Thermal Storage Heat Exchanger Switching for Peak-Cut Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Air-conditioning systems with thermal storage heat exchangers face challenges in quickly responding to cooling peak cut operations due to the accumulation of liquid refrigerant, which hinders the thermal storage heat exchanger's ability to achieve its original heat exchange capacity as a radiator, leading to inefficiencies in power consumption reduction.
Innovation Solution
The system incorporates an outdoor flow rate regulating valve and a venting valve to manage the refrigerant flow, allowing the liquid refrigerant to be introduced into the receiver, thereby shortening the time to achieve the heat exchange capacity and enabling quick responses to cooling peak cut operations by adjusting the refrigerant's pressure and subcooling levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the thermal storage heat exchanger stores liquid refrigerant during cooling operations, then the refrigerant can be accumulated for thermal storage, but the thermal storage heat exchanger cannot quickly achieve its original heat exchange capacity as a radiator when switching to cooling peak cut operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the liquid refrigerant from the thermal storage heat exchanger using a refrigerant introduction pipe connected to the receiver. This allows the thermal storage heat exchanger to be quickly emptied of accumulated liquid refrigerant when switching to cooling peak cut operation, enabling it to rapidly achieve its original heat exchange capacity as a radiator without being hindered by stored refrigerant.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the thermal storage heat exchanger is used for thermal energy storage, then power consumption can be reduced, but the system response time to switching operations is prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a receiver as an intermediary component that temporarily holds liquid refrigerant. The refrigerant introduction pipe connects the thermal storage heat exchanger to the receiver, allowing the receiver to act as a buffer that quickly absorbs liquid refrigerant when needed. This intermediary system enables rapid switching between thermal storage mode and cooling peak cut mode without prolonged response delays.
3Quantity of substance
If liquid refrigerant accumulates in the thermal storage heat exchanger, then thermal storage capacity is maintained, but the heat exchange efficiency as a radiator decreases during peak cut operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic refrigerant management system where the liquid refrigerant flow path can be switched between storage and release modes. During cooling operations, liquid refrigerant flows into the thermal storage heat exchanger for storage. During cooling peak cut operations, the system dynamically switches the flow path to extract liquid refrigerant from the thermal storage heat exchanger to the receiver, allowing the heat exchanger to quickly achieve its original heat exchange capacity without being burdened by accumulated refrigerant.
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 power consumption reduction and high coefficient of performance (COP) during cooling peak cut operations by ensuring the thermal storage heat exchanger can quickly respond and maintain optimal performance, reducing capacity fluctuations and securing compressor reliability.
Implementation Method 1
A thermal storage heat exchanger is generally configured to exchange heat between a thermal storage medium stored in a thermal storage tank and a refrigerant in a refrigerant circuit to store cold thermal energy and warm thermal energy
Implementation Method 2
In such an operation, for example, ice and cold water that were generated at the nighttime are stored in the thermal storage heat exchanger and utilized in the daytime
Data Source
AI summary
In an air-conditioning system including a thermal storage heat exchanger, a refrigerant circuit is configured such that an indoor heat exchanger and a receiver communicate with the thermal storage heat exchanger when an operational mode of the refrigerant circuit is switched to a cooling operation in which the thermal storage heat exchanger serves as a radiator and the indoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator.