Refrigeration System
First Claim
1. A refrigeration system including a refrigerant circuit (10) in which a compressor (11), a heat-source side heat exchanger (21), an expansion mechanism (12) and a utilization side heat exchanger (22) are connected to provide a vapor compression refrigeration cycle, the expansion mechanism (12) being constituted by an expander (12) for generating power by the expansion of refrigerant, the expander (12) being mechanically connected to the compressor (11), the refrigeration system further comprising a temperature controller (23) capable of controlling the temperature of refrigerant flowing towards the expander (12).
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Accused Products
Abstract
A refrigeration system includes an internal heat exchanger (23) capable of controlling the temperature of refrigerant flowing towards an expander (12). Upon change of the operating conditions, the internal heat exchanger (23) controls the temperature of the refrigerant to control the specific volume or the flow rate of the refrigerant, thereby eliminating imbalance between the flow rate through a compressor (11) and the flow rate through the expander (12). In a cooling operation in which the refrigerant circulation amount is larger than in a heating operation, the cooling capacity of the internal heat exchanger (23) is enhanced as compared to that in the heating operation, thereby increasing the flow rate of refrigerant into the expander (12) without part of the refrigerant bypassing the expander (12). This prevents the COP of the refrigeration system from being deteriorated.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A refrigeration system including a refrigerant circuit (10) in which a compressor (11), a heat-source side heat exchanger (21), an expansion mechanism (12) and a utilization side heat exchanger (22) are connected to provide a vapor compression refrigeration cycle, the expansion mechanism (12) being constituted by an expander (12) for generating power by the expansion of refrigerant, the expander (12) being mechanically connected to the compressor (11), the refrigeration system further comprising
a temperature controller (23) capable of controlling the temperature of refrigerant flowing towards the expander (12).
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9. A refrigeration system including a refrigerant circuit (10) in which a compressor (11), a heat-source side heat exchanger (21), an expansion mechanism (12) and a utilization side heat exchanger (22) are connected to provide a vapor compression refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant circuit (10) being configured to be capable of a heating operation in which refrigerant flowing through the utilization side heat exchanger (22) releases heat and a cooling operation in which refrigerant flowing through the utilization side heat exchanger (22) takes heat, the expansion mechanism (12) being constituted by an expander (12) for generating power by the expansion of refrigerant, the expander (12) being mechanically connected to the compressor (11), the refrigeration system further comprising
a temperature controller (23) capable of controlling the temperature of high-pressure refrigerant flowing towards the expander (12), the temperature controller (23) being configured to cool the high-pressure refrigerant only during the cooling operation but stop the cooling of the high-pressure refrigerant during the heating operation.
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18. A refrigeration system including a refrigerant circuit (10) in which a compressor (11), a heat-source side heat exchanger (21), an expander (12) and a utilization side heat exchanger (22) are connected to provide a refrigeration cycle, the compressor (11) being mechanically connected to the expander (12) to recover expansion power from the expander (12), the refrigeration system further comprising
a gas-liquid separator (51) for separating refrigerant expanded by the expander (12) into a liquid refrigerant and a gas refrigerant and temporarily storing the liquid and gas refrigerants, the gas-liquid separator (51) comprising an internal heat exchange part (50) for exchanging heat between the liquid refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator (51) and refrigerant to be introduced into the expander (12).
Specification