressure has the effect of vaporizing part of the refrigerant, which is now in its coldest state of the cycle following this phase change (liquid - vapor); 4 / Evaporation: the refrigerant, now cold and partially vaporized, circulates in an evaporator (heat exchanger) which is located in the part to be cooled. It removes heat from the medium (the air) to cool it. By absorbing heat, the refrigerant evaporates completely and passes from the liquid state to the gaseous state. The refrigerant is then ready to renew a new cycle.

[0004] This cycle has the disadvantage of requiring a heat transfer between the refrigerant and the outside environment during the condensation phase (Phase 2 described above). Indeed, in the case of a portable air conditioner placed in a room, it is necessary to provide for the evacuation of the calories extracted from the refrigerant in the state of very hot vapor during its cooling in the condenser. This evacuation is generally done using an evacuation pipe which redirects the hot air outside the room, in the case of a portable air conditioner. In this case, this requires providing an orifice on a wall of the room or in an opening (door or window).It is also possible to leave an opening ajar to provide a passage for the hot air exhaust pipe, but it is then necessary to seal the said opening to keep the fresh air inside the room and especially not to let hot air from outside in.

[0005] The present invention proposes a solution to overcome this drawback, while maintaining a cooling efficiency comparable to that obtained with air conditioners having heat evacuation to the outside. The present invention provides for extracting the heat from the air to be cooled directly using an air-liquid heat exchanger, rather than using the principle of a phase change of a refrigerant fluid which then cools the air by evaporation in a heat exchanger. The present invention provides for the air to be cooled to directly transfer heat to the liquid thanks to the air-liquid heat exchanger; the temperature of the liquid will rise accordingly. Many types of liquids may be suitable for carrying out the invention, but the simplest will be to use water.

[0006] To this end, the invention relates to an air conditioner as defined in claim 1. Particular provisions of this air conditioner are provided in the dependent claims. Patent application EP1693627 discloses an example of an air conditioner in this regard.

[0007] It also relates to an assembly according to claim 11.

[0008] According to possible embodiments, the invention relates to an air conditioner, comprising an air compressor intended to compress the air to be cooled, this compression being accompanied by a strong rise in the temperature of the air thus compressed; an air-liquid heat exchanger intended to transfer the heat from the air thus compressed to a liquid placed in a tank; an air-air heat exchanger intended to further lower the temperature of the air to be cooled which, at this stage, is still maintained in the state of compressed air; a compressed air motor making it possible to obtain an expansion of the compressed air, which naturally lowers its temperature and provides cooled air, while producing reusable mechanical energy to contribute to the driving of the air compressor, remarkable in that: said air compressor will be mechanically driven by an electric motor or by any other type of motor known in the state of the art; said air compressor will preferably be of a vane type, known in the state of the art, or failing that of any other type such as a piston or wheel air compressor. The purpose of said air compressor is to bring the air to be cooled to a pressure level such that the resulting temperature rise is sufficient to ensure heat transfer from the air to be cooled to a liquid which will be at a lower temperature. In the case where said liquid is water, the pressure mentioned above will be chosen so as to obtain a temperature of the compressed air greater than 100°C, which will allow heat transfer from the compressed air to the water. The pressure necessary for this result will be of the order of ten bars (1 bar = 14.5038 Psi).said air-liquid heat exchanger, of a design known in the state of the art, is connected to the outlet of the air compressor by a conduit, these two elements being dimensioned so as to allow the passage of compressed air with a low pressure loss, which a person skilled in the art will be able to easily achieve, so that the pressure of the compressed air remains practically constant. Thus, the compressed air undergoes an isobaric transformation - at constant pressure - during its passage through the air-liquid heat exchanger and the resulting loss of enthalpy - or heat - results in a drop in its temperature, while maintaining its pressure. said air-air heat exchanger, of a design known in the state of the art, is arranged in series with the air-liquid heat exchanger described above, to which it is connected by a conduit.The function of this air-air heat exchanger is to further reduce the temperature of the compressed air recovered at the outlet of the air-liquid heat exchanger. For this purpose, the air used for cooling will simply be the ambient air in which the air conditioner which is the subject of the invention is located. Furthermore, said air-air heat exchanger will be sized so as to allow the passage of compressed air with a low pressure drop, which a person skilled in the art will be able to easily achieve, so that the pressure of the compressed air remains practically constant. Thus, the compressed air undergoes an isobaric transformation - at constant pressure - during its passage through the air-air heat exchanger and the resulting loss of enthalpy - or heat - results in a drop in its temperature, while maintaining its pressure.said compressed air motor using the compressed air recovered at the outlet of the air-air heat exchanger described above, to which it is connected by a conduit, will preferably be of the vane type or of any other type known in the state of the art, such as for example a piston or turbine engine. The function of said compressed air motor will be to recover part of the mechanical work provided by the air compressor. For this purpose, a mechanical connection is provided between the motor shaft of the compressed air motor and the drive shaft of the air compressor, of the transmission belt, chain, gear or simply a transmission shaft type, well known to those skilled in the art and not described here. It will be noted that the compressed air used to drive said compressed air motor having only undergone isobaric transformations, the air pressure at the inlet of the compressed air motor is practically identical to the air pressure at the outlet of the air compressor.However, since the temperature of the compressed air at the inlet of the compressed air motor is lower than the temperature of the compressed air at the outlet of the air compressor, the mass volume of the compressed air at the inlet of the compressed air motor is lower than the mass volume of the compressed air at the outlet of the air compressor. As a result, the mechanical energy recovered at the compressed air motor is less than the mechanical work provided by the air compressor. This remains consistent due to the enthalpy loss of the compressed air through the heat exchangers described above. Finally, as it passes through the compressed air motor, the compressed air undergoes rapid expansion and returns to a pressure equal to atmospheric pressure, which has the effect of instantly reducing its temperature significantly and thus obtaining the desired air cooling effect.a liquid tank in which the said air-liquid heat exchanger described above is located will be intended to recover the enthalpy - or heat - coming from the compressed air leaving the air compressor. The said liquid contained in the liquid tank will naturally see its temperature increase during the operation of the air conditioner. When the temperature of the said liquid becomes too high, around 100°C in the case of water, it will be necessary to replace it with fresh liquid. In order to avoid this liquid replacement operation, it is possible to simply use water as the liquid to recover the heat from the compressed air, then to connect the liquid tank to a water circuit which is continuously renewed or which directs the heated water to a hot water tank.These solutions will not be described here because they can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art and also have the disadvantage of having to make hydraulic connections between the air conditioner and the water pipes located nearby. In other embodiments, the liquid may, for example, be a refrigerant. A variant of the liquid reservoir consists of designing it to allow an increase in the pressure of the liquid it contains and thus allow the boiling of said liquid. In this configuration, the liquid reservoir may contain the boiling liquid as well as a portion of said liquid in the vapor phase. A conduit will make it possible to direct the liquid in the vapor phase towards a steam engine of any type known in the state of the art.The steam recovered downstream of the steam engine, of lower temperature and pressure than upstream of said steam engine, will be directed by means of a conduit to a steam-air heat exchanger which will allow the condensation of said steam and a return to the liquid state. The cooling air used by the steam-air heat exchanger will simply come from the ambient air in which said air conditioner is located. A liquid compressor, also known as a booster, connected to the outlet of the steam-air exchanger by a conduit, will allow the reintroduction, at a higher pressure, of the liquid obtained by condensation at the level of the steam-air exchanger to the liquid reservoir, which is also under pressure due to the boiling of said liquid therein.Said liquid compressor will be driven by an electric motor or by one or more of the other rotating elements in said air conditioner (air compressor, compressed air motor or steam engine). The drive shaft of said steam engine will be mechanically connected to the drive shafts of the air compressor and the compressed air motor described above. The mechanical connection not described here may be of any kind known in the state of the art, such as a belt, a chain, gears or simply a transmission shaft common to the three elements concerned above. This arrangement will make it possible to recover, in the form of mechanical work, part of the enthalpy that the compressed air will have lost at the air-liquid exchanger.It should be noted that in certain operating phases of the air conditioner, the sum of the combined energies supplied by the steam engine and the compressed air engine may become greater than the energy required to drive the air compressor. This occurs when the temperature of the liquid located in the liquid reservoir is significantly higher than the boiling temperature of said liquid under atmospheric pressure conditions, and consequently, the pressure of the resulting vapor is significantly higher than atmospheric pressure. This assumes that the air compressor has previously provided sufficient work to raise the temperature of the compressed air, which itself will in return provide part of its enthalpy to the liquid contained in the liquid reservoir, through the air-liquid heat exchanger described above. It should be noted that the enthalpy extracted from the ambient air to be cooled also comes into play in this process.In this particular phase, the mechanical energy restored by the air conditioner can be used to operate the blades of a fan helping to pulse the air cooled by the air conditioner within the room where it is located in order to optimize its efficiency. The restored mechanical energy can also drive an electricity generator which can power other electrical devices, for example other air fans, or simply restore electrical energy to the power supply network. Thus, in these particular conditions, the air conditioner can serve as an electrical generator. an envelope having good thermal insulation properties is intended to constitute an enclosure containing all the constituent elements of the air conditioner described above. This envelope has an opening allowing the introduction of air which will be used to power the air compressor described above.The air flow entering the interior of the casing will be partly directed towards the air-air heat exchanger described above by means of a first dedicated duct and partly towards the steam-air heat exchanger described above by means of a second dedicated duct. The purpose of this arrangement is to confine all of the constituent elements of the air conditioner in a quasi-adiabatic environment, which presents very little heat exchange with the outside. In this way, the ambient air in which the air conditioner proposed by the invention is located will not be heated unnecessarily, and it will also not be necessary to provide a hot air outlet as on most air conditioners known in the state of the art, which precisely responds to the problem that the invention proposes to solve.Furthermore, the air absorbed by the air compressor which is located inside said casing will be preheated by the heat exchanges produced by the air-air heat exchanger described above and by the steam-air heat exchanger described above, as well as by the heat losses of the other elements located in the casing, so that the enthalpy thus recovered by the air introduced into the air compressor will be partly restored at the level of the air-liquid exchanger described above. a variant of the casing constituting the enclosure containing all the constituent elements of the air conditioner described above will be to provide a double casing constituted as follows: a first casing contains all the constituent elements of the air conditioner as described above. This first casing has an opening allowing the introduction of the air which will be used to supply the air compressor described above.A second envelope will surround the first envelope, and will be arranged so that air circulation is possible between these two envelopes, so that said air circulation is in contact with the largest possible part of the first envelope; said second envelope will have an opening allowing the introduction of the ambient air in which the air conditioner is located, so that the flow of ambient air which will be introduced into the second envelope first circulates between the first and second envelopes before entering said first envelope. This arrangement makes it possible to use the ambient air circulating between the two envelopes described above as thermal insulation between, on the one hand, the constituent elements of the air conditioner which are at a relatively high temperature and, on the other hand, the ambient air of the room where said air conditioner is located, the temperature of which is to be lowered.

[0009] Other aims and advantages of the present invention will appear in the description which follows, relating to embodiments of the device proposed by the invention, having the value of non-limiting examples and the understanding of which will be facilitated by referring to the attached drawings, which constitute schematic representations of the air conditioner proposed by the invention, or examples not forming part of the invention but serving to illustrate it: Fig. 1 : representation of the air conditioner not forming part of the invention consisting of an air compressor (1), an air-water heat exchanger (3), an air-air heat exchanger (5) and a compressed air motor (7). Fig. 2 : representation of the air conditioner described above with the variant of the liquid reservoir (9) allowing boiling of said liquid and the production of steam used to power a steam engine (11) which will contribute to driving the air compressor (1). Fig. 3 : representation of the air conditioner forming part of the invention described above with the casing (17) intended to confine the constituent elements thereof. Fig. 4 : representation of the air conditioner forming part of the invention described above with a variant proposing a double envelope consisting of a first envelope (17) surrounding the constituent elements of the air conditioner and a second envelope (20) surrounding the first envelope (17).

[0010] An example of an embodiment of the air conditioner not forming part of the present invention is ( Fig. 1 ) : an air compressor (1) intended to compress the air to be cooled; said air compressor (1) will be of the “vane” type well known in the state of the art, for the purposes of this example of an embodiment, without this constituting any limitation in the use of other types of compressors also known in the state of the art; an air-liquid heat exchanger (3) known in the state of the art and intended to transfer the heat from the air thus compressed to a liquid placed in a tank (9); an air-air heat exchanger (5) known in the state of the art and intended to further lower the temperature of the compressed air at the outlet of the air-liquid exchanger (3) above; a compressed air motor (7), known in the state of the art, which will have the function of obtaining an expansion of the compressed air accompanied by a natural lowering of its temperature, which is the aim sought for the air conditioner proposed by the invention,while allowing reusable mechanical energy to be recovered to contribute to driving the air compressor (1), remarkable in that: said air compressor (1) will be mechanically driven by an electric motor or by any other type of motor known in the state of the art, not shown in the attached figure; the pressure delivered by the air compressor (1) may be of the order of ten bars for the purposes of this non-limiting example, so as to raise the temperature of the air thus compressed to a value substantially greater than 100°C. In this way, a heat transfer may take place through the air-liquid heat exchanger (3), from the compressed air to the liquid, which will be constituted by water in this example,with the effect of a possible boiling of this water. A conduit (2) capable of withstanding the pressure supplied by the air compressor (1) will be provided between said air compressor (1) and the air-liquid heat exchanger (3). The conduit (2) and the air-liquid heat exchanger (3) will be sized so as to allow the passage of compressed air with a low pressure drop, which a person skilled in the art will be able to easily achieve, so that the pressure of the compressed air remains practically constant and equal to the pressure value supplied by the air compressor (1). said air-air heat exchanger (5), of design known in the state of the art, is arranged in series with the air-liquid heat exchanger (3) described above,to which it is connected by a conduit (4) having characteristics similar to the conduit (2) described above. The air used for cooling said air-air heat exchanger (5) will simply be the ambient air in which the air conditioner which is the subject of the invention is located. Furthermore, said air-air heat exchanger (5) will be sized so as to allow the passage of compressed air with a low pressure drop, which a person skilled in the art will be able to easily achieve, so that the pressure of the compressed air remains practically constant,as in the case of the air-liquid heat exchanger (3). said compressed air motor (7) will consist simply of a vane air compressor mounted so that the circulation of the air flow is in the opposite direction to the direction usually used for operation in air compressor mode; this arrangement makes it possible to expand the compressed air in the air compressor and consequently makes it possible to recover mechanical energy, which corresponds to the operation of a motor. This arrangement constitutes a preferred choice of an embodiment, without this constituting any limitation in the use of other types of compressed air motors also known in the state of the art; said compressed air motor (7) will use the compressed air recovered at the outlet of the air-air heat exchanger (5) described above, to which it is connected by a conduit (6),of characteristics similar to those of the duct (2) and the duct (4). The function of said compressed air motor (7) being to relax the pressure of the compressed air supplied by the duct (6) to lower its temperature significantly and discharge to the outside of the air conditioner, the relaxed air thus cooled via a duct (8) connected to the air outlet of the compressed air motor (7); moreover, the mechanical work provided by the compressed air motor (7) will be partly transmitted to the air compressor (1). For this purpose, a mechanical connection is provided between the motor shaft of the compressed air motor (7) and the drive shaft of the air compressor (1), such as a transmission belt, chain, gears, transmission shaft, or any other mechanical connection,well known in the state of the art and not shown in the figure attached here. said liquid tank (9) in which the air-liquid heat exchanger (3) described above is located will be intended to recover the enthalpy - or heat - coming from the compressed air leaving the air compressor (1). Said liquid, consisting of water in the present example and contained in said liquid tank (9), will naturally see its temperature increase during operation of the air conditioner. When the temperature of this water becomes too high, in the vicinity of 100°C, it will be necessary to replace it with cooler water. In order to avoid this water replacement operation,it will be sufficient to connect the liquid tank to a water circuit which is continuously renewed or which directs the heated water to a hot water tank. These solutions will not be described here because they can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art and also have the disadvantage of having to make hydraulic connections between the air conditioner and the water pipes located nearby. a variant of the liquid tank (9) (, Fig. 2 ), consists of designing it to allow an increase in the pressure of the liquid it contains and thus allow the boiling of said liquid. In this configuration, the liquid reservoir (9) will be able to contain the boiling water as well as a portion of this water in the vapor phase. A conduit (10) will make it possible to direct the water in the vapor phase towards a steam engine (11) of any type known in the state of the art. For the purposes of the example of a preferred embodiment, said steam engine (11) will be constituted like the compressed air engine (7), and will be of the “vane” type. The steam recovered downstream of the steam engine (11), of lower temperature and pressure than upstream of the steam engine (11), will be directed by means of a conduit (12) towards a steam-air heat exchanger (13) which will allow the condensation of said steam and a return to the liquid state.The cooling air used by the steam-air heat exchanger (13) will simply come from the ambient air in which said air conditioner is located. A liquid compressor (15) connected to the outlet of the steam-air heat exchanger (13) by a conduit (14), and connected to the liquid reservoir (9) by a conduit (16), will reintroduce the water obtained by condensation at the level of the steam-air heat exchanger (13) to the liquid reservoir (9) which is then under pressure due to the boiling of the water therein. Said liquid compressor (15) will be driven by an electric motor or by one or more of the other rotating elements in said air conditioner: air compressor (1), compressed air motor (7), steam engine (11). The drive shaft of said steam engine (11) will be mechanically connected to the drive shafts of the air compressor (1) and the compressed air motor (7) described above.The mechanical connection not described here may be of any kind known in the state of the art, such as a belt, a chain, gears or simply a transmission shaft common to the three elements concerned above, which constitutes a preferred solution due to its simplicity of implementation. This arrangement will make it possible to recover, in the form of mechanical work, part of the enthalpy that the compressed air will have lost at the level of the air-liquid exchanger (3). an envelope (17) (. Fig. 3 ), having good thermal insulation properties is intended to constitute an enclosure containing all the constituent elements of the air conditioner described above. This casing (17) has an opening allowing the introduction of air which will be used to supply the air compressor (1) described above. The air flow penetrating inside the casing (17) will be partly directed towards the air-air heat exchanger (5) by means of a conduit (19) and partly towards the steam-air heat exchanger (13) by means of a conduit (18). The purpose of this arrangement is to confine all the constituent elements of the air conditioner in a quasi-adiabatic environment, which presents very little thermal exchange with the outside, thanks to the good thermal insulation provided by said casing (17).In this way, the ambient air in which the air conditioner is located will not be heated unnecessarily, and moreover, the air absorbed by the air compressor (1) which is located inside said casing (17), will be preheated by the heat exchanges produced by the air-air heat exchanger (5) and by the steam-air heat exchanger (13) as well as by the heat losses of the other elements located in the casing (17), so that the enthalpy thus recovered by the air introduced into the air compressor (1) will be partly restored at the level of the air-liquid heat exchanger (3) described above. a variant of the casing constituting the enclosure containing all the constituent elements of the air conditioner described above will be to provide a double casing constituted in the following manner (. Fig. 4): a first casing (17) contains all the constituent elements of the air conditioner as described above. This first casing (17) has an opening allowing the introduction of air which will be used to supply the air compressor (1) described above. A second casing (20) will surround the first casing (17), and will be arranged so that an air circulation space (22) is provided between these two casings, so that said air circulation takes place in contact with the largest possible part of the first casing (17); said second casing (20) will have an opening (21) allowing the introduction of the ambient air in which the air conditioner is located, so that the flow of ambient air which will be introduced into the air conditioner, first circulates between the first casing (17) and the second casing (20) before being introduced into said first casing (17).This arrangement makes it possible to use the ambient air circulating between the two envelopes described above as thermal insulation between, on the one hand, the constituent elements of the air conditioner which are at a relatively high temperature and, on the other hand, the ambient air of the room where said air conditioner is located, the temperature of which is to be lowered.

[0011] More generally, according to another embodiment, the air conditioner comprises an air compressor (1) intended to compress the air to be cooled, an air-liquid heat exchanger (3) intended to transfer the heat from the air thus compressed to a liquid placed in a tank (9), an air-air heat exchanger (5) intended to further lower the temperature of the air to be cooled which, at this stage, is still maintained in the state of compressed air, a compressed air motor (7) making it possible to obtain an expansion of the compressed air, which naturally lowers its temperature and provides cooled air, while producing reusable mechanical energy to contribute to the driving of the air compressor (1), characterized by the fact that: said air compressor (1), of design known in the state of the art, is mechanically driven by an electric motor or by any other type of motor known in the state of the art; said air-liquid heat exchanger (3), of design known in the state of the art, is connected to the outlet of the air compressor (1) by a conduit (2) capable of withstanding the pressure supplied by the air compressor (1), said air-liquid heat exchanger (3) and said conduit (2) being sized so as to allow the passage of compressed air with a low pressure drop;said air-air heat exchanger (5), of design known in the state of the art and intended to further lower the temperature of the compressed air at the outlet of the air-liquid exchanger (3), is connected to said air-liquid heat exchanger (3) by a conduit (4) having characteristics similar to the conduit (2), while said air-air heat exchanger (5) is sized so as to allow the passage of compressed air with a low pressure drop; moreover, the air used for cooling said air-air heat exchanger (5) is the ambient air in which the air conditioner which is the subject of the invention is located;said compressed air motor (7), of design known in the state of the art and using the compressed air recovered at the outlet of the air-air heat exchanger (5), to which it is connected by a conduit (6) of characteristics similar to those of the conduit (2) and the conduit (4), contributes to the driving of the air compressor (1) by a mechanical connection between the drive shaft of said compressed air motor (7) and the drive shaft of the air compressor (1), said mechanical connection being of a type known in the state of the art; said liquid reservoir (9) in which the air-liquid heat exchanger (3) is located is intended to recover the enthalpy coming from the compressed air at the outlet of the air compressor (1);an envelope (17), having good thermal insulation properties, is intended to contain all the constituent elements of the air conditioner proposed by the invention, while an opening in said envelope (17) allows the introduction of the air used to supply the air compressor (1); moreover, the air flow penetrating inside the envelope (17) is partly directed towards the air-air heat exchanger (5) by means of a conduit (19) and partly directed towards the steam-air heat exchanger (13) by means of a conduit (18); ;

[0012] According to a particular arrangement of this air conditioner, which can be taken in combination with those defined above, said air conditioner is used as an electric generator, during the phases where the temperature of the liquid located in the liquid tank (9) is substantially higher than the boiling temperature of said liquid under atmospheric pressure conditions, and that consequently, the pressure of the resulting vapor is substantially higher than atmospheric pressure.

Claims

1. Air conditioner, comprising an air compressor (1) for compressing the air to be cooled; a motor for driving said air compressor (1); a heat exchanger (3) connected to the outlet of the air compressor (1) and a compressed air motor (7) connected to the outlet of the heat exchanger (3); and which further comprises a liquid reservoir (9) containing the heat exchanger, which is in the form of an air-liquid heat exchanger (3) adapted to be in contact with the liquid and connected to the outlet of the air compressor (1) by a first duct (2); an air-air heat exchanger (5) connected to said air-liquid heat exchanger by a second duct (4), said compressed air motor (7) being connected to the outlet of said air-air heat exchanger (5) by a third duct (6); and an jacket (17) having thermal insulation properties, containing all the constituent elements of said air conditioner, and having an opening allowing the introduction of the air serving to supply the air compressor (1); air conditioner wherein: - the first, second and third ducts of the air conditioner (2, 4, 6) are capable of withstanding the pressure supplied by the air compressor (1) and sized so as to allow the compressed air to pass with a low pressure drop; - said air-liquid heat exchanger (3) is intended to transfer the heat of the air to be cooled compressed by the air compressor (1), to the liquid placed in said liquid reservoir (9), and is sized so as to allow the compressed air to pass with a low pressure drop; - said air-air heat exchanger (5) is intended to further lower the temperature of the compressed air at the outlet of the air-liquid heat exchanger (3), and is sized so as to allow the passage of the compressed air with a low pressure drop; said air conditioner being configured so that said air-air heat exchanger (5) uses for its cooling the ambient air in which the air conditioner is located; - said compressed air motor (7) makes it possible to obtain an expansion of the compressed air recovered at the outlet of the air-air heat exchanger (5), which naturally lowers its temperature and provides cooled air, while producing reusable mechanical energy; and - the motor shaft of said compressed air motor (7) is connected to the drive shaft of the air compressor (1) by a mechanical connection, this in order to recover mechanical energy provided by the compressed air motor (7).

2. Air conditioner according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises a steam motor (11), as well as a duct (10) connecting said steam motor (11) to said liquid reservoir (9), itself designed to allow an increase in the pressure of the liquid it contains and thus allow boiling of said liquid, while said steam motor (11) lowers the temperature and pressure of the steam passing through it and while said air conditioner comprises a steam-air heat exchanger (13), as well as a duct (12) that connects the outlet of said steam motor (11) to said steam-air heat exchanger (13), which allows condensation of said steam and its return to the liquid state, said air conditioner being configured so that said steam-air heat exchanger (13) uses as cooling air the ambient air in which said air conditioner is located, and said air conditioner further comprises (i) a duct (18) which connects said opening provided in the jacket (17) of the air conditioner to the steam-air heat exchanger (13), in order to lower the temperature of said steam, and a duct (19) connecting said opening provided in the jacket (17) to the air-air heat exchanger (5) to preheat the air absorbed by the air compressor (1) which is located inside said jacket (17), while lowering the temperature of the compressed air at the outlet of the air-liquid heat exchanger (3), (ii) a liquid compressor (15) as well as a duct (14) that connects the outlet of the steam-air heat exchanger (13) to said liquid compressor (15) and a duct (16) that connects said liquid compressor (15) to said liquid reservoir (9), said liquid compressor (15) making it possible to reintroduce the liquid obtained by condensation of the steam occurring in the steam-air heat exchanger (13) to the liquid reservoir (9) which is then under pressure due to the boiling of the liquid in it, and (iii) an electric motor for driving said liquid compressor (15), or said liquid compressor (15) is mechanically connected to one or more of the other rotatably driven elements in said air conditioner: air compressor (1), compressed air motor (7) or steam motor (11), while the motor shaft of said steam motor (11) is mechanically connected to the shafts of the air compressor (1) and of the compressed air motor (7).

3. Air conditioner according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterised in that it comprises a second jacket (20) that surrounds the first jacket (17) containing all the constituent elements of said air conditioner, so that an air circulation space (22) is provided between said jackets (17, 20), so that said air circulation takes place in contact with the greatest possible part of the first jacket (17); said second jacket (20) has an opening (21) allowing the introduction of the ambient air in which the air conditioner is located, so that the ambient air flow that is introduced into the air conditioner first flows between the first jacket (17) and the second jacket (20) before entering said first jacket (17).

4. Air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3, when the latter depends on claim 2, characterised in that said air conditioner is adapted to drive an electricity generator intended to recover, by a mechanical connection, the mechanical energy restored by the steam motor (11) and the compressed air motor (7) of said air conditioner, during the operating phases of the air conditioner where the sum of the combined mechanical energies supplied by the steam motor (11) and the compressed air motor (7) becomes greater than the mechanical energy necessary to drive the air compressor (1); said air conditioner being then able to supply other electrical devices, or to restore the electrical energy thus obtained to the electrical supply network.

5. Air conditioner according to one of claims 1 and 3, when the latter depends on claim 1, characterised in that the liquid reservoir (9) is a water reservoir connected to a water circuit that is configured for continuous water renewal or to direct the heated water to a hot water tank.

6. Air conditioner according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that said air compressor (1) is of the vane type.

7. Air conditioner according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that said compressed air motor (7) is of the vane type.

8. Air conditioner according to claim 2 or 4, characterised in that said steam motor (11) is of the vane type.

9. Air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the motor for driving the air compressor (1) is an electric motor.

10. Air conditioner according to claims 4 and 9, characterised in that the electricity generator is the electric motor for driving the air compressor (1).

11. Assembly comprising an electricity generator and an air conditioner according to claim 4 and adapted to drive the electricity generator.

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