U.S. patent application number 13/995624 was filed with the patent office on 2013-10-31 for unitary heat pump air conditioner.
This patent application is currently assigned to Delphi Technologies, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Prasad S. Kadle, Lindsey L. Leitzel, Scott B. Lipa, Frederick V. Oddi, Gary S. Vreeland, Edward Wolfe, IV. Invention is credited to Prasad S. Kadle, Lindsey L. Leitzel, Scott B. Lipa, Frederick V. Oddi, Gary S. Vreeland, Edward Wolfe, IV.
Application Number | 20130283838 13/995624 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46651447 |
Filed Date | 2013-10-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130283838 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kadle; Prasad S. ; et
al. |
October 31, 2013 |
UNITARY HEAT PUMP AIR CONDITIONER
Abstract
The disclosure relates to a unitary heat pump air conditioner
(Unitary HPAC) that includes a refrigerant loop having a condenser,
a refrigerant expansion device, and an evaporator hydraulically
connected in series. An electrically driven compressor is provided
to circulate a two-phase refrigerant through the refrigerant loop
to transfer heat from the evaporator to the condenser. The unitary
HPAC also includes a cold side chiller configured to hydraulically
connect to a cold side coolant loop and is in thermal communication
with the evaporator. The unitary HPAC further includes a hot side
chiller configured to hydraulically connect to a hot side coolant
loop and is in thermal communication with the condenser. The
refrigerant loop transfer heat from the cold side chiller to the
hot side chiller, thereby cooling the cold side coolant loop and
heating the hot side coolant loop. The components of the unitary
HPAC are mounted on a common platform.
Inventors: |
Kadle; Prasad S.;
(Williamsville, NY) ; Oddi; Frederick V.; (Orchard
Park, NY) ; Vreeland; Gary S.; (Medina, NY) ;
Wolfe, IV; Edward; (Clarence Center, NY) ; Leitzel;
Lindsey L.; (Lockport, NY) ; Lipa; Scott B.;
(Snyder, NY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kadle; Prasad S.
Oddi; Frederick V.
Vreeland; Gary S.
Wolfe, IV; Edward
Leitzel; Lindsey L.
Lipa; Scott B. |
Williamsville
Orchard Park
Medina
Clarence Center
Lockport
Snyder |
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY |
US
US
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Delphi Technologies, Inc.
Troy
MI
|
Family ID: |
46651447 |
Appl. No.: |
13/995624 |
Filed: |
February 16, 2012 |
PCT Filed: |
February 16, 2012 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US12/25419 |
371 Date: |
June 19, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61443774 |
Feb 17, 2011 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/238.6 ;
62/498; 62/509 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60H 1/00899 20130101;
B60H 1/32284 20190501; B60H 1/00342 20130101; F25B 30/02 20130101;
F28D 9/0093 20130101; B60H 2001/00928 20130101; F28D 9/005
20130101; F28F 3/08 20130101; F25B 1/00 20130101; F25B 29/003
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/238.6 ;
62/498; 62/509 |
International
Class: |
F25B 30/02 20060101
F25B030/02 |
Claims
1. A unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) system,
comprising: a refrigerant loop having a condenser for condensing a
high pressure vapor refrigerant thereby releasing heat energy, an
evaporator downstream of said condenser for evaporating a low
pressure liquid refrigerant thereby absorbing heat energy, and a
compressor for receiving a low pressure vapor refrigerant from said
evaporator and discharging a high pressure vapor refrigerant to
said condenser; a cold side chiller configured to hydraulically
connect to a cold side coolant loop having a cold side coolant flow
therethrough, wherein said cold side chiller is in thermal
communication with said evaporator, whereby heat energy is
transferred from the cold side coolant flow to the evaporating
refrigerant within said evaporator, thereby cooling the cold side
coolant flow; and a hot side chiller configured to hydraulically
connect to a hot side coolant loop having a hot side coolant flow
therethrough, whereby heat energy is transferred from the
condensing refrigerant in the condenser to the hot side coolant
flow, thereby heating the hot side coolant flow.
2. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim 1,
wherein said compressor is electrically driven.
3. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim 2,
further comprising an electrically driven hot coolant flow and cold
coolant flow pumps configured to circulate a hot side coolant flow
throughout said hot side chiller and a cold side coolant flow
through said cold side chiller, respectively.
4. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim 3,
wherein said refrigerant loop further comprises a refrigerant
expansion device downstream of said condenser and upstream of said
evaporator.
5. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim 4,
wherein said refrigerant loop further comprises a receiver
downstream of said condenser and upstream of said refrigerant
expansion device.
6. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim 5,
wherein said refrigerant loop further comprises a sub-cooler
downstream of said receiver and upstream of said refrigerant
expansion device.
7. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim 6,
wherein said compressor, receiver, sub-cooler, refrigerant
expansion device, and evaporator of said refrigerant loop, together
with said hot side chiller, cold side chiller, and hot and cold
side coolant pumps are mounted on a common platform.
8. A unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC), comprising:
a plate-type integral condenser/hot side chiller assembly
comprising a hot coolant passageway and a condenser refrigerant
passageway, wherein said hot coolant passageway and said condenser
refrigerant passageway are in non-contact thermal communication; a
plate-type sub-cooler assembly comprising a sub-cooler refrigerant
passageway in hydraulic communication with condenser refrigerant
passageway; a plate-type integral evaporator/cold side chiller
assembly comprising a cold coolant passageway and an evaporator
refrigerant passageway in hydraulic communication with said
sub-cooler passageway; and an electrically driven compressor having
an inlet in hydraulic communication with said evaporator
refrigerant passageway and an outlet in hydraulic communication
with said condenser refrigerant passageway.
9. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim 8,
further comprising an electrically driven hot side coolant pump in
hydraulic communication with said hot coolant passageway of said
plate-type integral condenser/hot side chiller assembly and an
electrically driven cold side coolant pump in hydraulic
communication with said cold coolant passageway of said plate-type
integral evaporator/cold side chiller assembly.
10. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim
9, further comprising a refrigerant expansion device in hydraulic
communication with said refrigerant passageway of plate-type
sub-cooler and refrigerant passageway of integral evaporator/cold
side chiller assembly.
11. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim
10, further comprising a receiver in hydraulic communication with
upstream condenser refrigerant passageway and downstream sub-cooler
refrigerant passageway.
12. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim
8, further comprising hot side coolant and cold side coolant pumps
configured to circulate a hot side coolant flow through said hot
coolant passageway and a cold side coolant flow through said cold
coolant passageway, respectively.
13. The unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) of claim
11, wherein said plate-type integral condenser/hot side chiller
assembly, said plate-type sub-cooler assembly, said receiver, said
plate-type sub-cooler, said plate-type integral evaporator/cold
side chiller assembly, said electrically driven compressor, and
said hot and cold side coolant pumps are mounted on a common
platform.
14. A unitary heat pump air conditioner (Unitary HPAC) system for a
motor vehicle, comprising: a refrigerant loop having a condenser
for condensing a high pressure vapor refrigerant thereby releasing
heat energy, an evaporator downstream of said condenser for
evaporating a low pressure liquid refrigerant thereby absorbing
heat energy, and a compressor for receiving a low pressure vapor
refrigerant from said evaporator and discharging a high pressure
vapor refrigerant to said condenser; a cold side coolant loop
having a cold side coolant flow therethrough and configured to
capture waste heat energy from heat sources within the motor
vehicle; a cold side chiller hydraulically connected to said cold
side coolant loop, wherein said cold side chiller is in thermal
communication with said evaporator, whereby heat energy is
transferred from the cold side coolant flow to the evaporating
refrigerant within said evaporator, thereby cooling the cold side
coolant flow; and a hot side coolant loop having a hot side coolant
flow therethrough and configured to transfer heat energy to heat
sinks within the motor vehicle; a hot side chiller hydraulically
connected to said hot side coolant loop having a hot side coolant
flow therethrough, whereby heat energy is transferred from the
condensing refrigerant in the condenser to the hot side coolant
flow, thereby heating the hot side coolant flow; wherein said cold
side coolant includes a cabin heat recovery heat exchanger
configured to capture heat energy from the exhaust air from a
compartment of said motor vehicle.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a national stage application under 35
U.S.C. 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/025419 having an
international filing date of 16 Feb. 2012, which designated the
United States, which PCT application claimed the benefit of U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/443,774, filed Feb. 17,
2011, the entire disclosure of each of which are hereby
incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a heating and
air-conditioning system for an automotive vehicle; particularly, to
a heat pump air-conditioning system.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0003] For the comfort of the occupants in the passenger
compartment, motor vehicles typically include dedicated
air-conditioning systems and heating systems. The heating system
includes a heater core located inside a heating, ventilating, and
air conditioning (HVAC) module of the vehicle. The heater core is
typically a liquid-to-air heat exchanger that supplies thermal
energy to the passenger compartment for comfort heating. A heat
transfer liquid, such as a glycol based coolant, conveys waste heat
from an internal combustion engine to the heater core where the
thermal energy from the heat transfer liquid is transferred to the
ambient air flowing through the heater core to the passenger
compartment. With the advent of greater efficiency internal
combustion engines, hybrid vehicles having smaller internal
combustion engines, and especially electrically driven vehicles,
the amount of thermal energy available to provide comfort to
occupants in the passenger compartment may not be adequate.
[0004] To provide supplemental heat to the passenger compartment
for vehicles having smaller internal combustion engines, it is
known to operate the air-conditioning system in heat pump mode. A
typical motor vehicle air-conditioning system includes an
evaporator located in the HVAC module and a condenser located in
the front engine compartment exposed to outside ambient air. A
compressor circulates a two-phase refrigerant through the
evaporator where it expands into a low pressure vapor refrigerant
by absorbing heat from the passenger compartment. After the low
pressure vapor is compressed to a high pressure vapor by the
compressor, the vapor phase refrigerant is transferred to the
condenser where the high pressure vapor is condensed into a high
pressure liquid refrigerant by releasing the heat to the ambient
air. The liquid phase is returned to the evaporator through an
expansion device which converts the high pressure liquid
refrigerant to a low pressure mixture of liquid and vapor
refrigerant to continue the cycle. By operating the
air-conditioning system in heat pump mode, the refrigerant flow is
reversed, in which case the condenser absorbs heat from the outside
ambient air by evaporating the liquid phase refrigerant and the
evaporator releases the heat to the passenger compartment by
condensing the vapor phase refrigerant. One disadvantage to
operating the air-conditioning system in heat pump mode, since the
low pressure side of the system when used in air conditioning mode
would become the high pressure side when used in heat pump mode, is
the increase in system complexity due to the requirement of having
to reinforce the refrigerant plumbing throughout the system by
using thicker gage tubing and fittings. There is also the need to
reinforce the evaporator to withstand the high pressure
refrigerant, and to install an additional expansion device and
receiver together with additional associated plumbing. Another
known disadvantage of operating the system in heat pump mode is
that in cooler climates, as the surface temperature of the
condenser drop below 32.degree. F., any moisture condensed on the
surface of the condenser is subject to freezing, therefore
potentially reduces the system's efficiency or even damage the
condenser.
[0005] Electric heaters are known to be used to provide
supplemental heat to the passenger compartment for vehicles using
the air-conditioning system as a heat pump. In the coldest of
climates, it is known that operating the air-conditioning system in
heat pump mode is ineffective; therefore, additional electric
heaters are required. However, for hybrid and electrical vehicles,
electrical heaters represent an increased current draw that
significantly reduces the electric drive range.
[0006] Based on the foregoing, there is need for a heating system
that provides supplementary heat to the passenger compartment of a
motor vehicle that does not require reversing the refrigerant cycle
of the air-conditioning system or detrimentally impact the electric
driving range.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention relates to Unitary Heat Pump Air
Conditioner (Unitary HPAC) for a Unitary HPAC System. The Unitary
HPAC may include a refrigerant loop having a condenser for
condensing a high pressure vapor refrigerant, a refrigerant
expansion device, an evaporator downstream of the condenser for
evaporating a low pressure liquid refrigerant, and an electrically
driven compressor for receiving a low pressure vapor refrigerant
from the evaporator and discharging a high pressure vapor
refrigerant to the condenser. The Unitary HPAC further includes a
cold side chiller configured to hydraulically connect to a cold
side coolant loop, in which the cold side chiller is in thermal
communication with the evaporator; a hot side chiller configured to
hydraulically connect to a hot side coolant loop, in which the hot
side chiller is in thermal communication with the condenser; and
electrically driven hot coolant flow and cold coolant flow pumps
may be provided to circulate a hot side coolant flow through the
hot side chiller and a cold side coolant flow through the cold side
chiller, respectively. The cold side chiller, hot side chiller,
electrically driven coolant pumps, and components of the
refrigerant loop, including the compressor, are mounted on a common
platform to provide a compact Unitary HPAC.
[0008] Another embodiment may of the Unitary HPAC may include a
plate-type integral condenser/hot side chiller assembly having a
hot coolant passageway and a condenser refrigerant passageway in
non-contact thermal communication. The unitary HPAC also includes a
plate-type sub-cooler assembly having a sub-cooler refrigerant
passageway in hydraulic communication with the condenser
refrigerant passageway, a plate-type integral evaporator/cold side
chiller assembly having a cold coolant passageway and an evaporator
refrigerant passageway in hydraulic communication with the
sub-cooler refrigerant passageway; and an electrically driven
compressor having an inlet in hydraulic communication with the
evaporator refrigerant passageway and an outlet in hydraulic
communication with the condenser refrigerant passageway.
[0009] The Unitary HPAC system provides a dedicated refrigerant
system in which the refrigerant cycle does not need to be reversed
in order for the Unitary HPAC system to operate in heat pump mode.
The Unitary HPAC system also provides a Unitary HPAC that is
compact and easily installed in virtually any compartment of a
vehicle that is larger than a bread box or a small tool box. In
vehicles with small efficient internal combustion engines, the
Unitary HPAC system scavenge heat from waste heat sources, such as
the vehicle electronics, and use the waste heat to supplement the
heating needs of the passenger compartment. In hybrid and electric
vehicles, the Unitary HPAC improves the driving ranges in cold
climates by minimizing the use of electric current to power
electric heaters and providing heat to the battery packs to
maintain an optimal operating temperature. Further features and
advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on a reading
of the following detailed description of an embodiment of the
invention, which is given by way of non-limiting example only and
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0010] This invention will be further described with reference to
the accompanying drawings in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 a schematic flow diagram a Unitary Heat Pump Air
Conditioner System (Unitary HPAC system) in accordance with the
invention.
[0012] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary Unitary HPAC system operating in
cooling mode.
[0013] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary Unitary HPAC system operating in
heating mode.
[0014] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the Unitary HPAC in accordance
with the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[0015] Referring to FIGS. 1 through FIG. 4 is a Unitary Heat Pump
Air Conditioner System (Unitary HPAC System) and an embodiment of a
Unitary HPAC for use in a motor vehicle. The motor vehicle may be
that of one with an internal combustion engine, a hybrid vehicle
having both an internal combustion engine and an electric drive, or
that of an electric vehicle having an electric drive. The Unitary
HPAC System is a compact hermetically sealed system that improves
the overall efficiency of the heating system and also provides
cooling system to the motor vehicle. In hybrid and electric
vehicles, the Unitary HPAC improves the driving ranges in cold
climates by minimizing the use of electric current to power
electric heaters and providing heat to the battery packs to
maintain an optimal operating temperature. The Unitary HPAC system
provides a dedicated refrigerant system in which the refrigerant
cycle does not need to be reversed in order for the Unitary HPAC
system to operate in heat pump mode. The Unitary HPAC system also
provides a Unitary HPAC that is compact and easily installed in
virtually any compartment of a vehicle that is larger than a bread
box or a small tool box. Further advantages of the Unitary HPAC
System will be readily appreciated by the reading of the disclosure
below.
[0016] Shown in FIG. 1 is flow schematic of the Unitary HPAC System
10 having a dedicated refrigerant loop 12 in thermal communication
with a cold coolant loop 14 and a hot coolant loop 16. The main
components of the refrigerant loop 12 include a condenser 18, a
refrigerant expansion device 20 such as a thermostatic expansion
valve (TXV), and an evaporator 22 hydraulically connected in
series. At the heart of the refrigerant loop is a refrigerant
compressor 24 located downstream of the evaporator 22 and upstream
of the condenser 18. The compressor 24 is responsible for
compressing and transferring a two-phase refrigerant, such as
R-134a or R-1234yf, throughout the refrigerant loop 12 of the
Unitary HPAC System 10. The hot coolant loop 16 includes a hot side
chiller 26 in thermal communication with the condenser 18 and a hot
side coolant pump 28 that circulates a hot side coolant through the
hot side chiller 26. Similarly, the cold coolant loop 14 includes a
cold side chiller 30 in thermal communication with the evaporator
22 and a cold side coolant pump 32 that circulates a cold side
coolant through the cold side chiller 30. The hot side chiller 26
and cold side chiller 30 may be that of a water jacket encasing the
condenser 18 and evaporator 22, respectively, or may be part of a
plate-type heat exchanger, which is disclosed in greater detail
below. The cold coolant loop 14 may absorb waste heat energy from
various heat sources throughout the vehicle, such as the waste heat
from the internal combustion engine or electronics, thereby cooling
the various heat sources. The refrigerant loop 12 transfers the
heat energy from the cold coolant loop 14 to the hot coolant loop
16, which in turn transfers the heat energy to various heat sinks
throughout the vehicle, such as an occupant heat exchanger to
provide supplemental heat to the passenger compartment. In essence,
the Unitary HPAC System 10 effectively captures waste heat energy
and puts it to beneficial use within the vehicle.
[0017] The refrigerant cycle of the refrigerant loop 12 is
typically the same as that of a dedicated air conditioning system
of a motor vehicle operating in cooling mode. A two phase
refrigerant is circulated through the refrigerant loop 12 by the
compressor 24, which includes a suction side 36, also referred to
as the low pressure side, and a discharge side 38, also referred to
as the high pressure side. The suction side of the compressor
receives a low pressure vapor phase refrigerant from the evaporator
22, after absorbing heat from the cold side coolant, and compresses
it to a high pressure vapor phase refrigerant, which is then
discharged to the condenser 18. As the high pressure vapor phase
refrigerant is condensed to a high pressure liquid phase
refrigerant in the condenser 18, heat is transferred to the hot
side coolant flowing through the hot side chiller 26. Exiting the
condenser 18, the high pressure liquid phase refrigerant may pass
through a receiver (not shown) to separate any refrigerant vapor, a
sub-cooler (not shown) to further cool the liquid phase
refrigerant, and then to the TXV 20, through which the refrigerant
begins to expand into a bubbling liquid phase. The bubbling liquid
phase refrigerant enters the evaporator 22 and continues to expand
into the low pressure vapor refrigerant, which is then cycled back
to the suction side 36 of the compressor 24 to repeat the
process.
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the flow paths of the hot and
cold coolant loops throughout the vehicle may be reconfigured based
on the cooling and heating needs of the vehicle. The hot and cold
coolant loops may include a myriad of interconnecting branches with
remotely activated valves 40 at strategic nodes that may be
reconfigured to redefine the flow paths of the hot and cold loops
to selectively provide hot or cold coolant flow to designated heat
exchangers. For example, shown in FIG. 2 is the Unitary HPAC System
10 operating in cooling mode. The cold coolant loop (shown in
single dashed lines) is configured to flow to a comfort heat
exchanger 42 to cool the air to the occupant compartment and to a
battery heat exchanger 46 to cool the batteries, while the hot
coolant loop (shown in double dashed lines) is configured to
dissipate the heat through an external heat exchanger 44. Shown in
FIG. 3, in heat pump mode, the hot coolant loop (shown in double
dashed lines) may be redirected to the comfort heat exchanger 42 to
heat the air to the occupant compartment and to battery heat
exchanger 46 to maintain the batteries at an optimal operating
temperature, while the cold coolant loop (shown in single dashed
lines) is directed to an ancillary heat exchangers 48 to scavenge
waste heat from the vehicle's electronics or from the external
ambient air. Also, the cold coolant loop may be directed through a
cabin heat recovery heat exchanger (CABIN HEAT RECOVERY HX) that is
disposed in or near an air outlet of the occupant compartment. The
cabin recovery heat exchanger may be that of an air to liquid heat
exchanger where the heat energy in the cabin exhaust air may be
captured by the Unitary HPAC System 10 to be reused in the comfort
heat exchanger 42. Unlike the known methods of operating an
air-conditioning system in heat pump mode, the refrigerant loop 12
of the current invention is never reversed; therefore there is no
need to reinforce the refrigerant tubing and fittings throughout
the system since the low pressure side 38 of the refrigerant loop
12 is not subject to the high pressure refrigerant.
[0019] Shown in FIG. 4 is a compact Unitary HPAC 100 in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention for the Unitary HPAC System 10
disclosed above. The Unitary HPAC 100 shown includes an integral
condenser/hot side chiller assembly 102, a receiver 104, a
sub-cooler 106, a thermal expansion valve (TXV) 108, and an
integral evaporator/cold side chiller assembly 110. The Unitary
HPAC 100 also includes an electrically driven compressor 112 for
the circulation of a typical two-phase refrigerant through a series
of refrigerant tubes 113 and electrically driven hot side and cold
side coolant pumps 114, 116 configured to hydraulically connect to
the hot coolant loop and cold coolant loop, respectively. The
compressor may be that of a compact scroll compressor driven by a
permanent magnet motor with neodymium magnets. The liquid coolant
used in the hot and coolant loops is generally a mixture of 70%
glycol-30% water, which prevents the coolant from freezing or
becoming too viscous at the low temperatures needed in integral
evaporator/cold side chiller assembly 110.
[0020] The integral condenser/hot side chiller assembly 102 may be
that of a plate-type heat exchanger assembly having a plurality of
stamped metal plates 120 stacked and brazed between an upstream end
plate 126 and a downstream end plate 128. The stamped metal plates
include features known to those of ordinary skill in the art, such
as openings, bosses about selected openings, and flanges, which
when stacked, define a condenser refrigerant passageway for high
pressure refrigerant flow and a separate hot coolant passageway for
hot coolant flow. The plates may include numerous contact points
established between adjacent plates to induce turbulence to the
fluids flowing therethrough to provide a high heat transfer
co-efficient.
[0021] The flows of the hot refrigerant and hot coolant through the
integral condenser/hot side chiller assembly 102 are in non-contact
thermal communication; in other words, the two fluids are not
intermingle, but are in thermal communication with each other, and
may be concurrent or countercurrent flow. Heat energy from the
higher temperature refrigerant is transferred to the lower
temperature hot coolant, thereby increasing the temperature of the
hot coolant as it leaves the integral condenser/hot side chiller
assembly 102 and returning to the hot coolant loop (not-shown). The
upstream end plate 126 includes a refrigerant inlet 130 in fluid
communication with the discharge side 118 of the electrically
driven compressor 112 and a hot coolant inlet 134 in fluid
communication with the hot side coolant pump 116. The downstream
end plate 128 includes a refrigerant outlet 132 in fluid
communication with the receiver 104 and a hot coolant outlet 136
configured to hydraulically connect to the hot coolant loop.
[0022] Similarly, the downstream sub-cooler assembly 106 and
integral evaporator/cold side chiller assembly 110 may also be
plate-type heat exchangers. The integral evaporator/cold side
chiller assembly 110 includes a cold coolant inlet 138 and outlet
140, in which the cold coolant outlet 140 is adapted to
hydraulically connect to the cold coolant loop (not shown), an
evaporator refrigerant passageway for low pressure refrigerant
flow, and a separate cold coolant passageway for cold coolant flow.
The flows of the low pressure refrigerant and cold coolant through
the integral evaporator/cold side chiller assembly 110 are also in
non-contact thermal communication with each other, and may be
concurrent or countercurrent flow. Heat energy from the higher
temperature cold coolant is transferred to the lower temperature
evaporating refrigerant, thereby decreasing the temperature of the
cold coolant as it leaves the integral evaporator/cold side chiller
assembly 110 and returning to the cold coolant loop
(not-shown).
[0023] Unlike a traditional air conditioning system, where the
refrigerant side components are remotely dispersed throughout the
engine bay and within the HVAC module, the components of the
Unitary HPAC 100 including the integral condenser/hot side chiller
assembly 102, receiver 104, sub-cooler assembly 106, TXV 108,
integral evaporator/cold side chiller assembly 110, and
electrically driving compressor 112 and coolant pumps 114, 116 may
be all mounted onto a single platform 142 measuring approximately
376 mm by 220 mm. The components may even be enclosed a housing,
having a similar sized base and a height of about less than 212 mm,
which is approximately the size of a typical bread box, for ease of
handling and protection against the environment. The centralized
location of the components that form the Unitary HPAC 100 allows
the use of shorter length refrigerant tubes 113 which are
manufactured from a refrigerant impermeable material, such as
stainless steel, aluminum, and/or copper. The shorten length
refrigerant impermeable tubes 113 minimizes refrigerant leaks and
moister infiltration; thereby allowing the use of a smaller
receiver 104, since a large volume of refrigerant reserve is not
required. The reduction of moisture infiltration reduces or
eliminates the volume of desiccant needed, resulting in a more
compact Unitary HPAC 100. Due to its compact size, the Unitary HPAC
100 may be installed in virtually any location within the body of a
motor vehicle that can fit a bread box, such as within the trunk,
under the hood, within the dashboard, or even under the seats.
[0024] While the invention has been described with reference to an
exemplary embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the
art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be
substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope
of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to
adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the
intentions without departing from the essential scope thereof.
Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the
particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for
carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include
all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended
claims.
* * * * *