MICROCHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER, AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM HAVING SAME

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001]The present application claims priority to and benefits of Chinese Patent Application No. 202223053735.X, filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on Nov. 16, 2022, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002]The present disclosure relates to a field of heat exchange technologies, and particularly to a microchannel heat exchanger and an air conditioning system having the microchannel heat exchanger.

BACKGROUND

[0003]For domestic and commercial air conditioning systems, a heat exchange capacity and an energy efficiency ratio of an indoor side are different in a cooling mode and a heating mode. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the amount of refrigerant participating in circulation of an air conditioning system in different modes, so as to realize great effects of both cooling and heating, to improve the energy efficiency ratios in both the cooling mode and the heating mode, and to improve overall performance of the air conditioning system.

[0004]To this end, it is proposed in the related art that a compensator is arranged in the air conditioning system for storing and replenishing the refrigerant to adjust the amount of the refrigerant participating in circulation in the cooling mode and the heating mode. In the related art, the compensator is usually arranged at an inlet of an evaporator, and when an operation mode changes and the evaporator is used as a condenser, the compensator is located at an outlet of the condenser, so as to adjust the amount of the refrigerant in the cooling mode and the heating mode and to improve the overall performance of the air conditioning system.

SUMMARY

[0005]Embodiments of the present disclosure are made by an inventor based on a discovery and realization of the following facts and issues.

[0006]The inventor has found that in the related art, an air conditioning system typically uses a flat plate microchannel heat exchanger or a microchannel heat exchanger bent into an A shape (often referred to as a heat exchanger with an A-Coil structure, i.e., in actual use, a bent part is at a topmost position and all headers are lower than the bent part in a vertical direction). The compensator may improve an energy efficiency ratio and an overall performance, but for the microchannel heat exchanger bent into a V shape, an N shape or a W shape (i.e., in actual use, at least one header is higher than at least one bent part in the vertical direction), the compensator may not improve the energy efficiency ratio and the overall performance effectively and may even produce an adverse effect. Through research, the inventor found that a cause resulting in such technical problem is that, due to a change in a structure of the microchannel heat exchanger, a position of the header of the heat exchanger is thereby changed, and in actual use, a position of the compensator is lower than the position of the header connected to the compensator, so that refrigerant in the compensator may not smoothly flow into and out of the header, thereby resulting in a loss of a storage and replenishment function of the compensator, and even in an adverse effect. On the basis of the discovery of the above technical problem and the cause of this technical problem, the inventor proposes a microchannel heat exchanger which may solve this technical problem. In addition, the inventor further proposes an air conditioning system having the microchannel heat exchanger.

[0007]The microchannel heat exchanger of an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first header, a second header, a plurality of heat exchange tubes, fins and a compensator. Each heat exchange tube has a refrigerant microchannel. The plurality of heat exchange tubes are parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other, and are connected between the first header and the second header to communicate the first header with the second header. Each heat exchange tube has straight sections and at least one bent section located between the straight sections. Each fin is arranged between the straight sections of adjacent heat exchange tubes. The bent sections of the plurality of heat exchange tubes form at least one bent part. The compensator has a compensation chamber and a compensation port in communication with the first header. In a vertical direction, a height of the first header is not lower than a height of the at least one bent part, and a height of the compensator is not lower than the height of the first header.

[0008]The air conditioning system of an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor heat exchanger. An internal volume of the indoor heat exchanger is different from an internal volume of the outdoor heat exchanger, and one with a smaller internal volume of the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger is the above microchannel heat exchanger.

[0009]The microchannel heat exchanger of an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first header, a second header, a plurality of heat exchange tubes and a compensator. The plurality of heat exchange tubes form at least one bent section, the plurality of heat exchange tubes are spaced apart from each other and connected between the first header and the second header to communicate the first header with the second header. At least two of the plurality of heat exchange tubes have straight sections and at least one bent section located between the straight sections, and the at least one bent part includes the bent sections of the plurality of heat exchange tubes. The compensator has a compensation chamber and a compensation port in communication with the first header. In a vertical direction, a height of the first header is not lower than a height of the at least one bent part, and the compensation port is higher than at least a part of the first header.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a microchannel heat exchanger of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0011]FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a microchannel heat exchanger of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012]FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a heat exchange tube of a microchannel heat exchanger of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013]FIG. 4a to FIG. 4e are views of multiple examples of a compensator of a microchannel heat exchanger of embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014]Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below, and examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative and are intended to be used to explain the embodiments of the present disclosure, but are not to be construed as a limitation of the present disclosure.

[0015]A microchannel heat exchanger 100 of an embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4e, the microchannel heat exchanger 100 of the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first header 110, a second header 120, a plurality of heat exchange tubes 130, fins 140, and a compensator 150.

[0016]Each heat exchange tube 130 has a refrigerant microchannel 133, and the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 are parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other, and are connected between the first header 110 and the second header 120 to communicate the first header 110 with the second header 120. Each heat exchange tube 130 has straight sections 131 and at least one bent section 132 located between the straight sections 131, and each fin 140 is arranged between the straight sections 131 of adjacent heat exchange tubes 130. Respective bent sections 132 corresponding to each other of the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 form at least one bent part 134. For example, when the heat exchange tube 130 has one bent section 132, the bent sections 132 of the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 form one bent part 134; and when the heat exchange tube 130 has a first bent section and a second bent section, the first bent sections of the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 form a first bent part, and the second bent sections of the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 form a second bent part.

[0017]In a vertical direction, a height of the first header 110 is not lower than a height of the at least one bent part 134, and the compensator 150 has a compensation chamber 151 and a compensation port 152 in communication with the first header 110. In the vertical direction, a height of the compensator 150 is not lower than the height of the first header 110.

[0018]When the microchannel heat exchanger 100 of the embodiment of the present disclosure is in use, in the vertical direction, the height of the first header 110 is not lower than the height of the at least one bent part 134, the compensator 150 is connected to the first header 110, and the height of the compensator 150 is not lower than the height of the first header 110. As a result, refrigerant may flow smoothly from the compensation port 152 of the compensator 150 into the first header 110 by means of gravity, thereby balancing the amount of the refrigerant, and improving an energy efficiency ratio and an overall performance, for example, in an air conditioning system using the microchannel heat exchanger 100, without adverse effects.

[0019]Some specific embodiments of the microchannel heat exchanger of the present disclosure are described below. For ease of description, an up-down direction in FIG. 1 is the vertical direction.

[0020]The microchannel heat exchanger 100 of a specific embodiment of the present disclosure includes the first header 110, the second header 120, the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130, the fins 140, and the compensator 150.

[0021]Each heat exchange tube 130 has the refrigerant microchannel 133, and the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 are parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other, and are connected between the first header 110 and the second header 120 to communicate the first header 110 with the second header 120.

[0022]As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, each heat exchange tube 130 has the straight sections 131 and the bent section 132 located between the straight sections 131. Each fin 140 is arranged between the straight sections 131 of adjacent heat exchange tubes 130, and the bent sections 132 of the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 form the bent part 134.

[0023]As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the first header 110 and the second header 120 are arranged substantially parallel to each other and at the same height in the vertical direction. In some embodiments, the height of the first header 110 may also be different from the height of the second header 120.

[0024]Each heat exchange tube 130 has one bent section 132 and two straight sections 131, i.e., a first straight section 131A and a second straight section 131B, so that the microchannel heat exchanger 100 has one bent part 134. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the microchannel heat exchanger 100 is a substantially V-shaped microchannel heat exchanger with an opening facing upwards, i.e., in normal use, the opening of the microchannel heat exchanger 100 faces upwards in the vertical direction.

[0025]When the microchannel heat exchanger 100 has one bent part 134, in the vertical direction, the height of the first header 110 is not lower than the height of the one bent part 134, and the height of the compensator 150 is not lower than the height of the first header 110. As a result, the refrigerant may flow smoothly from the compensator 150 into the first header 110 by means of gravity, thus improving the energy efficiency ratio and the overall performance.

[0026]When the microchannel heat exchanger of the embodiment of the present disclosure is in use, the first header is not lower than the at least one bent part and the compensator is not lower than the first header connected to the compensator, so that refrigerant may flow smoothly from the compensator into the first header by means of gravity, so as to balance the amount of the refrigerant, thereby improving an energy efficiency ratio and an overall performance.

[0027]In some other examples, each heat exchange tube 130 may have a plurality of bent sections 132, such as two or three bent sections 132, and the straight sections are arranged at both sides of each bent section 132, respectively. The respective bent sections 132 corresponding to each other of the plurality of heat exchange tubes 130 form one bent part 134, so that the microchannel heat exchanger 100 has a plurality of bent parts 134, the microchannel heat exchanger 100 may be, for example, N-shaped and W-shaped as a whole. Specifically, when the microchannel heat exchanger 100 has two bent parts 134 and is N-shaped, the first header 110 is not lower than the two bend parts 134. When the microchannel heat exchanger 100 has three bent parts 134 and is W-shaped, the first header 110 is not lower than the three bent parts 134, and preferably, the second header 120 is at the same height as the first header 110 and is not lower than the three bent parts 134.

[0028]When the microchannel heat exchanger 100 has the plurality of bent parts 134, in the vertical direction, the height of the first header 110 is not lower than the height of the plurality of bent parts 134, and the height of the compensator 150 is not lower than the height of the first header 110.

[0029]In some specific examples, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4e, the compensator 150 has the compensation chamber 151 and the compensation port 152 in communication with the first header 110, and the compensation chamber 151 of the compensator 150 may store an appropriate amount of refrigerant. The refrigerant may flow from the compensator 150 into the first header 110 or from the first header 110 into the compensator 150 through the compensation port 152. As described above, in the vertical direction, the height of the compensator 150 is not lower than the height of the first header 110, and thus the refrigerant may flow smoothly from the compensation port 152 of the compensator 150 into the first header 110 by means of gravity, thereby balancing the amount of the refrigerant, and improving the energy efficiency ratio and the overall performance, for example, in the air conditioning system using the microchannel heat exchanger 100, without adverse effects.

[0030]In some specific examples, the compensation port 152 is adjacent to a refrigerant port of the first header 110, as shown in FIG. 1. The compensation port 152 of the compensator 150 may be communicated with an end of the first header 110 by a pipeline. In some embodiments, the compensation port 152 may also be adjacent to a center of the first header 110 in an axial direction of the first header 110, and the compensation port 152 of the compensator 150 is connected to a middle part of the first header 110 by a pipeline.

[0031]In some specific examples, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the compensator 150 is located at an outer side of an inner space 160 between the first header 110 and the second header 120. Here, it is to be understood that the compensator 150 being located at the outer side of the inner space 160 means that the compensator 150 is located at a left side of the first header 110 or at a right side of the second header 120, or the compensator 150 is located on a top surface of the first header 110 (as shown in FIG. 1) or on a top surface of the second header 120. As a result, when air flow passes through the inner space 160 of the microchannel heat exchanger 100, the compensator 150 does not obstruct flowing of the air flow, thus ensuring that the air flow may pass through the microchannel heat exchanger 100 smoothly and improving the heat exchange effect.

[0032]In some specific examples, as shown in FIG. 1, the compensator 150 is columnar, for example cylindrical, and the compensator 150 has an axis parallel to an axis of the first header 110, and the compensator 150 is fixed to the top surface of the first header 110 by a clamp 191, thus optimizing a mounting space occupied by the compensator 150 and the first header 110, and reducing a volume of the microchannel heat exchanger 100. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4a to FIG. 4e, a section shape of the compensator 150 is not limited to being circular, and may be square and trapezoidal, for example.

[0033]In some specific examples, as shown in FIG. 2, an included angle θ between a plane formed by the axis of the compensator 150 and the axis of the first header 110 and a horizontal plane is more than or equal to 0 degree and less than or equal to 180 degrees. Thereby, the smoothness of the refrigerant flowing from the compensator 150 into the first header 110 is ensured.

[0034]In some specific examples, an internal volume of the compensator 150 is larger than an internal volume of the first header 110, that is, a volume of the compensation chamber of the compensator 150 is larger than a volume of an inner chamber of the first header 110. As a result, an adjustment ability of the compensator 150 for the refrigerant within the first header 110 may be improved, thus further improving the energy efficiency ratio and the overall performance.

[0035]As described in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the compensator 150 and the first header 110 are formed separately, and then the compensator 150 is mounted to the first header 110 by a mounting structure such as a clamp 191 (as shown in FIG. 1) or a bracket (as shown in FIG. 2), and the compensation port of the compensator 150 is communicated with an inner chamber of the first header 110 by a pipeline. In some embodiments, the compensator 150 and the first header 110 may be formed integrally by a pipe 192 as shown in FIG. 4a to FIG. 4c. For example, a partition plate 170 is arranged within the first header 110 (the pipe 192), the partition plate 170 divides the inner chamber of the first header 110 into a first chamber 181 and a second chamber 182, the first chamber 181 is not lower than the second chamber 182 in the vertical direction, and the first chamber 181 constitutes the compensation chamber 151. Further, in some embodiments, the compensator 150 and the first header 110 may be formed separately and then welded together, as shown in FIG. 4d to FIG. 4e.

[0036]An air conditioning system of an embodiment of the present disclosure is described below. The air conditioning system of the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor heat exchanger, an internal volume of the indoor heat exchanger is different from an internal volume of the outdoor heat exchanger, i.e., a volume of an inner chamber of the indoor heat exchanger is different from a volume of an inner chamber of the outdoor heat exchanger, and one with a smaller internal volume of the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger is a microchannel heat exchanger, and the microchannel heat exchanger may be the microchannel heat exchanger 100 of any of the above embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0037]When the air conditioning system of the embodiment of the present disclosure operates in a heating mode, the microchannel heat exchanger 100 at an indoor side is used as a condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger is used as an evaporator. Since an internal volume of the microchannel heat exchanger 100 at the indoor side is smaller than the internal volume of the outdoor heat exchanger, the compensator 150 may temporarily store excess liquid refrigerant to play a certain adjustment role on the refrigerant in the microchannel heat exchanger 100, so as to balance the amount of the refrigerant in the air conditioning system, thus improving an energy efficiency ratio and an overall performance of the air conditioning system.

[0038]When the air conditioning system switches from the heating mode to a cooling mode for operation, the microchannel heat exchanger 100 at the indoor side is used as the evaporator and the outdoor heat exchanger is used as the condenser. At this time, the liquid refrigerant stored in the compensator 150 may flow into the microchannel heat exchanger 100 to participate in heat exchange, thereby improving heat exchange performance of the air conditioning system. Even if some refrigerant remains in the compensator 150, most of the refrigerant remaining in the compensator 150 is in a gaseous form and will not have an adverse effect on the entire air conditioning system.

[0039]The microchannel heat exchanger 100 of the embodiment of the present disclosure may be used as the indoor heat exchanger or as the outdoor heat exchanger. A specific setting of the microchannel heat exchanger 100 may be determined according to needs of the air conditioning system, for example, when the internal volume of the outdoor heat exchanger is smaller than the internal volume of the indoor heat exchanger, the microchannel heat exchanger with the compensator is used as the outdoor heat exchanger.

[0040]The air conditioning system of the embodiment of the present disclosure may adjust the amount of the refrigerant in the microchannel heat exchanger 100 by the compensator 150, thus balancing a refrigerant charge amount of the air conditioning system and ensuring that the air conditioning system always operates at an optimal performance.

[0041]In the descriptions of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that the terms “central”, “longitudinal”, “transverse”, “length”, “width”, “thickness”, “up”, “down”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer”, “clockwise”, “counterclockwise”, “axial”, “radial”, “circumferential”, etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in drawings, are only intended to facilitate descriptions of the present disclosure and to simplify descriptions, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, and be constructed and operated in a particular orientation. Therefore, these terms cannot be understood as limitations of the present disclosure.

[0042]Moreover, the terms “first” and “second” are used for purposes of description only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined with the term “first” or “second” may expressly or impliedly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present disclosure, “a plurality of” means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless expressly and specifically limited otherwise.

[0043]In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless expressly specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mount”, “connect”, “couple”, “fix”, and the like should be understood broadly and may indicate, such as a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or a one-piece unit; a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a communication with each other; a direct connection, an indirect connection through an intermediate media, and intercommunication or interaction of two elements, unless expressly limited otherwise. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present disclosure may be understood according to the specific situations.

[0044]In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless expressly specified or limited otherwise, a first feature being “above” or “below” a second feature may indicate a direct contact between the first feature and the second feature, or an indirect contact between the first feature and the second feature through an intermediate media. Furthermore, the first feature being “on”, “above” and “over” the second feature may indicate that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or only indicate that the first feature has a height larger than the second feature. The first feature being “below”, “under” and “underneath” the second feature may indicate that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or only indicate that the first feature has a height less than the second feature.

[0045]In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “an example”, “a specific example”, or “some examples” mean that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In the specification, schematic expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. Moreover, without contradicting each other, those skilled in the art may combine and associate different embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in the specification.

[0046]Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described above, it may be understood that the above embodiments are illustrative and are not to be understood as limitations of the present disclosure, and that those skilled in the art may make changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations of the above embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure.