JPH0229947B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an air conditioner driven by the Rankine cycle, and the present invention relates to an air conditioner driven by the Rankine cycle, and the improved lubrication of the rotating shafts of the turbine expander of the Rankine cycle and the turbo compressor of the refrigeration cycle improves the performance of this type of air conditioner. The purpose is to improve the service life.

Conventionally, this type of air conditioner uses oil bearings for the rotating shafts of the turbine expander and turbo compressor to forcibly circulate lubricating oil to the bearings using oil pumps, or oil bearings for the rotating shafts of the turbine expander and turbo compressor. Some used hydrodynamic gas bearings, such as a tailing pad system, in which a portion of the bearing was guided into the bearing section.
However, all of these methods not only have very complicated structures, but also in the former case, raising the maximum temperature of the Rankine cycle in order to improve the Rankine cycle efficiency also raises the temperature of the bearing, causing the lubricating oil to increase. This has the disadvantage of reducing the lubrication performance and shortening the life of the air conditioner.In the latter case, since it is a hydrodynamic gas bearing,
It is not possible to avoid contact between the bearing and the shaft when starting or stopping operation, making it unsuitable for applications that frequently start and stop, such as air conditioners.

The present invention solves the above-described drawbacks of the conventional bearings by lubricating and supporting the rotary shaft as described above using a hydrostatic liquid bearing using working fluid supplied from a Rankine cycle working fluid pump. .

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In the drawing, 1 is a Rankine cycle turbine expander, and 2 is a refrigeration cycle turbo compressor, which are connected by a direct shaft 3 and lubricated and supported by a hydrostatic liquid bearing 4. The Rankine cycle includes a generator 6 heated by a heating source 5 such as a gas burner, a turbine expander 1, a condenser 8 cooled by an outdoor blower 7,
It consists of a working fluid pump 9. On the other hand, the refrigeration cycle includes a turbo compressor 2, a condenser 11 cooled by an outdoor blower 10, an expansion valve 12, and an indoor blower 1.
Evaporator 14 that cools the indoor air blown from 3
Consists of.

In the above configuration, the working fluid pressurized by the working fluid pump 9 is guided to the hydrostatic liquid bearing 4, where it lubricates and supports the directly coupled shaft 3 and absorbs frictional heat generated in the bearing portion. Thereafter, it is guided to the generator 6, heated by the heating source 5, becomes high temperature and high pressure steam, and flows into the turbine expander 1.
It expands adiabatically to condensing pressure and generates power to drive the turbo compressor 2. The working fluid vapor that has exited the turbine expander 1 is cooled by the outdoor blower 7 in the condenser 8 and is condensed and liquefied, and then sucked into the working fluid pump 9 again. Further, the working fluid discharged from the turbo compressor 2 which is connected to the turbine expander 1 by a directly connected shaft 3 and driven is cooled by an outdoor blower 10 and condensed and liquefied in a condenser 11. It is depressurized and expanded to the evaporation pressure at , and is led to the evaporator 14 . here,
It absorbs heat from the indoor air blown by the indoor blower 13, performs a cooling action, evaporates, and is sucked into the turbo compressor 2 again.

Therefore, the directly connected shaft 3 of the turbine expander 1 and the turbo compressor 2 is lubricated and supported by the hydrostatic liquid bearing 4 using the working fluid supplied from the working fluid pump 9 of the Rankine cycle. Good lubrication can be obtained and the service life of the air conditioner can be improved. Moreover, inside the hydrostatic liquid bearing 4, the working fluid absorbs the frictional heat of the bearing part, rises in temperature to some extent, and then is led to the generator 6, so the hydrostatic liquid bearing 4 acts like a Rankine cycle preheater. It has the effect of improving Rankine cycle efficiency. Furthermore, since the turbine expander 1 and turbo compressor 2 are connected in opposite directions by the direct-coupled shaft 3, the forces in the thrust direction of the direct-coupled shaft 3 cancel each other out, so there is no need to place much emphasis on the thrust bearing. There are also advantages.

As is clear from the above description, in the air conditioner of the present invention, the directly connected shaft of the turbine expander and turbo compressor is lubricated and supported by a hydrostatic liquid bearing using working fluid supplied from a Rankine cycle working fluid pump. Because of this structure, unlike oil bearings, the lubricating oil does not deteriorate at high temperatures and lubrication performance deteriorates, and unlike hydrodynamic gas bearings, there is no lubrication failure when starting or stopping operation. With a simple configuration, the directly connected shaft of the turbine expander and turbo compressor can always be maintained in a good lubricated state.
There is no need to worry about wear or seizure of the directly connected shaft, and the service life of the air conditioner can be improved. Furthermore, since the working fluid of the Rankine cycle absorbs the frictional heat of the bearing portion and can be used effectively, the effect of improving the efficiency of the Rankine cycle can be obtained at the same time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention. 1...Turbine expander, 2...Turbo compressor,
3... Directly connected shaft, 4... Hydrostatic liquid bearing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In an air conditioner driven by the Rankine cycle, the turbine expander of the Rankine cycle and the turbo compressor of the refrigeration cycle are directly connected to one shaft,
The direct connection shaft of the above turbine expander and turbo compressor,
An air conditioner characterized in that the air conditioner is configured to be lubricated and supported by a hydrostatic liquid bearing using a working fluid supplied from a Rankine cycle working fluid pump.