Cooling device

Abstract

To provide a technique for improving cooling efficiency of a cooling device.SOLUTION: A cooling device comprises: a tank which stores a coolant; a circulation passage which connects a coolant outlet and a coolant inlet of the tank and circulates the coolant; a pump which pumps the coolant from the coolant outlet of the tank to the circulation passage; a cooling section which cools a cooled object through the coolant; a supply passage which supplies the coolant from the circulation passage to the cooling section; and an ejector which is installed at a downstream side of a position of the supply passage in the circulation passage, sucks the coolant supplied to the cooling section using a flow of the coolant in the circulation passage and allows the same to flow into the circulation passage. The supply passage has an atomization section to atomize the coolant when the same is supplied to the cooling section.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a cooling device that cools an object to be cooled. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a cooling device including a tank for storing a refrigerant, a circulation path connecting the refrigerant outlet and inlet of the tank and through which the refrigerant circulates, a pump for pressurizing the refrigerant from the refrigerant outlet of the tank to the circulation path, a cooling section for cooling an object to be cooled via the refrigerant, a supply path for supplying refrigerant from the circulation path to the cooling section, and an ejector located downstream of the position where the supply path of the circulation path is located and sucks in the refrigerant supplied to the cooling section and causes it to flow into the circulation path by the flow of refrigerant circulating through the circulation path.

[0003] When cooling an object to be cooled with this cooling device, first, the pump is driven to supply the refrigerant in the tank to the ejector. Then, the suction force generated by the ejector reduces the pressure in the cooling section. As a result, the refrigerant supplied to the cooling section absorbs heat from the object to be cooled and vaporizes, cooling the object. The vaporized refrigerant is sucked into the ejector and returns to the tank via a circulation path. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-106953 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In this type of cooling device, there is a demand for further improvement in cooling efficiency. This specification provides a technique for improving the cooling efficiency of a cooling device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] This specification discloses a cooling device for cooling an object to be cooled. The cooling device includes a tank for storing a refrigerant, a circulation path connecting a refrigerant outlet and a refrigerant inlet of the tank and through which the refrigerant circulates, a pump for pumping the refrigerant from the refrigerant outlet of the tank to the circulation path, a cooling unit for cooling the object to be cooled via the refrigerant, a supply path for supplying the refrigerant from the circulation path to the cooling unit, and an ejector provided downstream of a position of the circulation path where the supply path is provided, and sucks the refrigerant supplied to the cooling unit by the flow of the refrigerant flowing through the circulation path and causes it to flow into the circulation path. The supply path is provided with an atomization unit for atomizing the refrigerant when the refrigerant is supplied to the cooling unit.

[0007] In the above cooling device, when the refrigerant is supplied to the cooling section, the refrigerant is atomized by the atomization section. By atomizing the refrigerant, the surface area per unit amount of the refrigerant increases in the cooling section. As a result, the refrigerant can easily absorb heat from the object to be cooled. Therefore, this cooling device has high cooling efficiency.

[0008] The atomization portion may be at least one microhole. This configuration has a simple shape and can atomize the refrigerant at low cost.

[0009] The supply path may constitute a part of the circulation path, and the atomization unit may be provided on the circumferential surface of the supply path. In such a configuration, a part of the circulation path is also used as the supply path, so that the device configuration is simplified. In addition, the amount of refrigerant supplied to the cooling unit can be easily controlled by adjusting the length of the supply path that constitutes a part of the circulation path and the size of the atomization unit.

[0010] The supply passage may pass through the inside of the cooling section. In this configuration, the atomization section is located inside the cooling section, so that the inside of the cooling section can be cooled efficiently.

[0011] The cooling section and the supply passage may form a double pipe. In this configuration, atomized refrigerant is efficiently spread throughout the entire cooling section from the atomization section provided in the supply passage, and the cooling section can be cooled approximately uniformly.

[0012] The refrigerant may be propane gas, which has a relatively low boiling point and can efficiently cool the object to be cooled. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a cooling device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an ejector. [Diagram 3] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a cooling device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a cooling device according to a third embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a mode in which the cooling device according to the third embodiment is used. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Example 1 A cooling device 10 of a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the cooling device 10 is used to cool a solar panel. The solar panel is cooled by the cooling device 10 because the temperature rises with power generation and the power generation efficiency decreases. The object to be cooled is not particularly limited. The cooling device 10 disclosed in this specification can be used for any object that requires cooling. As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling device 10 mainly includes a tank 20, a circulation path 26, a pump 28, a cooling section 30, a supply path 32, an atomization section 34, and an ejector 40.

[0015] The tank 20 stores a refrigerant. In this embodiment, propane gas is used as the refrigerant. The type of refrigerant is not particularly limited, and for example, water, butane gas, ammonia gas, etc. may be used as the refrigerant. The tank 20 has a refrigerant outlet 22 and a refrigerant inlet 24. The refrigerant outlet 22 and the refrigerant inlet 24 are connected by a circulation path 26. Hereinafter, in the cooling device 10, the refrigerant outlet 22 side of the tank 20 may be referred to as the upstream side, and the refrigerant inlet 24 side of the tank 20 may be referred to as the downstream side.

[0016] The pump 28 is provided in the circulation path 26. The pump 28 pumps the refrigerant from the refrigerant outlet 22 of the tank 20 toward the circulation path 26. When the pump 28 is driven, the refrigerant circulates through the circulation path 26 between the refrigerant outlet 22 and the refrigerant inlet 24 of the tank 20, as shown by arrows 60, 62, and 64.

[0017] The cooling unit 30 is provided to cool the solar panel. It cools the object to be cooled. The cooling unit 30 has an internal space and is made of, for example, metal. When cooling the solar panel, for example, the cooling unit 30 is brought into direct contact with the back surface of the solar panel to cool the solar panel. The cooling unit 30 is connected to the circulation path 26 by a supply path 32. A part of the refrigerant flowing through the circulation path 26 branches from the circulation path 26 to the supply path 32 as shown by the arrow 66, and is supplied to the cooling unit 30.

[0018] The atomization section 34 is provided at the downstream end of the supply path 32. The atomization section 34 atomizes the refrigerant when it is supplied to the cooling section 30. In this embodiment, the atomization section 34 is configured by a sintered filter. When the refrigerant is supplied to the cooling section 30, the refrigerant flowing through the supply path 32 passes through countless micropores formed in the sintered filter, and is thereby atomized. That is, the atomized refrigerant is supplied to the cooling section 30. The pore size of the micropores is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, several μm to several tens of μm.

[0019] The ejector 40 is disposed on the circulation path 26. More specifically, the ejector 40 is disposed downstream of the position where the supply path 32 of the circulation path 26 is disposed. As will be described later, the ejector 40 sucks the refrigerant supplied to the cooling section 30 by the flow of the refrigerant circulating through the circulation path 26, and causes the refrigerant to flow again into the circulation path 26 via a communication path 42 (described later).

[0020] Next, the operation of the cooling device 10 when cooling a solar panel will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerant at a pressure P0 is stored in the tank 20. The pressure P0 is not particularly limited, but is, for example, atmospheric pressure. When cooling a solar panel, the pump 28 is first driven. Then, the refrigerant in the tank 20 is sent from the refrigerant outlet 22 to the circulation path 26. At this time, the pump 28 increases the pressure of the refrigerant in the tank 20 from pressure P0 to pressure P1 and sends it to the circulation path 26. The refrigerant flowing through the circulation path 26 branches into the supply path 32 and the circulation path 26 (the circulation path 26a upstream of the ejector 40). The refrigerant flowing through the circulation path 26a flows into the ejector 40.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the ejector 40 connects a circulation path 26a upstream of the ejector 40 and a circulation path 26b downstream of the ejector 40. The circulation path 26a is connected to an inflow port 40a of the ejector 40. The circulation path 26b is connected to an exhaust port 40c of the ejector 40. A first throttle section 41a is provided at the downstream end of the inflow port 40a. A second throttle section 41b is provided at the upstream end of the exhaust port 40c. A gap is provided between the first throttle section 41a and the second throttle section 41b. That is, the inflow port 40a and the exhaust port 40c are not in contact with each other, and a connection passage 44 is interposed between them. The suction port 40b is connected to the connection passage 44. The suction port 40b is connected to the inside of the cooling section 30 by a communication passage 42. That is, the suction port 40b and the cooling section 30 are connected by the communication passage 42.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant 80a flowing from the circulation path 26a into the ejector 40 moves through the inflow port 40a toward the first throttle section 41a. The flow path area in the first throttle section 41a is smaller than the flow path area in the other parts of the inflow port 40a. Therefore, the pressure P1 of the refrigerant 80a rises near the first throttle section 41a, and the refrigerant 80a moves from the first throttle section 41a to the second throttle section 41b with an increased flow velocity. Therefore, the pressure in the connection passage 44 is significantly reduced, and the pressure in the connection passage 44 is reduced to pressure P2. That is, the pressure in the cooling section 30 connected to the connection passage 44 via the communication passage 42 also drops to pressure P2. Here, as described above, the atomization section 34 having countless fine holes is provided in the supply passage 32 (FIG. 1). Therefore, the refrigerant that has flowed into the supply passage 32 is supplied from the supply passage 32 to the cooling section 30 through the atomizing section 34 due to the pressure difference between the pressure P1 in the circulation passage 26 and the pressure P2 in the communication passage 42. Then, the refrigerant 70 supplied to the cooling section 30 takes heat from the solar panel and vaporizes. This cools the solar panel. After that, as shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant 80b vaporized in the cooling section 30 is sucked into the connecting passage 44 from the suction port 40b through the communication passage 42 by the flow of the refrigerant 80a flowing through the first throttling section 41a. The refrigerant 80b that has reached the connecting passage 44 is mixed with the refrigerant 80a and moves to the discharge port 40c through the second throttling section 41b. The refrigerant 80c, which is a mixture of the refrigerant 80a and the refrigerant 80b, is discharged from the discharge port 40c at a pressure P0 between the pressures P1 and P2. The refrigerant discharged from the discharge port 40c flows through the circulation path 26b, returns to the tank 20, and is again pumped out to the circulation path 26 by the pump 28. In this manner, the cooling cycle is repeated.

[0023] As described above, in the cooling device 10 of this embodiment, when the refrigerant is supplied to the cooling section 30, the refrigerant is atomized by the atomization section 34. By atomizing the refrigerant, the surface area per unit amount of the refrigerant increases in the cooling section 30. As a result, the refrigerant can easily remove heat from the solar panel. Therefore, the cooling device 10 of this embodiment has high cooling efficiency.

[0024] Furthermore, since the atomization section 34 is made of a sintered filter having a large number of fine pores, the configuration of the atomization section 34 is simple and the refrigerant can be atomized at low cost.

[0025] Example 2 Next, a cooling device 100 according to a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the supply path 32 extends from the circulation path 26, but in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the supply path 32 constitutes a part of the circulation path 26. That is, a part of the circulation path 26 is also used as the supply path 32. In the second embodiment, the supply path 32 (a part of the circulation path 26) is adjacent to a part of the cooling section 130, and the atomization section 134 is provided from a part of the circumferential surface of the supply path 32 toward the inside of the cooling section 130. Specifically, the atomization section 134 in this embodiment is a countless number of fine holes provided directly on the circumferential surface of the tube that constitutes the supply path 32.

[0026] In the cooling device 100 of the second embodiment, the refrigerant circulates in the circulation path 26 as shown by the arrows 160, 162, and 164. When the refrigerant flowing in the circulation path 26 flows into the ejector 40, the pressure in the cooling section 130 is reduced, and the atomized refrigerant 72 is supplied from the atomization section 134 to the cooling section 130. The refrigerant that has absorbed heat from the solar panel and vaporized is sucked into the ejector 40 through the communication passage 42 as shown by the arrow 168, mixed with the refrigerant flowing in the circulation path 26, and discharged from the ejector 40. The discharged refrigerant flows through the circulation path and returns to the tank 20, and is sent to the circulation path 26 again by the pump 28.

[0027] In the cooling device 100 of the second embodiment, a part of the circulation path 26 is also used as the supply path 32. This makes it possible to prevent the device configuration from becoming complicated.

[0028] In addition, since the supply path 32 (circulation path 26) is provided adjacent to the cooling section 130, the amount of refrigerant supplied into the cooling section 130 can be easily controlled by adjusting the length of the supply path 32 adjacent to the cooling section 130 and the area of ​​the atomization section 134 provided on the peripheral surface of the supply path 32.

[0029] Example 3 Next, a cooling device 200 of a third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the configuration of the cooling section 230 is different from that of the cooling section 130 of the second embodiment (see FIG. 3). In the third embodiment, the supply path 32 constitutes a part of the circulation path 26, and the supply path 32 passes through the inside of the cooling section 230. Specifically, the supply path 32 (a part of the circulation path 26) and the cooling section 230 form a double pipe. That is, the cooling section 230 surrounds the outer periphery of the supply path 32, which is substantially cylindrical. In addition, the atomization section 234 is provided on substantially the entire circumferential surface of the supply path 32.

[0030] FIG. 5 shows an example of a mode in which the cooling device 200 is used. In FIG. 5, the cooling device 200 is omitted from the illustration of the configuration other than the cooling unit 230. As shown in FIG. 5, the cooling device 200 has a plurality of cooling units 230. The cooling units 230 are connected in parallel. That is, in FIG. 4, a plurality of cooling units 230 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and the circulation path 26 branches and passes through the inside of each cooling unit 230. The cross section of each cooling unit 230 has a substantially semicircular shape, and is formed so that the upper surface is flat. When the cooling device 200 is used, the flat surface of each cooling unit 230 is arranged so that it contacts the back surface of the solar panel 300. As a result, the atomized refrigerant 74 (see FIG. 4) supplied into each cooling unit 230 absorbs heat from the solar panel 300 and vaporizes, and is collected in the tank 20 via the ejector 40.

[0031] In the cooling device 200 of the third embodiment, the cooling section 230 and the supply passage 32 form a double pipe. Therefore, the atomized refrigerant is efficiently spread throughout the cooling section 230 from the atomization section 234 provided on the substantially entire peripheral surface of the supply passage 32, and the cooling section 230 can be cooled substantially uniformly.

[0032] Although one embodiment has been described above, the specific aspect is not limited to the above embodiment. In the following description, the same reference numerals will be used to designate the same components as those described above, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0033] (Modification) In the above-described embodiments, the solar panel is used as the object to be cooled, but the type of the object to be cooled is not particularly limited. The object to be cooled may be any object whose temperature can rise, such as another heat generating body or the wall surface of a building.

[0034] In the above-mentioned first embodiment, the atomization section 34 is configured by a countless number of fine holes. However, for example, the atomization section 34 may be configured by an injector. That is, the injector may atomize the refrigerant by injecting the refrigerant in a mist form from the supply passage 32 toward the inside of the cooling section 30. The same applies to the second and third embodiments.

[0035] In the third embodiment described above, one supply path 32 passes through the inside of the cooling section 230, but multiple supply paths 32 may pass through the inside of the cooling section 230. For example, the circulation path 26 of the cooling device 200 shown in Fig. 4 may be branched so that multiple circulation paths 26 (supply paths 32) pass through the inside of the cooling section 230, or multiple cooling devices may be provided for one cooling section, and each circulation path of each cooling device may pass through the inside of the cooling section.

[0036] In each of the above-described embodiments, a sensor may be provided to detect the temperature of the refrigerant in the tank 20. The temperature of the refrigerant can be increased by cooling the object to be cooled. Therefore, the flow rate of the refrigerant circulating in the circulation path 26 may be feedback-controlled based on the temperature of the refrigerant in the tank 20.

[0037] In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, a mechanism for adjusting the temperature of the refrigerant in the tank 20 may be provided. In such a configuration, the temperature of the refrigerant in the tank 20 can be controlled to a predetermined temperature, thereby suppressing fluctuations in the cooling efficiency.

[0038] Although specific examples of the present invention have been described above in detail, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and variations of the specific examples exemplified above. The technical elements described in this specification or drawings exhibit technical utility alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology exemplified in this specification or drawings can achieve multiple objectives simultaneously, and achieving one of these objectives is itself technically useful. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 10, 100, 200: Cooling device 20: Tank 22: Refrigerant outlet 24: Refrigerant inlet 26: Circulation route 28: Pump 30, 130, 230: Cooling section 32: Supply route 34, 134, 234: Atomization part 40: Ejector

Claims

1. A cooling device for cooling an object to be cooled, A tank for storing a refrigerant; a circulation path connecting a refrigerant outlet and a refrigerant inlet of the tank and through which the refrigerant circulates; a pump that pumps the refrigerant from the refrigerant outlet of the tank to the circulation path; a cooling unit that cools the object to be cooled via the refrigerant; a supply path for supplying the refrigerant from the circulation path to the cooling unit; an ejector that is provided downstream of a position of the circulation path where the supply path is provided and downstream of the cooling part and outside the cooling part, and that sucks in the refrigerant supplied to the cooling part and causes the refrigerant to flow into the circulation path by a flow of the refrigerant flowing through the circulation path; It is equipped with an atomizing section that atomizes the refrigerant when the refrigerant is supplied to the cooling section is provided in the supply path, The supply passage constitutes a part of the circulation passage and is adjacent to the cooling section, The atomization section is provided on a peripheral surface of the supply passage. Cooling device.

2. 2. The cooling device according to claim 1, The cooling device, wherein the atomization portion is at least one micropore.

3. The cooling device according to claim 1 or 2, A cooling device, wherein the refrigerant is propane gas.

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