Heat Medium Circuit Filtration Before Air-Conditioning Startup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Air-conditioning systems with secondary loop systems face issues with foreign matter and air contamination, leading to potential failures during operation, necessitating effective removal methods before system activation.
Innovation Solution
An air-conditioning apparatus with a refrigerant circuit and a heat medium circuit, including a strainer at the suction side of pumps to capture foreign matter, and a controller for performing foreign matter removal operations during system construction, ensuring efficient removal before operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a secondary loop system with heat medium circuit is used for air-conditioning interiors where humans are present, then safety and human influence are improved by using unharmful heat medium, but foreign matter and air contamination occurs during construction leading to potential failures
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a foreign matter removal operation before the air-conditioning operation begins. The controller activates the pump and strainer to circulate heat medium through the circuit, capturing foreign matter in advance. This preliminary action prevents contamination-related failures while maintaining the safety benefits of using unharmful heat medium like water or brine in occupied spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The strainer automatically captures foreign matter from the heat medium during circulation without requiring manual intervention. The system self-cleans by filtering contaminants as the heat medium flows through the circuit, eliminating the need for external cleaning operations while ensuring system reliability.
2Reliability
If foreign matter removal operation is performed before air-conditioning operation, then system reliability is improved by preventing contamination, but construction time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The strainer automatically captures foreign matter from the heat medium during circulation without requiring manual intervention. The system self-cleans by filtering contaminants as the heat medium flows through the circuit, eliminating the need for external cleaning operations and reducing construction time.
Solution Approach 2:
The strainer acts as an intermediary component between the pump and the rest of the heat medium circuit. It intercepts and captures foreign matter before it can cause damage to other components, providing automatic protection during the construction phase without requiring additional manual cleaning steps.
3Reliability
If strainer is installed at suction side of pump to capture foreign matter, then system reliability is improved by preventing pump contamination, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The strainer acts as an intermediary component between the pump and the rest of the heat medium circuit. It intercepts and captures foreign matter before it can cause damage to the pump or other components, providing automatic protection during the construction phase without requiring complex manual intervention systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The strainer automatically captures foreign matter from the heat medium during circulation without requiring manual intervention. The system self-cleans by filtering contaminants as the heat medium flows through the circuit, eliminating the need for external cleaning operations while ensuring system reliability.
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 apparatus efficiently removes foreign matter from the heat medium circuit, preventing contamination and ensuring reliable operation of the air-conditioning system.
Implementation Method 1
a strainer disposed at a suction side of the one or more pumps and configured to capture foreign matter contained in the heat medium
Implementation Method 2
one or more intermediate heat exchangers for performing heat exchange between the heat source-side refrigerant and a heat medium different from the heat source-side refrigerant
Implementation Method 3
a use-side heat exchanger for performing heat exchange between the heat medium and air in an air-conditioned space
Data Source
AI summary
An air conditioning apparatus includes a refrigerant circuit in which a compressor for compressing heat source-side refrigerant, a first refrigerant channel switching device, a heat source side heat exchanger, an expansion device, and intermediate heat exchangers for performing heat exchange between the heat source-side refrigerant and a heat medium different from the heat source-side refrigerant are connected by pipes. Also, the air conditioning apparatus includes a heat medium circuit in which pumps for circulating the heat medium to be used for the heat exchange performed by the intermediate heat exchangers, a use-side heat exchanger, and channel switching devices for switching passages of the heat medium heated or cooled to the use-side heat exchanger are connected by pipes. The heat medium circuit includes a strainer configured to capture foreign matter contained in the heat medium; and a heat medium relay unit control device configured to perform an operation that causes the strainer to capture foreign matter contained in the heat medium circuit during construction of the heat medium circuit.