Air conditioner
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air conditioners with ejectors face inefficiencies in cooling operations due to pressure loss in refrigerant pipes, making it inefficient to use the ejector in cooling mode.
Innovation Solution
An air conditioner with a switching mechanism that allows the ejector to be bypassed during cooling operations, using expansion valves to manage refrigerant flow and pressure, enabling efficient heating and cooling modes without the ejector.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the ejector is always in the refrigerant flow path, then the heating efficiency is improved, but the device complexity increases due to switching requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The switching mechanism serves multiple functions: it directs refrigerant flow through the ejector for heating operation, bypasses the ejector for cooling operation, and maintains system integrity across both modes. This multi-functionality justifies the added complexity by enabling significant efficiency improvements in both heating and cooling operations
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The air conditioner achieves efficient heating and cooling by selectively using the ejector in heating mode and bypassing it in cooling mode, reducing pressure loss and improving overall efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
an ejector that is configured to raise a pressure of refrigerant by using energy for refrigerant decompression and expansion
Implementation Method 2
refrigerant compressed by the compression mechanism
Implementation Method 3
refrigerant compressed by the compression mechanism radiates heat in the use-side heat exchanger
Implementation Method 4
a portion of the refrigerant that has radiated heat in the use-side heat exchanger is decompressed and expanded by the ejector while the rest of the refrigerant that has radiated heat in the use-side heat exchanger is decompressed and expanded by the first expansion valve
Implementation Method 5
the rest of the refrigerant that has radiated heat in the use-side heat exchanger is decompressed and expanded by the first expansion valve before being evaporated in the first heat-source-side heat exchanger
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An air conditioner in which pressure loss in a refrigerant pipe or the like makes it inefficient to use an ejector in cooling operation improves efficiency in cooling operation. An air conditioner (1) includes an ejector (50) that raises a pressure of refrigerant by using energy for refrigerant decompression and expansion. A switching mechanism (20) switches between a refrigerant flow in a first operation and a refrigerant flow in a second operation. The air conditioner (1) is configured such that in the first operation, refrigerant compressed by a compression mechanism (10) radiates heat in a use-side heat exchanger (32) and is decompressed and expanded by the ejector (50) while refrigerant evaporated in a heat-source-side heat exchanger (31) is raised in pressure by the ejector (50). The air conditioner (1) is configured such that in the second operation, refrigerant compressed by the compression mechanism (10) radiates heat in the heat-source-side heat exchanger (31) and is decompressed and expanded by a first expansion valve (41) before being evaporated in the use-side heat exchanger (32) while refrigerant does not flow through the ejector (50).