JPH0522247Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an oil separator. In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement in an oil separator installed in a refrigeration system of an air conditioner to separate refrigerant from refrigerant discharged from a compressor containing refrigerant oil.

[Conventional technology]

Figure 1 shows the refrigeration system of the air conditioner. This refrigeration system includes a compressor 1, an indoor heat exchanger 3 connected to the compressor 1 by a four-way valve 2,
An outdoor heat exchanger 4 is connected, and a pressure reducing means 5 is provided between the two. When a capillary is used as the pressure reducing means, an accumulator 6 is connected to the suction side of the compressor 1, an oil separator 7 is connected to the discharge side of the compressor 1, and an oil return capillary tube 8 is connected to the outlet of the oil separator 7. .

In the above-mentioned refrigeration system, when the extension pipe 9 connecting the indoor heat exchanger 3 and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 is long, the lubricating oil of the compressor mixed with the refrigerant may stagnate in the extension pipe 9 and other parts of the refrigeration system. This obstructs the circulation of lubricating oil in the compressor.
In order to prevent this, the role of the oil separator is to separate the lubricating oil in the refrigerant discharged from the compressor from the refrigerant, leaving it in the oil separator and returning it to the suction side of the compressor through the capillary tube 8. Oil separator 7 that performs such an action
One of the conventional structures is shown in FIG.

The oil separator with the structure shown in Figure 2 is for tank 1.
There are an inlet pipe 11 and an outlet pipe 12 passing through the upper wall surface of the tank 0, and wire meshes 13, 13 are attached to each pipe end inside the tank to cover the opening thereof. Furthermore, an oil return pipe 14 is provided on the lower wall surface of the tank 10 so as to pass through the tank.
Return the oil inside to the suction side of the compressor.

In the oil separator configured in this manner, mist-like oil droplets will not adhere to the wire mesh unless the speed of the refrigerant passing through the wire mesh is made low. Also, in order to lower the speed, it was necessary to increase the internal volume of the tank. An attempt to solve this problem is shown in Utility Model Application No. 61-106324. The content disclosed by Jitsukasho is that the inlet and outlet pipes are arranged opposite each other, a partition plate with gas-liquid separation holes is provided in the opposite inlet and outlet pipes, and an oil adhesion means is installed between the partition plate and the inlet pipe. , its basic configuration is shown in FIG.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

The basic configuration shown in Fig. 3 is to provide a partition plate 22 between an inlet pipe 20 and an outlet pipe 21 to increase the chances of the refrigerant containing mist lubricating oil flowing from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe colliding with solid objects. However, since the flat partition plate and the wire mesh layer 23 are used, a velocity distribution occurs in the refrigerant, and this difference causes zones with different oil adhesion rates, reducing the oil recovery rate, and the tank volume also increases. However, the problem of large size remains.

[Means for solving problems]

An object of the present invention is to provide an oil separator that has a small tank volume and increases the oil droplet capture rate in order to eliminate these problems.

In the oil separator of the present invention, the partition part that partitions the inlet and outlet pipes arranged oppositely is provided with a part that becomes a coaxial cylinder of the tank body, so that the refrigerant flow has a velocity component in the direction of flow along the partition plate and the inlet and outlet pipes. This arrangement increases the chances of collision with the partition plate even when the refrigerant is held large, and provides a sufficient separation effect between the oil and the refrigerant even when a wire mesh or the like is not provided.

[Effect]

The function of the oil separator of the present invention is as follows.

The refrigerant containing mist of oil from the inlet pipe flows from the top to the bottom in the space between the partition plate and the tank inner wall. collide with As a result, the oil adheres to the partition tube or the inner wall of the tank, forms an oil film, and flows downward, and then travels through the gas-liquid separation hole provided below the partition tube, further along the lower inner wall of the tank, and accumulates at the bottom of the tank. . The lubricating oil accumulated at the bottom of the tank returns to the suction side of the compressor through the oil return pipe. The refrigerant from which the oil has been separated is discharged from the tank through the gas outlet pipe.

〔Example〕

Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the oil separator 100 shown in FIG. 4, a tank portion is formed by welding a tank upper cylindrical portion 102 and a tank lower cylindrical portion 104 at their joints. An inlet pipe 106 is attached to the center of the upper wall surface of the upper cylindrical portion 102 of the tank, passing through the upper wall surface. An outlet pipe 108 is located approximately coaxially with the inlet pipe 106 at the center of the lower wall surface of the tank lower cylindrical portion 104.
Attach it by passing through it. Although there is no limitation that the inlet piping 106 and the outlet piping 108 must be coaxial, an advantage of making the shapes axially symmetrical is that assembly is easier. The upper end opening of the outlet pipe is desirably located within the tank upper cylindrical portion to such an extent that it does not come into contact with the partition cylindrical portion described below.

In other words, it is necessary to ensure that there is a sufficient distance from the introduction part of the oil droplets dripping from the outer wall of the partition cylinder and the liquid surface of the oil accumulated at the bottom of the tank.

An internal partition cylinder part 110 that partitions the tank upper cylinder part 102 and the tank lower cylinder part 104 is arranged coaxially and in a substantially similar shape to the tank upper cylinder part 102, as shown in FIG. The opening at the lower end of the tank 110 is bent outward as shown in FIG. 4 and fixed to the connecting portion between the tank upper cylindrical part 102 and the tank lower cylindrical part 104. This fixing method does not have to be airtight, but it must not have large gaps through which the refrigerant gas containing mist-like oil droplets can pass without colliding with solid parts.

This partition cylinder part 110 is closed at its upper end, and the refrigerant flowing from the inlet pipe once collides with this top part. In the refrigerant gas passage formed by the outer wall of the partition cylinder and the inner wall of the tank upper cylinder, the refrigerant gas repeatedly collides with the partition cylinder outer wall and the tank upper cylinder inner wall. A plurality of appropriately shaped gas-liquid separation holes 112 are provided near the lower end of the partition tube 110, and the refrigerant gas passes through the spaces and enters the partition tube 1.
The liquid flows into the lower tank space formed by the inner wall of No. 10 and the inner wall of the lower cylinder part of the tank.

On the other hand, the oil film generated by the collision of the refrigerant gas with the wall flows down the wall due to gravity, moves from the outer wall to the inner wall at the bottom of the partition tube, and then travels along the inner wall of the lower tank tube. Collects at the bottom of the lower cylinder. Oil droplets that fall down the inner wall of the upper cylindrical part of the tank are also transmitted to the inner wall of the lower cylindrical part of the tank from the gas-liquid separation hole in the lower part of the partition cylindrical part.

The oil accumulated in the tank lower cylinder part 104 is discharged to the suction side of the compressor from an oil return pipe 114 provided at the bottom of the tank lower cylinder part 104.

The present invention has the effect of oil-refrigerant separation by the shape and arrangement of various parts as in the above embodiment, but the upper space of the tank is filled with wire or mesh materials such as wire mesh, steel wool, glass fibers, etc. In particular, this does not preclude enhancing the effect of gas-liquid separation. In addition, although the tank portion is shown in the above embodiments in which the joint between the upper cylindrical portion and the lower cylindrical portion is welded, the two may be integrally molded.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the space formed by the inner wall of the upper cylinder part of the oil separator tank and the outer wall of the partition cylinder part allows the refrigerant containing oil droplet mist to efficiently collide with the wall surface, and By increasing the liquid separation efficiency, the overall volume of the tank could be made smaller than before. Furthermore, the arrangement of the axially symmetrical components facilitates assembly and allows the shape to be elongated in the axial direction, increasing the degree of freedom in the installation position of the oil separator within the refrigerant system.

Further, since the upper end opening of the outlet pipe enters into the upper cylindrical part of the tank to such an extent that it does not come into contact with the partition cylinder part, once separated oil droplet mist does not enter into the outlet pipe.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the configuration of a refrigeration system to which the oil separator of the present invention is installed, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an example showing the principle of the conventional oil separator, and Fig. 3 is a planar partition plate. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional oil separator provided with other means such as a wire mesh, and FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention. 102...tank upper cylindrical part, 104... tank lower cylindrical part, 106... inlet piping, 108... outlet piping, 110... partition cylindrical part, 112... hole, 11
4...Oil return pipe.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Similar to the above-mentioned tank upper cylindrical part, the tank upper cylindrical part that opens at the bottom and the tank lower cylindrical part that opens at the top form the outer shell, and the tank upper space is formed by the inner wall of the tank upper cylindrical part and its outer wall. The interior of the upper tank is separated into an upper tank space and a lower tank space by a shaped partition cylinder, and the tank upper space is provided with an inlet pipe for introducing a refrigerant containing lubricating oil into the top of the tank upper cylinder. A hole is provided in the lower part of the partition cylinder part through which the refrigerant and oil separated from the refrigerant can enter into the tank lower space, and an open end is provided in the tank lower space at a position geometrically above the hole for the refrigerant to flow out. The other end is provided with a refrigerant outlet piping that penetrates the lower wall of the tank and is connected to piping or equipment connected to the heat exchanger of the refrigeration system, and a refrigerant outlet that penetrates the lower wall of the tank independently of the refrigerant outlet piping. An oil separator for separating refrigerant and lubricating oil in a refrigeration system, which is equipped with an oil return pipe whose diameter is substantially smaller than that of the piping.