JP-7855093-B2 - Heat pump device

JP7855093B2JP 7855093 B2JP7855093 B2JP 7855093B2JP-7855093-B2

Inventors

雲川翔太

Assignees

三菱電機株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20230201

Claims (6)

Multiple load devices that adjust the temperature of temperature-controlled objects in multiple target spaces using a refrigerant, A heat source device for adjusting the temperature of the refrigerant, A relay device is connected to the heat source device and the plurality of load devices by refrigerant piping through which the refrigerant flows, and switches the flow path of the refrigerant based on the operating status of each of the plurality of load devices. A control device that controls the heat source device, the plurality of load devices, and the relay device, A heat pump device having, The relay device is equipped with a plurality of three-way linear expansion valves, Each of the aforementioned three-way linear expansion valves is A heat pump device provided in the refrigerant piping connected to each of the plurality of load devices, which switches the flow path of the refrigerant circulating through each of the plurality of load devices and adjusts the flow rate of the refrigerant circulating through each of the plurality of load devices by adjusting the opening degree in stages from a closed state to a fully open state.
The heat pump device is The system includes a plurality of refrigerant leak detection sensors that detect the leakage of the refrigerant in the plurality of target spaces, The control device is The heat pump device according to claim 1, wherein if at least one of the plurality of refrigerant leak detection sensors detects a leak of the refrigerant, all of the plurality of three-way linear expansion valves are closed.
The relay device is, A part of the refrigerant piping, comprising a relay liquid piping for circulating the liquid refrigerant from the heat source device to all or part of the plurality of load devices, A part of the refrigerant piping, which is connected to the intermediate liquid piping and is an intermediate diversion pipe for circulating the refrigerant to the heat source device, A first relay expansion valve is provided in the relay liquid piping and depressurizes and expands the liquid refrigerant that has flowed in from the heat source device, A second relay expansion valve is provided in the relay distribution piping and reduces the pressure of the refrigerant flowing in from the relay liquid piping to expand it, Equipped with, The control device is The heat pump device according to claim 2, wherein if at least one of the plurality of refrigerant leak detection sensors detects a leak of the refrigerant, the first relay expansion valve and the second relay expansion valve are closed.
The relay device is, A part of the refrigerant piping includes a relay liquid pipe for circulating the liquid refrigerant, which has flowed in from the heat source device, to all or part of the plurality of load devices. The aforementioned relay liquid piping is The plurality of load devices are connected via a plurality of first distribution pipes, Multiple relay valves are provided in the aforementioned multiple first distribution pipes. The control device is The heat pump device according to claim 2, wherein if at least one of the plurality of refrigerant leak detection sensors detects a leak of the refrigerant, all of the plurality of relay on/off valves are closed.
The heat pump device is The system includes a plurality of refrigerant leak detection sensors that detect the leakage of the refrigerant in the plurality of target spaces, The control device is If some of the multiple refrigerant leak detection sensors detect a refrigerant leak, some of the multiple three-way linear expansion valves are closed, and the remaining three-way linear expansion valves are controlled based on the operating status of the corresponding load device among the multiple load devices. Some of the aforementioned three-way linear expansion valves are The heat pump device according to claim 1, wherein the heat pump device is associated with some of the load devices among the plurality of target spaces that adjust the temperature of the temperature control target in the target space where a leak of the refrigerant has been detected.
The relay device is, A part of the refrigerant piping includes a relay liquid pipe for circulating the liquid refrigerant, which has flowed in from the heat source device, to all or part of the plurality of load devices. The aforementioned relay liquid piping is The plurality of load devices are connected via a plurality of first distribution pipes, Each of the plurality of first distribution pipes is provided with a relay on/off valve associated with each of the plurality of load devices. The control device is If some of the multiple refrigerant leak detection sensors detect a refrigerant leak in a portion of the multiple target spaces, some of the multiple relay valves, which are associated with load devices that adjust the temperature of the temperature-controlled target in the portion of the target spaces, will be closed. Furthermore, the heat pump apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the remaining relay on-off valves among the plurality of relay on-off valves are controlled according to the operating status of the remaining load devices among the plurality of load devices associated with the remaining relay on-off valves.

Description

This disclosure relates to a heat pump device that regulates the temperature of an object using a refrigerant. Conventionally, flammable refrigerants such as R32 or R290 have been used in heat pump systems. Consequently, heat pump systems have been required to have functions to prevent refrigerant leakage into the air. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a heat pump system that suppresses refrigerant leakage by closing a shut-off valve provided on a load device such as an indoor unit when the control device determines that refrigerant is leaking based on detection results from a refrigerant pressure detection device and a refrigerant leak detection device. International Publication No. 2018/0011994 This is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating the configuration of a heat pump device according to Embodiment 1.This is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the control device in Embodiment 1.This is a flowchart illustrating the refrigerant leakage suppression process using a heat pump device according to Embodiment 1.This is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating the configuration of a heat pump device according to Embodiment 2.This flowchart illustrates the refrigerant leakage suppression process using a heat pump device according to Embodiment 2. The embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described below, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. Furthermore, this disclosure includes all possible combinations of the configurations shown in each of the embodiments described below. Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating the configuration of a heat pump device 100 according to Embodiment 1. Embodiment 1 will be explained using the example where the heat pump device 100 is an air conditioner that provides air conditioning for multiple target spaces TA. However, the heat pump device 100 may also be a water heater or the like that adjusts the temperature of water. The heat pump device 100 has multiple indoor units 1 installed in multiple target spaces TA. In Figure 1, each target space TA is schematically shown by a dashed rectangle containing each indoor unit 1. The heat pump device 100 further includes an outdoor unit 2, a relay device 4, and a control device 6. The indoor units 1 are examples of load devices, and the outdoor unit 2 is an example of a heat source device. The outdoor unit 2 and the relay device 4 are connected by refrigerant piping 7, and the relay device 4 and the multiple indoor units 1 are connected by refrigerant piping 7, thereby forming a refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant flows through the refrigerant circuit, and the air in each target space TA is cooled or heated by the refrigerant flowing into each indoor unit 1. The air in each target space TA is an example of the air to be temperature controlled. The heat pump device 100 according to Embodiment 1 performs full cooling operation, full heating operation, or cooling and heating operation. Full cooling operation refers to operation in which all of the multiple indoor units 1 perform cooling operation. Full heating operation refers to operation in which all of the multiple indoor units 1 perform heating operation. Cooling and heating operation refers to operation in which some of the multiple indoor units 1 perform cooling operation while the remaining multiple indoor units 1 perform heating operation. In the following, cooling and heating operation when the cooling load is greater than the heating load may be referred to as cooling-dominant operation. Also, cooling and heating operation when the heating load is greater than the cooling load may be referred to as heating-dominant operation. Furthermore, in the following, full cooling operation and cooling-dominant operation may each be referred to as first operation. And full heating operation and heating-dominant operation may each be referred to as second operation. Furthermore, if the heat pump device 100 is a water heater or other device that regulates the temperature of water, then cooling operation refers to operation in which the load device cools the water by exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the water, and heating operation refers to operation in which the load device heats the water by exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the water. The outdoor unit 2 comprises a compressor 20, a flow path switching device 21, a heat source heat exchanger 22, a heat source expansion valve 23, and an accumulator 24 inside the casing that constitutes the outer enclosure. Furthermore, the outdoor unit 2 comprises a first heat source check valve 27A, a second heat source check valve 27B, a third heat source check valve 27C, and a fourth heat source check valve 27D inside the casing. Hereafter, the casing that constitutes the outer enclosure of the outdoor unit 2 may be referred to as the he