JP2012127630A - Heat pump device - Google Patents

Abstract

A heat pump device capable of continuously suppressing frost formation on an evaporator.
A desiccant material that adsorbs moisture from air sucked into the evaporator is provided on the air upstream side of the evaporator, and a heating device that heats the air passing through the desiccant material is provided on the air upstream side of the desiccant material. During the desorption mode, the heating device is turned on, the heated air is passed through the desiccant material to desorb the moisture of the desiccant material, the desorbed air containing the moisture of the desiccant material, and the evaporator surface after the evaporation temperature rises The target evaporation temperature is determined so that the absolute humidity difference between the air before desorption and the surface of the evaporator before the evaporation temperature rises is smaller than the target evaporation temperature. Raise.
[Selection] Figure 11

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat pump device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, heat pump devices such as an air conditioner and a heat pump water heater are configured by a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion unit, and an evaporator, and the refrigeration cycle is filled with a refrigerant. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor becomes a high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant and is sent to the condenser. The refrigerant sent to the condenser is liquefied by releasing heat into the air. The liquefied refrigerant is decompressed by the expansion means to be in a gas-liquid two-phase state, and is gasified by absorbing heat from ambient air in the evaporator and returns to the compressor.

  When heating the air conditioner or operating the heat pump water heater, frost is generated on the fin surface of the evaporator when the outside air temperature is low and the refrigerant evaporation temperature is lower than 0 ° C. When frost is generated, heating capacity and hot water supply capacity are reduced due to a decrease in the air volume and an increase in thermal resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a defrosting operation for periodically removing the frost.

  The defrosting operation includes reverse defrosting and hot gas defrosting in which a high-temperature refrigerant is passed to the evaporator. In any case, the heating / hot water supply operation must be stopped during the defrosting operation. Therefore, it is desired to reduce the number of times of defrosting during the defrosting operation because it causes a decrease in room temperature and a decrease in the amount of hot water.

  Therefore, an electric heater is installed on the outside air inlet side of the evaporator, and when the temperature of the evaporator drops, frosting is prevented by increasing the temperature of the outside air sucked into the evaporator, eliminating the need for defrosting operation. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  There is also a technology that suppresses frost formation on the evaporator by adsorbing and removing moisture in the air flowing into the evaporator in advance with a desiccant material and supplying the dehumidified air to the evaporator ( For example, see Patent Document 2). In this technology, part of the desiccant material passes air on the adsorption side, the other part passes high-temperature heated air for desorption, and the adsorption and desorption are separated by separating the air path between the adsorption side and the desorption side. To do at the same time.

JP-A-6-337185 (second page, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2007-278619 (page 11, FIG. 1)

  In Patent Document 1, it is said that the defrosting operation can be made unnecessary, but only the air is warmed, and the relationship between the amount of water contained in the air flowing into the evaporator and the refrigerant temperature of the evaporator has not changed. Therefore, the effect of preventing frost formation was small.

  Moreover, in patent document 2, since the water | moisture content of the air suck | inhaled by an evaporator is removed beforehand with a desiccant material, it is effective in frost formation suppression. However, since adsorption and desorption are performed simultaneously, it is necessary to configure the air path separately on the adsorption side and the desorption side, which complicates the structure. In order to improve this point, it is only necessary to make the air passages common and perform adsorption at different timings such as desorption after adsorption. However, in that case, there was a problem that the effect of suppressing frost formation could not be obtained during desorption.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the heat pump apparatus which can suppress frosting to an evaporator continuously.

  The heat pump device according to the present invention includes a refrigerant circuit in which a compressor, a condenser, an expander, and an evaporator are sequentially connected to circulate the refrigerant, and is disposed on the air upstream side of the evaporator, and moisture from air flowing into the evaporator The desiccant material that adsorbs the desiccant material, the heating device that heats the air that flows into the desiccant material, and the heating device is turned off, and the moisture in the air that flows into the evaporator is adsorbed to the desiccant material And a desorption mode in which the heating device is turned on and the heated air is passed through the desiccant material to desorb the moisture of the desiccant material, and the operation of the refrigerant circuit is controlled to increase the evaporation temperature of the evaporator. In the desorption mode, the control unit has an absolute humidity difference between the desorbed air containing the desiccant material moisture and the evaporator surface after the evaporation temperature rises. Desorption before determining the target evaporation temperature to be less than the absolute humidity difference between the air and the evaporation temperature rises before the evaporator surface, but to increase the evaporation temperature of the evaporator above its target evaporation temperature.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, frost formation can be suppressed by removing previously the water | moisture content in the air which flows in into an evaporator with the desiccant material provided in the air upstream of the evaporator. Moreover, at the time of desorption of a desiccant material, the amount of frost formation can be reduced by raising evaporation temperature more than target evaporation temperature.

It is the schematic of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the time change of each outside temperature in adsorption | suction mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and each temperature after adsorption | suction. It is explanatory drawing of adsorption | suction mode completion | finish conditions of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the time change of each outside temperature and the temperature after desorption in the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the time at the time of frost formation, and heating capability. It is a figure which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant at the time of the defrost operation of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the figure which showed each air change before and behind adsorption | suction at the time of adsorption | suction mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention with the air diagram. It is the figure which showed each air change before and after the desorption in the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention with the air diagram. It is explanatory drawing of the determination method of the target evaporation temperature at the time of the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an air line figure for demonstrating the frost density rise effect by the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control action in the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the schematic of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the time change of each outside air dew point temperature in adsorption | suction mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention, and each dew point temperature after adsorption | suction. It is explanatory drawing of the determination method of the target evaporation temperature at the time of the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the frost formation prevention conditions at the time of the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the time change of each outside temperature and the temperature after desorption in the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the other control example of the defrost operation of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, 2 of this invention. It is a refrigerant circuit block diagram which shows the structural example 1 of the heating apparatus of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (1/2) of the heating apparatus of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (2/2) of the heating apparatus of FIG. It is a refrigerant circuit block diagram which shows the structural example 2 of the heating apparatus of the heat pump apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (1/2) of the heating apparatus of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (2/2) of the heating apparatus of FIG.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a heat pump device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1 and each figure to be described later, the same reference numerals denote the same or equivalent parts, which are common throughout the entire specification.
The heat pump device 1 includes a compressor 2, a four-way valve 3, a condenser 4, an expander 5, and an evaporator 6, and includes a refrigerant circuit in which these are sequentially connected by piping. The heat pump device 1 further includes a condenser fan 7 that sends outside air to the condenser 4, an evaporator fan 8 that sends outside air to the evaporator 6, a desiccant material 9, a heating device 10, a heating device controller 11, and a compression A machine rotation detection unit 12 and a compressor rotation speed adjustment unit 13 are provided. The heat pump device 1 is configured as an air conditioner or a water heater.

  The desiccant material 9 is provided on the air upstream side of the evaporator 6, adsorbs moisture from the air sucked into the evaporator 6, and moisture is desorbed by the air heated by the heating device 10. The heating device 10 is composed of, for example, a heater, is provided on the air upstream side of the desiccant material 9, and heats the desiccant material 9 itself or the air flowing into the desiccant material 9.

  The heat pump device 1 is provided with various detection units. As various detection units, an evaporation temperature detection unit 14 for detecting the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 6, an outside air temperature detection unit 15 for detecting the outside air temperature before passing through the desiccant material 9, and an outside air temperature after passing through the desiccant material 9, in other words, An evaporator intake air temperature detection unit 16 that detects an air temperature sucked into the evaporator 6 is provided.

  A control device 17 is provided in the heat pump device 1. The control device 17 is constituted by a microcomputer and includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and a control program and a program corresponding to a flowchart described later are stored in the ROM. The control device 17 performs control of the heating device control unit 11 and control of the compressor rotation speed adjustment unit 13 based on detection values from various detection units. Further, the control device 17 performs operation in each operation mode of normal operation (cooling, heating, hot water supply, etc.) and defrosting operation by switching the four-way valve 3.

  The control device 17 further controls an adsorption mode in which moisture is adsorbed by the desiccant material 9 from the air sucked into the evaporator 6 and a desorption mode in which moisture of the desiccant material 9 is desorbed. In this example, the adsorption mode and the desorption mode are switched alternately. The control device 17 turns off the heating device 10 in the adsorption mode, turns on the heating device 10 in the desorption mode, and adjusts the rotation speed of the compressor 2 to increase the evaporation temperature to a target evaporation temperature that satisfies a predetermined condition. Let Details of the adsorption mode and the desorption mode will be described later.

  Further, the control device 17 determines whether or not the desiccant material 9 is saturated based on the detection values by the various detection units during the adsorption mode, and sets the detection values by the various detection units during the desorption mode. Based on this, it is determined whether or not the desiccant material 9 has been removed. And the control apparatus 17 performs control which switches an adsorption | suction mode and a desorption mode alternately according to the determination result.

(Saturation judgment)
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing temporal changes of the outside air temperature and the post-adsorption temperature in the adsorption mode of the heat pump device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The saturation determination of the desiccant material 9 will be described with reference to FIG.
The saturation determination of the desiccant material 9 in the adsorption mode is performed based on the outside air temperature detected by the outside air temperature detection unit 15 (hereinafter referred to as pre-adsorption temperature) and the post-adsorption temperature detected by the evaporator intake air temperature detection unit 16. . As shown in FIG. 2, when the desiccant material 9 adsorbs moisture and becomes saturated, the difference between the pre-adsorption temperature and the post-adsorption temperature is reduced. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the temperature difference between the air before and after the adsorption mode at the initial stage of the adsorption mode is learned and stored as ΔTi_A, and the current temperature difference between the air before and after the adsorption mode is predetermined as compared with the time at the beginning of the adsorption mode. It is determined that the desiccant material 9 is saturated when the ratio α becomes smaller (0 ≦ α <1) (that is, when ΔTi_A × α).

(Desorption end judgment)
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing temporal changes of the outside air temperature and the post-desorption temperature in the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
Desorption completion determination in the desorption mode is also performed based on the outside air temperature detected by the outside air temperature detection unit 15 (hereinafter referred to as “temperature before desorption”) and the post-desorption temperature detected by the evaporator intake air temperature detection unit 16. As shown in FIG. 4, when the desiccant material 9 is desorbed and the desiccant material 9 is dehydrated, the air temperature drop due to the desorption is reduced, and the heating amount by the heating device 10 appears as an increase in the air temperature. Therefore, the difference between the pre-desorption temperature and the post-desorption temperature is increased. Therefore, the temperature difference between the air before and after the desorption mode in the initial stage of the desorption mode is learned and stored as ΔTi_D, and the current temperature difference between before and after the desorption is a predetermined ratio β (β> 1) compared to the initial time in the desorption mode. Is determined (ie, when ΔTi_D × β is increased), it is determined that the desorption of the desiccant material 9 has been completed.

  Next, the operation | movement operation | movement of the heat pump apparatus 1 of this Embodiment 1 is demonstrated. In the heat pump apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 2 becomes a high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant, which is sent to the condenser 4 through the four-way valve 3. The refrigerant sent to the condenser 4 is liquefied by releasing heat to the air from the condenser fan 7. The liquefied refrigerant flows into the expander 5. The liquid refrigerant is decompressed by the expander 5 to be in a gas-liquid two-phase state, and sent to the evaporator 6. The refrigerant sent to the evaporator 6 exchanges heat with the air from the evaporator fan 8 and absorbs the heat of the air to gasify and return to the compressor 2. The above operation is repeated.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the time during frost formation and the heating capacity.
When the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 6 is 0 ° C. or less, moisture present in the air adheres to the evaporator 6 and accumulates as frost. The amount of deposition increases with time. As a result, the heat resistance increases due to the frost attached to the fins that are part of the evaporator 6 and the ventilation resistance also increases. As shown in FIG. 5, the heating capacity decreases with time. Therefore, it is necessary to perform defrosting operation regularly.

  The defrosting operation is performed by switching the four-way valve 3 as shown in FIG. During the defrosting operation, since the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant flows through the condenser 4, the condenser fan 7 is stopped. That is, the heating capacity becomes 0 during the defrosting operation, and the room temperature is lowered. Therefore, it is important to lengthen the heating operation time and reduce the number of defrosting times by suppressing frost formation. Therefore, in this example, moisture in the air flowing into the evaporator 6 is previously removed by the desiccant material 9 and dehumidified air is supplied to the evaporator 6, thereby suppressing or preventing frost formation on the evaporator 6. To do. Further, in this example, the desiccant material 9 is disposed on the upstream side of the air in the evaporator 6, but is configured to be desorbed without performing switching of the air path and the like during adsorption. For this reason, at the time of desorption, post-desorption air containing moisture is supplied to the evaporator 6, and the frost formation amount may increase unless any countermeasure is taken. Therefore, in this example, the evaporating temperature of the evaporator 6 is increased during the desorption mode to reduce the amount of frost formation in the desorption mode, and the frost has a high frost density even if frost formation occurs. is there. Hereinafter, the adsorption mode and the desorption mode will be described in order.

(Suction mode)
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing air changes before and after adsorption in the adsorption mode, together with an air diagram. In addition, the air line of FIG. 7 has shown the saturation line.
As shown in FIG. 7, the temperature of air after adsorption (air that has adsorbed moisture) rises higher than that before adsorption due to heat of adsorption. Moreover, since the moisture is removed by the air after adsorption | suction having passed the desiccant material 9, absolute humidity falls. As a result, the dew point temperature Td of the air after adsorption is lower than the dew point temperature Td0 of the air before adsorption. The amount of decrease in the dew point temperature of the air before and after the adsorption depends on the adsorption capacity of the desiccant material 9, but by using the desiccant material 9 having sufficient adsorption capacity, the dew point temperature Td of the air after adsorption is equal to or lower than the evaporation temperature ET. Can be reduced until Thereby, it can be set as no frost formation. Even if the dew point temperature Td of the air after adsorption is higher than the evaporation temperature ET, the absolute humidity can be lowered by the passage of the desiccant material 9 as compared with that before the adsorption, so compared with the case where the desiccant material 9 is not allowed to pass. Frosting can be suppressed.

(Desorption mode)
If the operation in the adsorption mode is continued, the desiccant material 9 is saturated and moisture cannot be adsorbed. For this reason, the operation is switched to the desorption mode, and the operation in the desorption mode in which moisture in the desiccant material 9 is expelled is performed. In the desorption mode, specifically, as described above, the heating device 10 is turned on to heat the desiccant material 9 itself or the air flowing into the desiccant material 9, and the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 6 satisfies the target condition. Raise above evaporation temperature.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the air changes before and after the desorption in the desorption mode together with the air diagram. The air line in FIG. 8 indicates a saturation line. Hereinafter, the air before passing through the desiccant material 9 is referred to as pre-desorption air, and the air after passing through the desiccant material 9 is referred to as post-desorption air. The following description is based on the assumption that the evaporation temperature is 0 ° C. or lower, lower than the dew point temperature of the air before desorption and the dew point temperature of the air after desorption, and in an environment where frost formation occurs.
As shown in FIG. 8, the temperature of the air after desorption, which is humidified by supplying moisture in the desiccant material 9, rises due to heating by the heating device 10 as compared to before desorption. Further, since the air after desorption includes moisture desorbed from the desiccant material 9, the absolute humidity also increases compared to before desorption. Therefore, in this example, as described above, the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 6 is increased to a value equal to or higher than the target evaporation temperature that satisfies a predetermined condition, and the amount of frost formation is reduced.

Hereinafter, the predetermined conditions will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, the evaporation temperature before the evaporation temperature rises (just before the desorption mode, that is, at the end of the adsorption mode) is ET0, and the temperature after the evaporation temperature rises is ET.
In order to reduce the amount of frost formation in the desorption mode as compared with the case where it is assumed that the pre-desorption air is passed through the evaporator 6 without passing through the desiccant material 9, the absolute humidity Td of the post-desorption air and the evaporation temperature are increased. The absolute humidity difference VHB with respect to the absolute humidity of the surface of the evaporator 6 may be made smaller than the absolute humidity difference VHA between the absolute humidity of the air before desorption and the absolute humidity of the surface of the evaporator 6 before the evaporation temperature rises. . This is a predetermined condition. In the first embodiment, specifically, this condition is replaced with an air temperature difference condition, and as shown in the following equation (1), the evaporation temperature is set higher than the current state by the amount of the temperature difference between the air temperature before and after desorption. The increased temperature is determined as the target evaporation temperature ET. By raising the evaporation temperature to be equal to or higher than the target evaporation temperature ET, the absolute humidity difference VHB becomes smaller than the absolute humidity difference VHA, and frost formation in the desorption mode can be suppressed.

ET = ET0 + Ta−Ta0 (1)
Where Ta0: air temperature before desorption, Ta: air temperature after desorption

  In addition, the target evaporation temperature by the said (1) formula is an example, Comprising: If it is the evaporation temperature in view of the said predetermined conditions, it may not be the evaporation temperature by (1) Formula. Further, since the first embodiment includes the evaporation temperature detection unit 14, the outside air temperature detection unit 15, and the evaporator intake air temperature detection unit 16 as various detection units, predetermined conditions (so-called absolute humidity difference conditions) are set. The target evaporating temperature is determined by replacing with the air temperature difference condition, but the absolute humidity is calculated by further providing a relative humidity detection unit, and directly based on the absolute humidity difference condition without replacing with another condition. The target evaporation temperature may be determined.

  As described above, there is an effect of reducing the amount of frost formation by raising the evaporation temperature, but the following effect is further obtained.

FIG. 10 is an air diagram for explaining the effect of increasing the frost density in the desorption mode.
It is possible to increase the frost density by increasing the evaporation temperature in the desorption mode. Assuming that the evaporation temperature is ET, the air temperature is Ta, and the air dew point temperature is Td, the frost density can be increased as (Td−ET) / (Ta−ET) decreases. By increasing the evaporation temperature from ET0 to ET,
(Td-ET) / (Ta-ET) <(Td-ET0) / (Ta-ET0)
It can be. Thus, the fall of the air volume which passes the evaporator 6 can be suppressed by raising the frost density and suppressing the growth in the height direction of the frost. Moreover, when the frost density increases, the frost layer thermal conductivity increases. When the frost layer thermal conductivity is increased, the frost surface temperature in contact with air can be brought close to the evaporation temperature, so that an increase in heat resistance in heat exchange between the air and the evaporator 6 can be suppressed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a control operation in the heat pump apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
First, the control device 17 starts the heating / hot water supply operation of the heat pump device 1 and performs the operation in the adsorption mode (S1). At this time, the heating apparatus 10 is turned off. And the control apparatus 17 determines whether the desiccant material 9 was saturated during adsorption | suction mode (S2). When it is determined that the control device 17 is not saturated, the operation is continued in the adsorption mode, and when it is determined that the control device 17 is saturated, the control device 17 shifts to the desorption mode (S3). That is, in the desorption mode, the control device 17 turns on the heating device 10 and determines the target evaporation temperature as described above, and the compressor rotation speed adjustment unit 13 decreases the rotation speed of the compressor 2 to increase the evaporation temperature. Is controlled to rise above the target evaporation temperature. In this example, as described above, the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 6 is increased by the temperature difference between the air before and after the desorption.

  During the operation in the desorption mode, the control device 17 determines whether or not the desorption of moisture in the desiccant material 9 has been completed. If it is determined that the desorption has not been completed, the operation is continued in the desorption mode. When the controller 17 determines that the desorption is completed, the controller 17 returns to S1 and again enters the adsorption mode, and turns off the heating device 10. As described above, adsorption and desorption by the desiccant material 9 are alternately repeated.

  By the way, although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11, when the dew point temperature Td of the air after desorption becomes higher than 0 ° C. during the operation in the desorption mode, the evaporation temperature ET is lower than the dew point temperature Tdp of the air after desorption. And the compressor rotation speed adjusting unit 13 is controlled to be higher than 0 ° C. Thereby, dew condensation water generated in the evaporator 6 during the desorption mode can be frozen and drained water can be discharged as drain water. As specific control, the air temperature of the desorbed air when the dew point temperature of the desorbed air is 0 ° C. or higher is set in advance, and the detected value of the evaporator suction air temperature detection unit 16 is set to the set air temperature. When it becomes above, the compressor rotation speed adjustment part 13 is controlled as mentioned above. This control makes it possible to eliminate the need for a defrosting operation that requires a heating operation stop such as reverse defrosting while the dew point temperature Tdp of the desorbed air is 0 ° C. or higher.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, frost formation can be prevented or suppressed in the adsorption mode, and even in the desorption mode, the amount of frost formation can be reduced and the frost density can be improved. And by improving the frost density, it is possible to suppress the growth in the height direction of the frost, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in the amount of air passing through the evaporator 6 and to delay the blockage between the evaporator fins. As a result, the operation time for heating and hot water supply can be extended, and the number of defrosting operations can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in comfort (a decrease in room temperature and a decrease in the amount of hot water) in the air conditioner and the water heater, and to reduce power consumption during defrosting, thereby saving energy.

  Moreover, since a frost layer thermal conductivity can be made high by frost density improvement, the thermal resistance increase in a frosting state can be suppressed and the heat exchange performance fall in the evaporator 6 can be suppressed.

  Further, during operation in the desorption mode, while the dew point temperature Td of the desorbed air is 0 ° C. or higher, the evaporation temperature ET is lower than the dew point temperature Tdp of the desorbed air and higher than 0 ° C. Frosting can be prevented, and defrosting operation can be made unnecessary during that time.

  The evaporating temperature is increased by controlling the rotational speed of the compressor 2 by the compressor rotational speed adjusting unit 13. However, the evaporation temperature is evaporated by adjusting the opening degree of the expander 5 and adjusting the rotational speed of the evaporator fan 8. You may make it raise temperature.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a heat pump apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
The heat pump apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment is obtained by adding an outside air humidity detection unit 101 and an evaporator suction air humidity detection unit 102 to the first embodiment shown in FIG. It is the same. In the following, the second embodiment will be described focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, the adsorption mode and the desorption mode are alternately performed in the flow as shown in FIG. 11 as in the first embodiment, and frost formation on the evaporator 6 is suppressed.

  In the second embodiment, the detection value of the outside air humidity detection unit 101 and the evaporator intake air humidity detection unit in the saturation determination of the desiccant material 9, the determination of the target evaporation temperature in the desorption mode, and the determination of the desorption completion of the desiccant material 9, respectively. The difference from Embodiment 1 is that the detection value 102 is used. Hereinafter, it demonstrates in order.

(Saturation judgment)
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing temporal changes of the outside air dew point temperature and the post-adsorption dew point temperature in the adsorption mode of the heat pump device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The saturation determination of the desiccant material 9 will be described with reference to FIG.
In the second embodiment, whether or not the desiccant material 9 is saturated is detected using an outside air dew point temperature (hereinafter referred to as a pre-adsorption dew point temperature) and a post-adsorption dew point temperature. The pre-adsorption dew point temperature is obtained from the detection value of the outside air humidity detection unit 101 and the detection value of the outside air temperature detection unit 15. Further, the post-adsorption dew point temperature is obtained from the detection value of the evaporator intake air humidity detection unit 102 and the detection value of the evaporator intake air temperature detection unit 16.

  As shown in FIG. 13, since the moisture in the outside air is dehumidified by the desiccant material 9 at the initial stage of adsorption, the difference between the pre-adsorption dew point temperature and the post-adsorption dew point temperature is large, but the desiccant material 9 is saturated over time. The difference between the pre-adsorption dew point temperature and the post-adsorption dew point temperature is reduced. Therefore, the dew point temperature difference at the beginning of the adsorption mode is learned and stored as ΔTdi_A, and the dew point temperature difference of the air before and after the current adsorption is reduced to a predetermined ratio γ (0 ≦ γ <1) as compared with the initial time of the adsorption mode. When it becomes smaller (that is, when it becomes smaller to ΔTdi_A × γ), it is determined that the desiccant material 9 is saturated.

(Target evaporation temperature)
Further, the target evaporation temperature ET for increasing the evaporation temperature in the desorption mode is determined as follows.
The conditions for reducing the amount of frost formation in the desorption mode as compared with the case where the pre-desorption air is passed through the evaporator 6 without passing through the desiccant material 9 are as described above. Therefore, in the second embodiment, specifically, this condition is replaced with a dew point temperature difference condition, and as shown in FIG. 14, the temperature at which the evaporation temperature is increased from the current state by the dew point temperature difference before and after desorption. Is determined as the target evaporation temperature ET. That is, the target evaporation temperature ET is set to a temperature according to the following equation (2). By increasing the evaporation temperature to be equal to or higher than the target evaporation temperature ET, frost formation in the desorption mode can be suppressed.

ET = ET0 + Td−Td0 (2)
Here, Td0: Dew point temperature of air before desorption, Td: Dew point temperature of air after desorption, ET0: Evaporation temperature before evaporating temperature rise (immediately before desorption mode, ie, at the end of adsorption mode)

  Note that the target evaporation temperature according to the equation (2) is an example, and the evaporation temperature according to the equation (2) may not be used as long as it is an evaporation temperature in consideration of the predetermined condition.

  Similarly to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, when the dew point temperature Td of the desorbed air is higher than 0 ° C., compression is performed so that the evaporation temperature ET is lower than Td and higher than 0 ° C. The machine speed adjusting unit 13 is controlled. As a result, it is possible to prevent frosting by allowing the condensation of the evaporator 6 to flow as drain water without freezing.

(Desorption end judgment)
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing temporal changes of the outside air temperature and the post-desorption temperature in the desorption mode of the heat pump apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
Desorption completion determination in the desorption mode is also performed based on the dew point temperature of the air before desorption and the dew point temperature of the air after desorption. As the desorption of the desiccant material 9 progresses as shown in FIG. 16 and the desiccant material 9 loses moisture, the difference between the dew point temperature before desorption and the dew point temperature after desorption becomes small. Therefore, the dew point temperature difference at the beginning of the desorption mode is learned and stored as ΔTdi_D, and the dew point temperature difference of the air before and after the current adsorption is up to a predetermined ratio θ (0 ≦ θ <1) as compared to the initial time of the desorption mode. When it becomes smaller (that is, when it becomes smaller to ΔTdi_D × θ), it is determined that the desorption of the desiccant material 9 is completed.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment 1, 2, as shown in FIG. 17, the heating apparatus 10 may be operated at the time of the defrosting operation of the evaporator 6, and the water | moisture content of the desiccant material 9 may be desorbed. By doing so, when defrosting is completed and heating is restored, the adsorption mode can be started.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first and second embodiments, the heating device 10 is a heater, for example, but the heating device 10 is not limited to a heater. Hereinafter, as another configuration example of the heating device, three configuration examples using the high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant from the compressor 2 as a heating source will be described in order. In addition, each structural example demonstrated below differs only in the structure of a heating apparatus, and the other than that structure is the same as that of Embodiment 1,2. Moreover, in each figure mentioned later, only the part required for description of a heating apparatus is shown, and illustration of various detection parts etc. is abbreviate | omitted.

(Configuration example 1)
FIG. 18 is a refrigerant circuit configuration diagram showing Configuration Example 1 of the heating device of the heat pump device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
The heat pump device 200 of the configuration example 1 includes a bypass circuit 201 that bypasses the condenser 4 and flows into the expander 5 with a part of the high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 and directed to the condenser 4. The heating device 210 is configured by the bypass circuit 201. That is, the heating device 210 uses a high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 and directed to the condenser 4 as a heat source. The bypass circuit 201 includes a first opening / closing valve 202, and the heating device 210 is turned on / off by opening / closing the first opening / closing valve 202.

  In the heat pump device 200 configured as described above, when the heating device 210 is OFF in the adsorption mode, the first on-off valve 202 is closed as shown in FIG. 19 and no refrigerant flows through the heating device 210. When the heating device 210 is ON in the desorption mode, the first on-off valve 202 is opened as shown in FIG. 20, and the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 is passed through the heating device 10 to warm the outside air. .

(Configuration example 2)
FIG. 21 is a refrigerant circuit configuration diagram illustrating Configuration Example 2 of the heating device of the heat pump device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
The heat pump device 300 of the configuration example 2 includes the second opening / closing valve 301 between the expander 5 and the condenser 4 of the refrigerant circuit of the first embodiment, and the expander 5 and the second opening / closing valve 301. And a heating device pipe 302 connected between the second on-off valve 301 and the condenser 4. The heating device pipe 302 has a third on-off valve 303. The heating device 310 configured as described above uses a high-temperature and high-pressure two-phase refrigerant or liquid refrigerant that has flowed out of the condenser 4 and flowed into the heating device pipe 302 as a heat source. The heating device 310 is turned on and off by opening and closing the second on-off valve 301 and the third on-off valve 303.

  In the heat pump device 300 configured as described above, when the heating device 310 is OFF in the adsorption mode, the second on-off valve 301 is opened and the third on-off valve 303 is closed as shown in FIG. The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant does not flow through the pipe 302. Further, when the heating device 310 is ON in the desorption mode, the second on-off valve 301 is closed and the third on-off valve 303 is opened as shown in FIG. The outside air is warmed by allowing the refrigerant or liquid refrigerant to pass through the heating device pipe 302.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, the same effect as in the first and second embodiments can be obtained. Further, in both cases of the configuration example 1 and the configuration example 2, the heating device 10 uses the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant as the heating device, so that the same heat is supplied to the air as compared with the case where the heating device 10 is an electric heater type. The amount of power consumed when it is applied to is reduced, saving energy.

  Further, as in the first and second embodiments, the heating devices 210 and 310 may be operated during the defrosting operation of the evaporator 6 to desorb moisture from the desiccant material 9. By doing so, when defrosting is completed and heating is restored, the adsorption mode can be started.

  The heat pump apparatuses 1, 100, 200, and 300 described above can be applied not only to air conditioners and heat pump water heaters, but also to refrigeration equipment that always forms frost on the evaporator 6. In the case of a refrigerator, it is possible to suppress the rise in the internal temperature and reduce the power consumption by reducing the number of defrosts.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heat pump apparatus, 2 Compressor, 3 Four way valve, 4 Condenser, 5 Expander, 6 Evaporator, 7 Condenser fan, 8 Evaporator fan, 9 Desiccant material, 10 Heating apparatus, 11 Heating apparatus control part, 12 Compression Machine rotation detection unit, 13 Compressor rotation speed adjustment unit, 14 Evaporation temperature detection unit, 15 Outside air temperature detection unit, 16 Evaporator suction air temperature detection unit, 17 Control device, 100 Heat pump device, 101 Outside air humidity detection unit, 102 Evaporation Suction air humidity detector, 200 heat pump device, 201 bypass circuit, 202 first on-off valve, 210 heating device, 300 heat pump device, 301 second on-off valve, 302 heating device piping, 303 third on-off valve, 310 Heating device.

Claims (13)

A refrigerant circuit in which a compressor, a condenser, an expander, and an evaporator are sequentially connected to circulate the refrigerant;
A desiccant material disposed on the air upstream side of the evaporator and adsorbing moisture from the air sucked into the evaporator;
A heating device disposed on the air upstream side of the desiccant material and heating air passing through the desiccant material;
The heating device is turned off, the adsorption mode in which moisture in the air sucked into the evaporator is adsorbed to the desiccant material, and the heating device is turned on, and the heated air is passed through the desiccant material and the desiccant material A controller for alternately performing a desorption mode for desorbing moisture and increasing the evaporation temperature of the evaporator;
In the desorption mode, the controller is configured such that the absolute humidity difference between the desorbed air containing moisture of the desiccant material and the surface of the evaporator after the evaporation temperature rises is the evaporation before the desorption air and the evaporation temperature rise. A heat pump device characterized in that a target evaporation temperature is determined so as to be smaller than an absolute humidity difference from the surface of the evaporator, and the evaporation temperature of the evaporator is increased above the target evaporation temperature.   2. The heat pump according to claim 1, wherein the target evaporation temperature is a temperature obtained by adding an air temperature difference before and after passage of air passing through the desiccant material in the desorption mode to an evaporation temperature before the evaporation temperature rises. apparatus.   The heat pump according to claim 1, wherein the target evaporation temperature is a temperature obtained by adding a dew point temperature difference before and after passage of air passing through the desiccant material in the desorption mode to an evaporation temperature before the evaporation temperature rises. apparatus.   In the desorption mode, when the dew point temperature of the desorbed air is higher than 0 ° C., the control device is characterized in that the evaporation temperature of the evaporator is higher than 0 ° C. and lower than the dew point temperature of the desorbed air. The heat pump device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The said control apparatus determines the switching timing of the said desorption mode and the said adsorption mode based on the air temperature before and behind the said desiccant material, The one of Claim 1 thru | or 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Heat pump device.   The controller is configured to switch from the adsorption mode to the desorption mode when an air temperature difference before and after the passage of the air passing through the desiccant material in the adsorption mode is reduced to a predetermined ratio compared to the initial adsorption mode. The heat pump device according to claim 5, characterized in that:   The control device switches from the desorption mode to the adsorption mode when an air temperature difference before and after passage of the air passing through the desiccant material in the desorption mode is increased to a predetermined ratio compared to the initial level of the desorption mode. The heat pump device according to claim 5 or 6.   The said control apparatus determines the switching timing of the said desorption mode and the said adsorption | suction mode based on the dew point temperature of the air before and behind the said desiccant material, The one of Claim 1 thru | or 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. The heat pump apparatus as described.   The control device switches from the adsorption mode to the desorption mode when the dew point temperature difference before and after the passage of the air passing through the desiccant material in the adsorption mode is reduced to a predetermined ratio compared to the initial adsorption mode. The heat pump device according to claim 8.   The control device switches from the desorption mode to the adsorption mode when a dew point temperature difference before and after passage of air passing through the desiccant material in the desorption mode is reduced to a predetermined ratio in the initial stage of the desorption mode. The heat pump device according to claim 8 or claim 9.   The heat pump device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the heating device uses a high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor as a heat source.   The heat pump device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the heating device uses a high-temperature and high-pressure two-phase refrigerant or liquid refrigerant after passing through the condenser as a heat source.   The heat pump device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the control device operates the heating device during a defrosting operation to desorb moisture inside the desiccant material.

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