Air conditioner and control method thereof
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Solution Overview
Problem
Air conditioners face inefficiencies in cooling and heating due to refrigerant shortages, requiring manual refrigerant supplementation during heating operations and inefficient cooling operations when external temperatures are low, leading to energy wastage and user dissatisfaction.
Innovation Solution
An air conditioner system with a compressor, accumulator, outdoor heat exchanger, and refrigerant charging valve, controlled by a controller that determines refrigerant shortages and automatically supplements refrigerant based on temperature and load, allowing refrigerant charging during both cooling and heating operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the air conditioner performs cooling operation to supplement refrigerant, then refrigerant can be replenished, but the cooling operation cannot be performed when outdoor temperature is low and compressor may stop
Solution Approach 1:
The refrigerant charging valve is designed to enable refrigerant supplementation during both cooling and heating operations. By configuring the valve to control refrigerant flow in both operational modes, the system eliminates the limitation of only being able to charge refrigerant during cooling operation, allowing universal refrigerant supplementation regardless of the current operational mode or outdoor temperature conditions.
2Quantity of substance
If manual refrigerant supplementation is performed during heating operation, then refrigerant can be added, but user must approach installation place and cannot determine required amount
Solution Approach 1:
The controller automatically determines the required refrigerant charging amount based on system parameters and controls the refrigerant charging valve accordingly. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for users to manually calculate or estimate the required refrigerant amount, and automatically completes the charging process without requiring user presence at the installation location, thereby significantly improving operational convenience.
3Productivity
If compressor operation frequency is frequently changed based on target pressures, then compression efficiency is optimized, but accurate determination of refrigerant amount becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs refrigerant amount determination during a predetermined period when the compressor operates at a fixed frequency rather than frequently changing it. This preliminary action approach allows the system to capture stable pressure and temperature data during a controlled time window, enabling accurate refrigerant amount calculation without the interference of frequent compressor frequency changes that would otherwise optimize compression efficiency.
4Quantity of substance
If cooling operation is waited until outdoor temperature rises, then refrigerant charging can be performed, but energy is wasted and user dissatisfaction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs refrigerant amount determination and charging during heating operation when outdoor temperature is low, rather than waiting for temperature to rise. By taking preliminary action to charge refrigerant during the currently active heating mode, the system eliminates the need to wait for cooling operation conditions, thereby preventing energy waste from unnecessary temperature waiting and reducing user dissatisfaction caused by delayed refrigerant supplementation.
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 system ensures stable operation by accurately calculating and supplementing refrigerant, preventing inefficiencies and energy wastage, and allowing immediate refrigerant charging without waiting for temperature rises, thus enhancing user satisfaction and system stability.
Implementation Method 1
a compressor (1) for compressing the refrigerant
Implementation Method 2
an outdoor heat exchanger (51) for performing heat exchange of air using the refrigerant
Implementation Method 3
refrigerant compressed by the compressor of the outdoor unit is supplied to the heat exchanger of the indoor unit through a refrigerant pipe
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided are an air conditioner and a control method thereof. The air conditioner includes a compressor, an accumulator recovering a liquid refrigerant contained in a refrigerant flowing into the compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger performing heat exchange of air using the refrigerant, an outdoor unit fan supplying outside air to the outdoor heat exchanger and discharging heat-exchanged air, a refrigerant charging pipe connected to a refrigerant pipe and allowing the refrigerant to be additionally introduced from the outside, a refrigerant charging valve installed in the refrigerant charging pipe to open and close the refrigerant charging pipe, and a controller setting an operation mode so as to operate in a cooling operation or heating operation upon setting of a refrigerant charging mode, setting an operation frequency of the compressor in accordance with a load of an indoor unit upon the setting of the refrigerant charging mode to allow the compressor to operate at the set operation frequency during the refrigerant charging, and calculating the amount of refrigerant to stop the refrigerant charging when a predetermined reference value is reached.