Refrigerant Distributor Layout for Balanced Heat Exchanger Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigeration cycle apparatuses face challenges in achieving efficient heat exchange due to complex configurations and high dimensional accuracy requirements for refrigerant distributors, making them difficult to fabricate and maintain.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerant distributor with a simple configuration, featuring distribution pipes connected to heat transfer tubes with varying inside diameters based on their levels, ensuring balanced refrigerant flow and preventing imbalances that could reduce heat exchange efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate throttling member is attached to the dividing pipe to achieve appropriate pass balance, then heat exchange efficiency is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention integrates the throttling function directly into the distribution pipe by forming a throttling hole in the pipe wall, eliminating the need for a separate throttling member. This merging of functions reduces device complexity while maintaining the pass balance effect, as the distribution pipe itself performs both fluid distribution and flow regulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the throttling function from a separate component and embeds it directly into the distribution pipe structure through a throttling hole. This extraction simplifies the overall system by removing the need for additional attached parts while preserving the essential flow control capability.
2Reliability
If a separate throttling member is attached to the dividing pipe, then pass balance is achieved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
By combining the throttling hole formation with the distribution pipe manufacturing process, the invention eliminates the need for separate attachment and dimensional matching operations. The throttling hole is formed directly in the pipe during fabrication, reducing cumulative tolerance requirements and overall manufacturing precision demands.
3Reliability
If a separate throttling member is attached to the dividing pipe, then appropriate pass balance is achieved, but fabrication difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the throttling hole formation with the distribution pipe fabrication process, allowing both features to be created in a single manufacturing sequence. This integration eliminates the separate attachment step, significantly easing fabrication while ensuring consistent pass balance performance.
4Reliability
If distribution pipes have different inside diameters based on connection level, then pass balance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by varying the inside diameter of distribution pipes according to their specific connection levels and flow requirements. Each pipe section is optimized for its local position in the system, with lower-level pipes having smaller diameters and upper-level pipes having larger diameters, achieving pass balance through localized dimensional optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs asymmetry by deliberately creating non-uniform inside diameters in the distribution pipes based on their vertical positions. This asymmetric design compensates for gravitational and pressure variations at different levels, improving refrigerant distribution balance while accepting the resulting configurational complexity.
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 solution achieves a good pass balance of refrigerant in heat exchangers and refrigeration cycle apparatuses, maintaining high heat exchange efficiency while simplifying the configuration and fabrication process.
Implementation Method 1
The distribution pipe connected at a relatively low level to the heat transfer tube has a smaller inside diameter than the distribution pipe connected at a relatively high level
Data Source
AI summary
A heat exchange unit includes a heat exchanger including a plurality of heat transfer tubes and a plurality of refrigerant distributors. Each of the plurality of refrigerant distributors includes an inlet pipe through which refrigerant flows into the refrigerant distributor and a plurality of distribution pipes through which the refrigerant flows out of the refrigerant distributor. Each of the plurality of distribution pipes is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of heat transfer tubes. The inlet pipe of the refrigerant distributor having a relatively low average value of levels of the plurality of distribution pipes connected to the plurality of heat transfer tubes has a smaller inside diameter than the inlet pipe of the refrigerant distributor having a relatively high average value of levels of the plurality of distribution pipes connected to the plurality of heat transfer tubes.