Bypass Refrigerant Piping for Continuous Heating Defrost
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air conditioners require multiple outdoor units for efficient defrosting during heating operations, leading to increased costs and larger installation spaces, while single-unit systems cannot perform defrosting without stopping heating, resulting in temperature fluctuations.
Innovation Solution
An air conditioner design with a single outdoor unit featuring a bypass pipeline and opening/closing mechanisms allows high-temperature refrigerant to flow directly to outdoor heat exchangers for defrosting, enabling continuous heating operations and maintaining room temperature without stopping cooling/heating in indoor units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple outdoor units are used to perform defrosting operation while heating continues, then defrosting can be performed efficiently without stopping heating, but the cost and installation space increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the outdoor heat exchanger system into multiple independent heat exchangers (first outdoor heat exchanger and second outdoor heat exchanger) that can be controlled separately. This allows one heat exchanger to perform defrosting while the other continues heating, enabling continuous heating operation without requiring multiple complete outdoor units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple outdoor heat exchangers and their control systems into a single integrated outdoor unit. This merging allows the system to achieve the functionality of multiple outdoor units (simultaneous heating and defrosting) while maintaining a single outdoor unit installation, thus reducing installation space and cost.
2Device complexity
If a single outdoor unit is used, then cost and installation space are reduced, but heating operation must be stopped during defrosting
Solution Approach 1:
The outdoor heat exchanger is segmented into multiple independent units (first and second outdoor heat exchangers) with separate control mechanisms. This segmentation enables one heat exchanger to be dedicated to defrosting operations while the other maintains heating operations, ensuring continuous heating productivity even with a single outdoor unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches between different operational modes by controlling opening/closing valves (first and second opening/closing valves) to direct refrigerant flow. During defrosting, the system dynamically allocates refrigerant flow to prioritize one heat exchanger for defrosting while maintaining heating in the other, ensuring continuous heating capability.
3Ease of operation
If defrosting operation is performed by switching four-way valve, then frost is melted by hot gas, but heating operation must be stopped in the same outdoor unit
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the heating function across multiple outdoor heat exchangers. When one heat exchanger undergoes defrosting operation, the other heat exchanger continues to provide heating capacity. This segmentation ensures that the overall heating productivity is maintained even during defrosting operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent ensures continuous heating action by having multiple outdoor heat exchangers operate in parallel. While one heat exchanger performs defrosting, the other maintains heating operations, ensuring that the useful heating action continues without interruption. This is achieved through coordinated control of opening/closing valves to maintain refrigerant flow to the heating heat exchanger.
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
This configuration allows for efficient defrosting while maintaining a comfortable indoor environment and reducing costs and installation space by enabling defrosting with a single outdoor unit, ensuring continuous heating and cooling operations.
Implementation Method 1
a high-temperature refrigerant flows into the outdoor heat exchanger through the bypass pipeline... Through heat exchange between the hot gas and the frost, the frost is melted
Implementation Method 2
the hot gas is partially liquefied and brought into a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant
Data Source
AI summary
An air conditioner that can perform defrosting efficiently while heating or the like is continued even if the air conditioner is configured by one outdoor unit is obtained. In an air conditioner in which an outdoor unit having a compressor that pressurizes and discharges a refrigerant, a plurality of outdoor heat exchangers that exchange heat between outside air and the refrigerant, and a four-way valve that switches a channel on the basis of an operation form and a plurality of indoor units, each having an indoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the air in a space to be air-conditioned and the refrigerant and an indoor throttle device are connected by a pipeline so as to configure a refrigerant circuit, a bypass pipeline that divides the refrigerant discharged from the compressor so as to allow the refrigerant to flow into each of the outdoor heat exchangers connected in parallel by a pipeline, a plurality of outdoor third opening/closing valves that pass or shut off the refrigerant from the bypass pipeline to each of the outdoor heat exchangers, and a plurality of outdoor second opening/closing valves that pass or shut off the refrigerant from the indoor unit to each of the outdoor heat exchangers are disposed in the outdoor unit.